Dr. Lea graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in biology and then went on to earn her medical degree at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. After completing her internal medicine residency and nephrology fellowship at Emory University-affiliated hospitals, Dr. Lea joined the Emory faculty in 1995. She subsequently received her MSc in clinical research from Emory's Rollins School of Public Health in 2006. Dr. Lea holds the distinction of becoming the first African-American woman in the DOM at Emory to be promoted to Professor of Medicine. She has served as the Chief Medical Director of Emory Dialysis since 2010, as the Clinical Director of Nephrology since 2020, and served as Chief of Staff at Emory Midtown where her clinical practice is primarily based, from 2020 to 2022.

In 2021, the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP) awarded Dr. Lea their Medical of Excellence Award, the highest accolade bestowed by patients upon a physician, and in 2020, the AAKP honored her with the President’s Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) Gold Medal for her dedication to educating patients during the COVID pandemic.

She has also been named one of Atlanta’s Top Doctors for the last 14 years and has consistently scored in the 99th percentile in patient satisfaction at Emory Healthcare over the past several years. Dr. Lea's Emory honors include Master Clinician status by Emory Healthcare, the Department of Medicine's Nanette K. Wenger Distinguished Service Award, Outstanding Clinician Award, and Educator Impact Award and the School of Medicine's Distinguished Service Award.

Dr. Lea’s research and clinical expertise are in hypertension, chronic kidney disease, kidney health disparities, and dialysis care. She is designated as a Hypertension Specialist by the American Society of Hypertension and is a highly sought-after hypertension expert across Georgia and beyond. Dr. Lea is engaged in cutting-edge research, with three ongoing trials: Mitigating the Effects of Structural Racism on CKD Disparities among African Americans (NIH), the Two-plus PCORI Trial – Comparative Effectiveness of an Individualized Model of Hemodialysis versus Conventional Hemodialysis, and the APOL1-Mediated Kidney Disease Vertex Amplitude Trial. She is extensively published with over 80 peer reviewed articles and has mentored numerous research and clinical postgraduate students.

Dr. Lea is an active member of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and an executive board member of the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP). She was appointed to the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Nephrology Board in 2022. She has served as faculty for the Home Dialysis University (HDU) for renal fellows across the U.S. since 2010 and is a member of the ASN-HDU taskforce committee for Nephrology fellow Home Dialysis education.

As Dr. Lea steps into the role of Division Director, we also want to express our sincere appreciation for her service as interim Division Director, and to Jeanie Park, MD, who served as Interim Associate Division Director after Dr. Sands’ retirement in January 2024. I am pleased that Dr. Park has agreed to continue serving as Associate Director for Research for the Division and I look forward to seeing her continued collaboration with Dr. Lea as they guide the division in advancing health through discovery, education, and care. 

Sincerely,

Carlos del Rio, MD, MACP, FIDSA 
H. Cliff Sauls Distinguished Professor of Medicine
Chair, Department of Medicine