Nita Limdi
, PharmD, Ph.D., MSPH, FAHA, has been named associate dean for Genomic Medicine, effective Oct. 1. After a national search process, Limdi assumed this role upon the retirement of Bruce Korf, M.D., Ph.D., in September.
In this role, Limdi will lead efforts to strategically grow and expand UAB's Genomic Medicine program by fostering interdisciplinary collaborations, securing external grant funding, and enhancing national and international partnerships. She will focus on elevating UAB's prominence in genomic medicine through innovation, sustainability, and leadership in major national consortia. Top priorities include sustaining grant-funded research, overseeing programs such as the Alabama Genome Health Initiative, and managing training initiatives like the T32 and R25 programs focused on genomic medicine.
Limdi’s body of work, totaling more than 160 publications, earned her the 2022 Heersink School of Medicine Dean’s Excellence Award for Research. Her primary research is focused on pharmacogenomics and genomics of anticoagulation therapy and pharmacoepidemiology in cardiovascular phenotypes.
“Dr. Limdi’s leadership in pharmacogenomics research and clinical implementation will ensure a bright future for the UAB Genomic Medicine program,” said Anupam Agarwal, M.D., senior vice president for Medicine and dean of the Heersink School of Medicine. Over two decades as a leader, she has made seminal contributions toward understanding genetic, clinical, and environmental factors that influence drug response, determining their relative contribution, and understanding the interplay between genes and the environment.
She has collaborated extensively with national and international consortia including the Pharmacogenomics Research Network, Pharmacogenomics Knowledge Base, Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Committee, Personalized Medicine Coalition, and Standardizing Laboratory Practices in Pharmacogenomics. Limdi also leads efforts to integrate genomic screening and pharmacogenetics for Alabamians through the Alabama Genomic Health Initiative, integrating pharmacogenetics into clinical care and establishing effective implementation frameworks through the Implementation of Genomics In pracTicE (IGNITE).
As a leader in the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) consortium, she has co-led the development of polygenic risk scores for chronic kidney disease and diabetes and leads the network-wide analysis across all chronic disease phenotypes.
“These efforts have collectively contributed to identifying genomic underpinnings of drug response and disease risk (research), developing the evidence base and guidelines for the use of genomics in clinical care and implementing genomic medicine interventions to improve patient and population outcomes,” said Limdi.
Limdi is deeply committed to mentoring clinicians and researchers. Since 2001, she has mentored over 40 postdoctoral trainees and junior faculty, spanning departmental and disciplinary boundaries. For excellence in inclusive mentorship, she was awarded the 2013 UAB Dean’s Mentorship Award, a mentorship grant from NIH, and was nominated to serve as the director of the UAB CTSA Training Academy for the UAB Center for Clinical and Translational Science.
Her work over the past 20 years has contributed to greater diversity in clinical research and implementation. She has leveraged her expertise in clinical pharmacology and chronic disease epidemiology to discover clinical features, genetic variants, and environmental factors influencing drug response and chronic disease risk; to elucidate ancestral differences in drug response and disease risk; and to collaborate nationally and internationally to synthesize evidence, develop guidelines, and facilitate the implementation of genomics to guide medication therapy and risk assessment for chronic diseases.
As a clinical pharmacist and epidemiologist, her research and clinical operational expertise have been essential to our success for large genomic medicine consortia like IGNITE and eMERGE, where her efforts have contributed to UAB’s rise to prominence.
“I am honored to serve in this role and am committed to expanding research and clinical implementation of genomic medicine at UAB,” said Limdi. “I look forward to building partnerships and leveraging national and international collaborations to promote and advance genomic medicine at UAB. Onward!”
Limdi earned a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from A.R. Patel College of Pharmacy in India in 1987 and a Doctor of Pharmacy from Samford University in 1994. Observing the variability in anticoagulant response among African Americans sparked her career-long interest in clinical research and the pharmacogenomics of drug response across diverse populations. As she built one of the largest cohorts of African Americans on anticoagulants, she continued to develop crucial research skills, completing an MSPH in 2005 and a Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2008.
She holds the Ray L. Watts Heersink Endowed Chair in the Department of Neurology. Limdi is a professor with joint appointments in the departments of Neurology and Medicine. She currently serves as director of the Translational Pharmacogenetics program at UAB, co-director of the Center for Clinical and Translational Science, associate director of the Hugh Kaul Precision Medicine Institute, and as a scientist in several UAB centers. She also holds an appointment as a professor in the School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology.