Profiles

Elizabeta Nemeth is a Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and Director of the UCLA Center for Iron Disorders. Dr. Nemeth received her BS in Molecular Biology at the University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and a PhD in Cell, Molecular and Neurosciences at the University of Hawaii. Since joining UCLA in 2002, Dr. Nemeth has been studying iron homeostasis and its disorders, with specific focus on the function of the hepatic peptide hormone hepcidin and its receptor/iron transporter ferroportin. Her work helped define the regulation of hepcidin production by iron, inflammation and erythropoiesis, described the role of hepcidin in different iron disorders including hereditary hemochromatosis, ß-thalassemia and anemia of inflammation, elucidated the mechanism of action of hepcidin as the ligand of ferroportin, described a novel hepcidin-regulating hormone erythroferrone, and developed novel hepcidin-targeted candidates for the treatment of iron disorders. Dr. Nemeth is also dedicated to translation of basic research and to this end has co-founded three biotechnology companies focused on hepcidin-targeted diagnostics and therapeutics.

In 2007, Dr. Nemeth received the Grace Goldsmith Award from the American College of Nutrition for "significant achievements in the field of nutrition by a scientist under the age of 50 years". In 2019, she received the Presidential Award of the International BioIron Society, for “seminal work on the mode of action of hepcidin and the molecular basis of systemic iron homeostasis”. In 2021, Dr. Nemeth received William Dameshek Prize from the American Society of Hematology, for recent outstanding contribution to the field of hematology. Dr. Nemeth had served as a regular member of the NIH Molecular and Cellular Hematology Study Section and was elected President of the International Bioiron Society in 2019. She is also an associate editor of the American Journal of Hematology and a co-director of the UCLA K program for young faculty career development.