Elena Ambrogini, M.D., Ph.D., has been appointed director of the Department of Internal Medicine’s Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine.
A faculty member since 2015, Ambrogini is an associate professor in the division, a staff endocrinologist and researcher for the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System (CAVHS), and a researcher with the UAMS Center for Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Diseases and the Center for Musculoskeletal Disease Research.
“Dr. Ambrogini is a consummate physician, an accomplished scientist, and a recognized leader in the field of endocrinology/metabolism,” said Edward T.H. Yeh, M.D., Professor and Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine. “She will continue to lead this distinguished division to newer heights.”
Ambrogini received her medical degree and completed initial internship and residency in endocrinology and metabolism at the University of Pisa in Italy. She later obtained her doctorate in endocrine and metabolic sciences from the University of Pisa while concurrently conducting a postdoctoral research fellowship in metabolic bone disorders at UAMS. She continued her clinical training with an additional residency in internal medicine, followed by a fellowship in endocrinology and metabolism, at UAMS.
Ambrogini’s clinical areas of expertise include thyroid and parathyroid diseases, osteoporosis, other metabolic bone disorders and general endocrinology. As a physician-scientist, she conducts basic and clinical studies into diseases of bone and calcium metabolism with funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Veterans Affairs, which awarded her a four-year VA Merit Review Award in 2019. She has published extensively on the pathophysiology of osteoporosis and the development of novel therapies that may treat osteoporosis and atherosclerosis simultaneously. She is a member of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) and the Endocrine Society. National honors include Young Investigator and other awards from ASBMR. At CAVHS, Dr. Ambrogini received the Physician of the Year Award in 2019 and a Special Contribution Award for her service during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The UAMS College of Medicine presented her with the Clinical Excellence Award for Service and Professionalism in 2021.