Vineeta Kumar, M.D., F.A.S.T. is a Professor of Medicine and the inaugural holder of the Robert and Cutessa Bourge Endowed Professor in Transplant Nephrology at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB). Dr. Kumar is the Director of UAB’s Incompatible Solid Organ Transplant Program. Dr. Kumar played a key role in UAB’s Kidney Xenotransplantation efforts and the heralded greater than 100 pair kidney chain through the UAB Kidney Paired Donation Program. Dr. Kumar completed her medical training at M.P. Shah Medical College in Jamnagar, India with a Gold medal for the overall highest cumulative score of her graduating class. This was followed by an Internal Medicine Residency and then she was selected to be a Chief Resident at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio. During her training years, she was recognized with multiple awards to include Geriatrics Intern of the Year, Junior Resident of the Year and Most Compassionate Senior Resident of the Year. Dr. Kumar completed a General Nephrology Fellowship at the University of Washington in Seattle, and a Transplant Nephrology Fellowship at UAB after which she joined the UAB faculty in 2007 and quickly rose to the ranks of Professor of Medicine.
Dr. Kumar is an outstanding physician who garners recognition from her peers, fellows and students as the best-of-the-best, and serves our community and patients with consummate competence and devotion. During the decade of her time as faculty, she has continued to be the awardee of countless prestigious regional and national awards. Some examples include the Cobb Rutsky Award for Clinical Excellence for ten consecutive years; 2017 Brewer Heslin award for professionalism; 2018 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching; 2019 Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching; 2021 Nonsurgical faculty teacher of the year for the UAB General Surgery Residency Program; 2022 Service Excellence from the American Nephrologists of India Origin and 2023 Medal of Excellence for Service from the American Association of Kidney Patients. Her mission is to improve the care and outcome of the medically complex kidney transplant candidates and kidney transplant recipients as well as living kidney donors through direct care, education, and clinical research. Dr. Kumar is the lead facilitator for UAB’s Schwartz Rounds for Compassionate Delivery of Care, a program that brings together nurses, physicians, social workers, and other providers to discuss delivery of compassionate care including unique end of life and ethical issues that arise in healthcare. Renowned for her extraordinary compassion, Dr. Kumar is featured in the national Schwartz Center “Champions of Compassion” 20th anniversary video. These recognitions demonstrate her unwavering commitment to the highest standards of professionalism for all members of the health care team.
Dr. Kumar has multiple leadership roles nationally and has chaired the American Society of Transplantation (AST) Education Committee in 2015 and also AST’s Living Donor Community of Practice in 2020. Dr. Kumar co-chaired American Society of Nephrology (ASN) COVID-19 Response Team Transplant subcommittee and lead the 2023 & 2024 AST Cutting Edge in Organ Transplantation (CEoT) annual meeting. She was also an elected member of the AST Board of Directors. She co-chaired NKF’s Externally led patient focused meeting with FDA on Xenotransplantation. Dr. Kumar has mentored countless students, residents, fellows and junior faculty over the years. Her accomplishments exemplify passion, enthusiasm, selflessness and unstinting commitment to the delivery of outstanding patient care, teaching and service
