EVMS professor recognized for expertise in obesity research
A third-party organization that ranks medical professionals and institutions by expertise in more than 29,000 topics has recognized an EVMS researcher as a leader in her field.
Expertscape highlighted the work of Anca Dobrian, PhD, Professor of Physiological Sciences, on Friday, Jan. 21. After evaluating the number and impact of her peer-reviewed publications on the topic of adipose tissue over a 10-year period, the organization ranked Dr. Dobrian in the top 1 percent of researchers in its database.
Dr. Dobrian, also EVMS’ Assistant Vice-Provost of Growth and Retention, joined the school’s faculty in 2002. In addition to her research and teaching responsibilities, she has been the Director of the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Programs since 2019. Her research on obesity and co-morbidities has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, Department of Defense and pharma industry. She teaches and has developed curricula across graduate and medical education and has extensive mentoring experience with medical students, graduate students and fellows.
Dr. Dobrian says the recognition from Expertscape stands out because it compounds more than a decade of research, scholarship and publications — and it highlights the importance of the team environment at EVMS.
“I am so proud of the work of my lab and our collaborators and the work we plan to do in the future,” says Dr. Dobrian, who has collaborated with Sentara Bariatric Center of Excellence on research that could help to explain the multifactorial causes and implications of obesity. “This kind of announcement helps to increase our visibility and underscores the impactful research being conducted every day at EVMS.”
In a press release announcing the recognition, Expertscape reports that “to be ranked among the top experts in the world is a rather significant achievement. Our rankings have become widely recognized and respected in medical and scientific communities worldwide because the objective results are based on peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals.”
Dr. Dobrian holds a chemical engineering degree from the Polytechnic Institute in Bucharest and a PhD in cell and molecular biology from the Romanian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Cellular Biology and Pathology “Nicolae Simionescu.” She is a Master Educator of the EVMS Fine Academy of Educators and has represented EVMS to the Council of Faculty and Academic Societies of the AAMC since 2017.
In addition, Dr. Dobrian is an appointed member of the Graduate Research Education and Teaching group of AAMC and part of the EVMS team funded by the ChangeMedEd consortium of the AMA to integrate social determinants of health in the medical curriculum.