PhD Students and Postdoctoral Research Fellows: Career Profiles
Dr. Annabel Biruete - The PhD Clinical Researcher
I am a registered dietitian and assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition Science at Purdue University. My research primarily focuses on the impact of diet and pharmacological therapies on the gastrointestinal tract and the gut microbiome in chronic kidney disease. I also have a secondary line of research on language and culturally appropriate interventions in Hispanic/Latine individuals at risk of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome. I hope that in the near future, these lines of research will come together naturally.
My journey to research started as a clinical dietitian in Mexico. As I was completing a fellowship in nutrition support at a regional hospital in Mexico City, I was involved in a pilot study using our parenteral nutrition preparation suite to modify a dextrose-based peritoneal dialysis solution to include amino acids and carnitine. In a pilot study, we randomized incident peritoneal dialysis to standard of care with dextrose-based peritoneal dialysis solutions or to replace one of those solutions with our modified solution. While this study was small and only in our hospital, I saw first-hand the effects of crashing into dialysis (instead of transitioning to dialysis), and the impact of nutritional interventions in people with kidney failure.
My mentor in Mexico City would say, "Annabel, you have too many questions; you should go to grad school to answer some of them," so I did. I completed my PhD in Nutritional Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Dr. Ken Wilund's lab, funded by Mexico's Council of Science and Technology (formerly known as CONACyT, now SECIHTI). During my PhD, I was involved in several randomized clinical trials testing lifestyle interventions on cardiovascular function, bone and body composition, dietary intake, and other outcomes in people with kidney failure undergoing hemodialysis. My dissertation focused on the impact of a fermentable dietary fiber supplement on the gut microbiome and mineral metabolism in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. While a PhD is a journey, with all the good and bad, I genuinely had a good experience. I enjoyed learning from leaders in the nutrition science field, interacting and learning from fellow graduate students, and training to become a researcher. I am also thankful to my mentor, as he gave me opportunities to write my own grants, practice scientific writing (which was not easy as English is not my first language), and provided me with vast networking opportunities, particularly in the nephrology field.
I became a member of ASN in my second year as a PhD student and took advantage of all the opportunities available for graduate students. I was part of ASN Kidney STARS in 2015, attended ASN Kidney TREKS on Mount Desert Island in 2016, and was part of Kidney STARS again in 2016. These activities were key to building my network and connecting with Dr. Sharon Moe, who offered me the opportunity to join her laboratory at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis as a postdoctoral fellow.
I truly had the best experience as a postdoctoral fellow, where I switched from clinical research to basic research, studying the impact of diet and pharmacological therapies in a rat model of chronic kidney disease-mineral and bone disorder (CKD-MBD). I held two T32 postdoctoral fellowships: one focused on musculoskeletal health, where I studied the impact of oral vs. IV iron on CKD-MBD, and another focused on nephrology, where I studied the impact of dietary fiber on CKD-MBD. I continued to gain more experience in scientific writing, grant writing (I applied for multiple federal and industry grants), and mentoring graduate and medical students through various mechanisms through the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute. Even though I loved my postdoc, the last year was during the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected our research, as we had to shut down some of our animal research and work from home while writing papers and grants. However, our group and institution were resilient, and a great part of this is because of good leadership, including my postdoc mentor.
In 2021, I started my first position at Indiana University-Indianapolis in the Department of Nutrition Science, but after a year, I was recruited to join the Department of Nutrition Science at Purdue University, where I co-direct the Clinical and Translational Nutrition Research Lab. Purdue is the land-grant institution of Indiana focused on discovery, learning, and engagement, and these are broad categories where my day-to-day activities fall. A university like Purdue is often different than being faculty at a medical school, as I am expected to do research, but also spend a significant part of my time teaching and mentoring students and providing service to my university, professional society, and community.
It is funny, as a graduate student, we are trained to run experiments, analyze the data, and present it at conferences and in scientific articles. However, now as an independent investigator, my job focuses more on writing grants, editing manuscripts from students, managing and mentoring my team, and managing projects. One thing I wish I gained more experience during my training was management and budget creation because it represents an important part of my current job. If you are a trainee hoping to go into academia, it is never too late to get some experience in this!
While I love doing research in renal nutrition, I really enjoy teaching nutrition science and dietetics students. I enjoy seeing students' faces when they understand complex topics and put them in their own words with real-world applications. I try to be purposeful about my lectures and provide personal stories (e.g., examples of when I was a clinical dietitian and cool cases I was part of), as I feel these help them retain the information better. I also have open discussions about the topics we are covering and controversial topics, which nutrition tends to have a lot of opinions on.
Another important part of my job is mentoring undergraduate and graduate students. I meet with the members of my group at least weekly, where we discuss lab projects, have journal clubs, and even share the good and bad about our journey. I think being exposed to all experiences is good to help them (and me!) build resilience, a quality that is so important in academia.
Finally, one thing I truly enjoy from being an academic is being part of professional societies, including kidney-focused societies, such as ASN. Being part of Kidney TREKS and Kidney STARS allowed me to meet people involved with the different committees, including the ASN Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, which I served on from 2022-2025. Through attending Kidney Week, I expanded my network that led to more opportunities, including co-chairing the ASN Kidney Health Guidance on potassium and phosphorus food additives in kidney diseases, being part of the ASN Dialysis Core Curriculum, and diet in Emergency Preparedness. At the same time, I am also involved with nutrition science societies, such as the American Society for Nutrition (another ASN). I think that as academics, it is really a privilege to travel to national and international conferences, share our work, and interact with clinicians, researchers, and other key partners in kidney health. Even though the current research and academic climate is challenging, I am hopeful because of the constant positive experience I have had in the field of kidney health.