Friedman Diabetes Institute

Radhika Phadke, MD
Friedman School
Tufts University, Boston, MA
2009–2011

Mentor: Dr. Lechan

Recent Work
Dr. Phadke graduated from Byramjee Jeejeehoy Medical College in India where she was one of their top students. She received the Buris R. Boshell Scholarship in Medicine, an award from the Diabetes Trust Fund to promote graduate studies in endocrinology and pathophysiology related to diabetes mellitus. This brought her to the University of Alabama where she completed her PhD in Nutrition, studying how body composition, body fat distribution and African genetic admixture relates to aspects of insulin secretion and clearance using mathematical modeling and glucose tolerance testing. She was described as one of their “brightest and diligent students”, and in the top 5% of doctoral students at that institution. The work led to three, major publications with Dr. Phadke as co-author.

Her track record as an Internal Medicine Resident at Tufts Medical Center has been no less outstanding, and has been described by the Medical House Staff Training Program Director as having “a compassionate and caring approach to her patients”.

Dr. Phadke has successfully completed her first year of training as a Friedman Fellow. She has clearly shown aptitude as a clinician and has been rated in the superior range almost universally by the faculty in overall competence as a subspecialist. She is soft-spoken and has a calm demeanor that is appealing to patients and patient care. She has given a number of scholarly talks this year on a wide variety of endocrine-related topics including lectures on Diabetes Mellitus Remission after Bariatric Surgery”, and “Insulin Dynamics in African and European Americans”. Her presentations have been outstanding, with a proper balance between mechanisms of disease processes and treatment, and demonstrated excellent comprehension of the literature and practical application of this knowledge to patient care.

Other scholarly activities have included attendance at the Annual Meeting of the American Diabetes Association in Orlando, FA in June 2010, and the publication of 3 papers in well-refereed journals including Metabolism and Obesity.

Dr. Phadke is already a well-trained researcher, but under the mentorship of Dr. Anastassios Pittas, will be studying the changes in insulin sensitivity in black and white populations with pre-diabetes. She is also preparing a case report with Dr. Kim on mechanisms of HCG-induced hyperthyroidism.