Ebele Umeukeje, MD, MPH

Ebele Umeukeje, MD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension within the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Upon completing her clinical year as a nephrology fellow at Vanderbilt, Dr. Umeukeje opted for a postdoctoral research fellowship position in nephrology. Her work so far has focused on evaluating the impact of key psychosocial factors on medication adherence in dialysis patients. She has specifically investigated the role of patient attitudes and perception of provider autonomy support on phosphate binder adherence. Her pilot work has culminated in an ongoing randomized clinical trial funded by the NIH to investigate the potential role of motivational interviewing in improving adherence to phosphate binder therapy.

Dr. Umeukeje’s goal is to broaden her current research interests to include outcomes in renal transplant patients as well as other patients with chronic kidney failure who are not currently receiving renal replacement therapy.