Rita Basu MD

Dr. Rita Basu, MD, was appointed as the inaugural Medical Director and Chair of the UAB Institutional Review Board in July 2023. Dr. Basu is a tenured Professor in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism in the Heersink School of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Recruited with a strategic initiative to develop translational research for human diabetes at the Comprehensive Diabetes Research Center. She will work with the Precision Medicine Institute to develop strategies for targeting therapy for diabetes, fatty liver disease, and other conditions.

Dr. Basu is currently the Principal Investigator on projects that are both NIH and industry funded, including studies on the mechanisms of hepatic and peripheral insulin resistance in humans with type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes. Dr. Basu is also a co-investigator in NIH-sponsored projects with Ananda Basu, MD, FRCP (UK) as the Principal Investigator for the study of type 1 diabetes. She serves on various DSMBs and Chairs a NIH-sponsored DSMB for a novel algorithm for the management of high-risk patients with type 1 diabetes. She also collaborates extensively with investigators outside of UVA at institutions such as Harvard Medical School, Joslin Diabetes Center, Wake Forest School of Medicine, and Mayo Clinic, among others.