Carmen A. Peralta, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Nephrology at the UCSF School of Medicine, was recognized recently with a 2010 Nickens Faculty Fellowship.

Peralta is also a researcher at the UCSF-affiliated San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) awarded several of the Herbert W. Nickens Fellowships during the AAMC Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., in November. The awards honor individuals who assist medical schools to achieve their diversity objectives and work to eliminate health care disparities.

The Herbert W. Nickens Faculty Fellowship is presented to an outstanding junior faculty member who has demonstrated leadership in the United States in addressing inequities in medical education and health care; who has made efforts to address the educational, societal and health care needs of minorities; and who is committed to a career in academic medicine.

Peralta received her award in recognition of her outstanding work in the field of racial and ethnic differences in kidney disease detection, progression and complications.

Peralta received her MD degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She then pursued training in internal medicine at Harvard Medical School’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She completed nephrology training at UCSF.