ASCI / Emerging-Generation Awards, 2024

Kale S. Bongers, MD, PhD is an Instructor of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Originally from Wisconsin, he earned his BA in Biology (with honors) and History from Dartmouth College, and his MA in History of Medicine from McGill University. Following this, he joined the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Iowa, where he earned his medical degree and a PhD studying skeletal muscle biology under the mentorship of Christopher Adams, MD, PhD During his MD/PhD training, he was awarded an F30 grant from the National Institute on Aging, was inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha, and published 9 papers, including 2 first-authored manuscripts. Through his clinical and research work, Kale came to understand the devastation caused by skeletal muscle atrophy, a common, debilitating condition with no pharmacologic therapies; this has been the ongoing motivation for and focus of his work.

Dr. Bongers completed Internal Medicine residency and Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine fellowship at the University of Michigan. His current research, under the mentorship of Robert Dickson, MD, focuses on the role of the gut microbiome both in mediating organ failure in sepsis and in recovery from critical illness. His training is funded by both the University of Michigan Physician-Scientist Training Program and an NIH T32 grant. Kale looks forward to a career as a physician-scientist studying the role of the microbiome in mediating post-sepsis skeletal muscle atrophy with an aim toward improving patient recovery after ICU care.