May 18, 2021

Sonia Fargue, PhD has been selected as this year’s Named New Investigator for the UAB Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC). The center leadership selects from among funded pilot/feasibility recipients and then receives approval from the UAB NORC External Advisory Committee prior to formally making the appointment.

Dr. Fargue is an assistant professor in the Department of Urology. In 2013, Dr. Fargue came to UAB as a postdoctoral fellow and became an instructor in 2015.  She completed her PhD from University College London, London, UK, and completed her MD in pediatrics at Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France.

The pilot project Dr. Fargue will work on in the next year is titled “The Role of Obesity on Endogenous Oxalate Synthesis.” The proposed research is on oxalate metabolism in health and disease, namely calcium oxalate kidney stones and primary hyperoxaluria, a rare inherited form of oxalate kidney stone disease.  Dr. Fargue’s current K01 award focuses on the metabolism of glycolate, a precursor of oxalate.  The pilot project aims to explore the relationship between endogenous oxalate synthesis, oxalate kidney stones and obesity, and to generate data to support a subsequent grant submission.

The Named New Investigator is an honor created when UAB NORC received its designation as an NIDDK Center in 2001. The award is especially important for an early career scientist, providing $45,000 toward salary and protecting effort dedicated toward their pilot project.