Anna Greka is a physician-scientist leading the translation of scientific discoveries from the laboratory to clinical trials. She is an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School (HMS); an Associate Physician in the Renal Division in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH); and the founding director of Kidney-NExT, a Center for Kidney Disease and Novel Experimental Therapeutics at BWH. Dr. Greka is also an Institute Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, where she directs the institute’s Kidney Disease Initiative (KDI) and the ion channel therapeutics interest group (CHAnnel Therapeutics, CHArT).
The Greka laboratory specializes in the development of precision therapies for difficult-to-treat diseases with a special interest in genetically defined disorders. Specifically, her lab studies mechanisms of cell survival and metabolic regulation, including calcium signaling and transient receptor potential (TRP) ion channel biology.
The Greka laboratory is also interested in using the modern tools of genomics and other multi-omic approaches to understand disease mechanisms, including mechanisms of disrupted cellular metabolism, with important connections to obesity and diabetes.
Finally, the study of ion channel biology remains an active area of investigation, with a special focus on harnessing the considerable therapeutic potential of ion channels for a wide range of diseases, from kidney to neurologic disorders.
Dr. Greka has been the recipient of several honors, including the 2018 Seldin-Smith Award for Pioneering Research from the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI), a 2017 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), and a 2014 Top 10 Exceptional Research Award from the Clinical Research Council. She also serves on the Harvard-MIT M.D.-Ph.D. Program Leadership Council.
Dr. Greka holds an A.B. in biology from Harvard College and an M.D. and Ph.D. in neurobiology from HMS. She received her medical and scientific training in the Harvard-MIT program in Health Sciences and Technology (HST) in the laboratory of David Clapham, MD, PhD, where, as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) predoctoral fellow, she explored the role of TRP channels in neuronal growth cone motility.