Fatima Ayub, MD

2026 William and Sandra Bennett Clinical Scholar Award

Institution: Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System/ University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Project Title: Empowering the Kidney Workforce: An Integrated Educational Model for Nephrology Nurse Practitioners

Provide a brief overview of the research/project you will conduct with help from the grant.

My project focuses on developing a nephrology-specific educational curriculum for nurse practitioners (NPs) and advanced practice providers involved in kidney care nationwide. The curriculum will integrate renal physiology, CKD, ESRD, dialysis, AKI recognition, and procedural training to strengthen foundational nephrology knowledge and improve patient care delivery. The long-term goal is to create a scalable educational model that can improve early kidney disease recognition, dialysis management, and patient outcomes across the United States.

What inspired you to focus your work in this area?

During my work as an academic nephrologist, I worked closely with exceptional nurse practitioners who were deeply committed to patient care but often lacked access to structured nephrology-specific training. At the same time, the growing shortage of nephrologists in the United States has placed increasing responsibility on NPs managing complex CKD and dialysis patients. After conducting a competency-based survey at our institution, I realized many of these frontline providers felt underprepared despite playing a critical role in kidney care delivery. These experiences inspired me to focus on developing nephrology education and mentorship programs aimed at strengthening the kidney-care workforce and improving patient outcomes nationwide.

What are your career goals at the end of the grant period? Five years out? Ten years out?

By the end of the grant period, I hope to successfully implement and validate a comprehensive nephrology curriculum for NPs while expanding kidney-focused education and mentorship initiatives. Over the next five years, I aim to establish a collaborative national platform that provides structured nephrology education, mentorship, supervision, and ongoing professional development for nurse practitioners involved in kidney care. I also plan to expand my work in multicenter clinical trials and translational nephrology research, particularly in AKI, CKD, critical care nephrology, and innovative kidney therapies. Within ten years, I hope to develop an integrated translational nephrology and critical care research program focused on biomarker discovery, precision-based kidney care, education, and large-scale collaborative research efforts to improve outcomes for patients nationwide.

What has surprised you most about your career?

What has surprised me most about my career is how intellectually vast and interconnected nephrology truly is. The kidney links physiology, critical care, cardiovascular medicine, endocrinology, acid-base balance, and fluid regulation in fascinating ways, making nephrology a constantly evolving and thought-provoking field. At the same time, nephrologists build some of the deepest long-term relationships in medicine, caring for patients from early CKD through dialysis or transplantation. It truly captures the essence of prevention, healing, and lifelong patient care, while remaining a constantly evolving and thought-provoking field where there is always something new to learn; there is indeed never a dull moment in nephrology.

In one sentence, please describe the importance of having grant funding available through KidneyCure.

KidneyCure grant funding is critically important, especially for early-career investigators who are passionate about advancing evidence-based kidney care, improving patient outcomes, and developing innovative educational and research initiatives that address major unmet needs in nephrology.

Something you may not know about me is…

that my passion for problem-solving, resilience, hard work, and education was profoundly shaped by the unexpected loss of my father to sudden cardiac death in his early 40s due to lack of appropriate preventive care. That experience inspired my commitment not only to treating disease, but also to prioritizing prevention, which is often overlooked in medicine. Throughout my journey, I have learned more from failures than successes, and those experiences have strengthened my determination to continue striving for excellence. I strongly believe that despite adversity, we should never give up on what we are truly passionate about.

In my free time I like to…

spend quality time with my 4-year-old twins and share simple but meaningful activities with them, including reading, cooking, hiking, gardening, martial arts, and other outdoor activities. They constantly remind me of the importance of curiosity, staying grounded, and appreciating life's simple moments.