Second-year nephrology fellow Pooja Koolwal, MD, is one of seven Washington University fellows to receive the 2017 Knowlton Incentive for Excellence Award.
The Division of Medical Education at Washington University School of Medicine and the Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital present the annual award to fellows who have completed internal medicine residency programs and who plan to practice in the St. Louis area. Recipients embody the Knowlton Spirit, demonstrating compassionate care and leadership in the science of internal medicine.
Dr. Koolwal is part of the MesoAmerican Nephropathy Project, which is investigating the unexplained epidemic of chronic kidney disease occurring in sugarcane laborers in Latin America. The project is a collaborative effort between a group of Washington University researchers, residents, fellows and staff and the Guatemala Social Security Institute hospital system and Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala City. Dr. Koolwal spent a month’s rotation at the Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala during the senior year of her residency. She recently received an award from the Midwest Nephrology Fellows’ Research Day conference for her presentation of data on the ongoing project.
In 1984, Charles J. Cella established the Knowlton Incentive for Excellence Fund to honor his physician, Norman Knowlton Jr., MD, for his compassionate caregiving. Dr. Knowlton was a Professor Emeritus of Clinical Medicine in Internal Medicine at Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Dr. Koolwal is one of 173 physicians to have received this prestigious award in the past 33 years.
The recipients of this year’s award are:
Mark Gdowski, MD, Cardiovascular Division
Patrick Grierson, MD, PhD, Divisions of Hematology and Oncology
Pooja Koolwal, MD, Divisions of Nephrology
Jonathan Moreno, MD, PhD, Cardiovascular Division
Michael Paley, MD, PhD, Division of Rheumatology
Aaron Ver Heul, MD, Division of Allergy and Immunology
Dominique Williams, MD, Cardiovascular Division
More information on the Knowlton Incentive for Excellence Award Program here.