2025 Recipient of the Mary Betty Stevens Young Investigator Prize

Andrea Fava, MD

The 2025 Mary Betty Stevens Young Investigator Prize recipient is Dr. Andrea Fava. Dr. Andrea Fava has emerged as a preeminent physician scientist whose expertise spans laboratory science, computational biology, and clinical medicine. He is an Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins Lupus Center, where he serves as Director of Lupus Translational Research. Dr. Fava has led seminal studies identifying urinary biomarkers that noninvasively detect intrarenal activity in lupus nephritis (LN), predicting treatment response and long-term outcomes. He prioritized biomarkers that directly inform clinical decision making, advancing the development of a “liquid biopsy” for LN. This biomarker panel is now in development for clinical use. His pioneering research has advanced the field, with far-reaching implications for precision medicine, patient outcomes, and clinical trial design. He is a core investigator in the NIH-funded Accelerating Medicines Partnership (AMP) and co-leads multiple biomarker initiatives supported by industry and foundations. After the LFA Gary Gilkeson Career Development Award, his research has been funded by the NIH (R01), LRA, DOD, private foundations, and industry. In a remarkably short time, Dr. Fava has achieved national and international recognition, as reflected by his publications, prestigious speaking invitations, and leadership roles in academia and industry partnerships. His work has been published in top-tier journals such as A&R, Science, JCI Insight, and Lancet Rheum; it was cited in the 2024 ACR LN guidelines and featured in invited presentations at ACR, EULAR, ASN, and other international meetings.