ASCI / Emerging-Generation Awards, 2022

Irene Chernova, MD, PhD, was born in Kyiv, Ukraine. To her, at this time in 2022, this seems like a more important part of her identity than her clinical or scientific accomplishments. Though she has lived in the USA since 1996 and considers it her home, recently she has had cause to be very proud of her birth nation, while at the same time worrying over relatives and friends still in Ukraine. Dr. Chernova’s family’s emigration was precipitated by the fall of the Soviet Union and, like so many, her mom brought her to the US to provide her with more opportunities and a brighter future. Now she is an MD/PhD trained physician-scientist working at the intersection of Nephrology and Immunology and honored to be recognized by ASCI. Dr. Chernova fervently hopes that the next generation of Ukrainians gets a chance to pursue their passions and contribute to a peaceful world, in a free democratic Ukraine and all over the world.

Scientifically, Dr. Chernova knew from early on in medical school that Nephrology was her clinical interest and felt passionate about combining it with her PhD training in Immunology. This was not a common combination of interests, which was simultaneously intimidating and exciting. In her postdoctoral lab, she became interested in understanding how lymphocytes in lupus nephritis survive in the hostile, high sodium kidney environment and in the under-explored field of ion-lymphocyte interactions in general. We know very little about organ-specific ionic environments that lymphocytes face and what this means for their survival and function – what happens to lymphocytes during dehydration, when serum sodium levels rise? Or in kidney failure when potassium concentration increases? Dr. Chernova hopes to continue to use her combined training in kidney physiology and immunology to tackle these questions in the kidney and beyond.