Lilia R. Lukowsky
1335 N. La Brea Ave, #406
Los Angeles, CA 90028
Phone# (323) 872-8361
llukowsky@ph.lacounty.gov
llukovsk@ucla.edu
EDUCATION
PhD; Epidemiology – June 2012
Department of Epidemiology,
Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health,
UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Academic advisor Dr. Kheifets
Dissertation title: “Factors Associated with Mortality in Patients
with End-Stage Renal Disease During the First and Second Years
After Dialysis Initiation”
MPH – September 2006
Department of Epidemiology,
Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health,
UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
B.S., Biology - June 2002
Department of EBE, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Epidemiologist
November 2012 - present
Tobacco Control and Prevention Program; Los Angeles County Department of Public
Health, Los Angeles, CA (Contracted by Midcom Corporation)
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Manage, plan, design, implement, evaluate CDC-funded Multi-Unit Housing (MUH)
randomized quasi-experimental study examining effectiveness of smoke-free policies on
exposure to a second-hand smoking among residents of multi-unit housing in Los
Angeles County
Responsible for design, evaluation and implementation of research aspects of the MUH
study
Supervise a full time employee (Epidemiology Analyst) working on statistical and infield aspects of the MUH study
Responsible for developing and implementing survey instruments and experimental
protocols and procedures for the study
Responsible for managing, and analyzing data and interpreting results of the study
Responsible for developing original research hypotheses directed towards creating a
smoke-free environment for the residents of Multi-Unit Housing in the Los Angeles
County
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Responsible for monitoring and interpreting health statistics, demographic information
laboratory tests to identify possible epidemiologic trends, patterns
Responsible for IBR process (submitting and renewing applications annually and
reporting updates and changes to IRB)
Responsible for correspondence and coordinating activities with study partners within
and outside of Department of Public Health of Los Angeles County as well as with
contracted research laboratories and vendors
Collaborate with other researchers to write articles for a publication in peer-reviewed
journals, preparing abstracts and presentations
Participate in planning, designing, implementation, and evaluation of research projects to
evaluate effectiveness of anti-smoking ordinances adopted by the cities of Los Angeles
County
Conduct analysis of data from Los Angeles County Health Survey, preform literature
reviews
Responsible for locating and utilizing publicly available data sources from federal, state,
and local agencies such as Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Census Bureau, California Department of
Public Health for the research projects evaluating effectiveness of anti-smoking policies
as well as health and behavioral implications of smoking among the residents of Los
Angels County
Conduct epidemiologic and statistical analysis such as multi-level modeling, time series
analysis, multivariate logistic and linear regressions, as well as descriptive data analysis
Assist Chief Epidemiologist with grant writing, policy development and evaluation
activities
Participate in monthly Multi-Unit Housing Task Force meetings
Research Associate
May 2009 - October 2012
Harold Simmons Center for Chronic Disease Research & Epidemiology, Los Angeles
Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA
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Participated in planning, designing, implementation, and evaluation of epidemiologic
studies including NIH-funded projects
Conducted advanced epidemiologic and statistical analyses such as Marginal Structural
Models, survival analysis, multivariate logistic and linear regressions analysis,
Standardized Mortality Rates and Ratios (SMRs)
Provided consultations about epidemiologic research methodology design and data
analysis to the clinical fellows and master-level students associates
Conducted reviews of demographic information and the results of laboratory tests to
identify possible epidemiologic trends, patterns among incident and prevalent dialysis
patients
Assessed individual and group level risk factors in the population of dialysis patients
Prepared reports and presented research findings at professional meetings
Performed statistical modeling and data analysis of prospective cohort study of 160,000
dialysis patients Using SAS, Sigma Plots, Microsoft Excel Word and Power-Point
Managed data including cross-linking merging and sub-setting databases to create
datasets used in various research projects, formatting and recoding key variables,
verifying and checking newly created datasets and variables
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Worked with national databases for dialysis pts such as United States Renal Data System
(USRDS) and database for DaVita Company (one of the largest dialysis providers in
USA)
Performed literature reviews
Collaborated with other researchers to write articles for a publication in peer-reviewed
journals, preparing abstracts and presentations
Statistical Assistant
December 2006 - June 2011
Veteran Administration Great Los Angeles Healthcare System Geriatric Research,
Education and Clinical Center, Los Angeles, CA
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Was involved in HERO study (randomized behavioral intervention trial to
decrease the recovery time, increase the survival and quality of life by increasing
duration and quality of sleep in elderly veterans admitted to inpatient
rehabilitation unit after major health crisis)
Performed Baseline and Follow-up assessments and interviews
Assessed the sleep patterns of study participants using actigraphy data and sleep
diaries completed by patients enrolled in the intervention trial
Activated and handled the actigraphy equipment
Performed data editing
Participated in data collection
Participated in data entry
Graduate Intern at UCLA School of Public Health
Los Angeles, CA
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April - October 2008
Worked at Martin Luther King Harbor Medical Center Worked with Dr.
Bonyadlou, Department of Radiology
Prepared the report assessing cost and benefits analysis of the PET/CT scanner
for the early diagnosis and treatment of the mostly low income and uninsured
patient population in South Los Angeles Area (SPA 6) with the goal of acquiring
the equipment
Research Assistant
January 2001 - September 2003
Department of Epidemiology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
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Performed data editing
Performed data entry using Arc View GIS 3.2 software
Prepared paper maps for GIS coding using UCLA Maps and Government Information
Library records, for the project studying the relationship between the pesticide exposure
and Parkinson’s disease in rural areas of California
Reviewing ACTIVITIES
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Peer-reviewed an article for the Nephrology Transplantation Dialysis (NDT) journal
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Special Reader for Epidemiology 265 (Epidemiology Methods in Occupational and
Environmental Health)
January – March 2010
Professors Dr. Kheifets and Dr. Sahl,
Department of Epidemiology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
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Assisted in preparation of reading materials for the course
Assisted in preparation of the exam materials and grading the exams and students’ inclass presentations
Helped 20 students enrolled in the class with mastering of the course materials and
preparing presentations
Held weakly office hour to answer student’s questions
Was responsible for distributing the lecture materials and assigned readings to the
students and scheduling student’s in-class presentations
Was responsible for setting up the in-class projector and computer for the course
instructors and the guest speakers
Field health educator
September 2001 - July 2002
Community Outreach Prevention Education (COPE) program, UCLA, Los Angeles,
CA
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As a part of a team of health educators taught health related topics to a group of
10-15 children ages 5-10 from disadvantaged families living in a transitional
housing complex for homeless mothers and to high school students at Boys and
Girls Club of America
Served as a personal mentor and a tutor to a 6 year old elementary school student
with a special needs
SKILLS
Design conduct and evaluation of epidemiological studies
Reporting and presenting of the findings to the peers, policy makers, and clients
Data analysis of large national databases using software packages such as
SAS, some STATA and SPSS, Sigma Plots, EndNote, Microsoft Excel, Power Point, Word for
the purpose of creating reports, presentations, abstracts and writing articles for publication in
peer-reviewed journals
Manuscript and abstract writing
Literature reviews
Review of publications for the purpose of conducting a Meta Analysis
Data collection (interviewing subjects), editing, validation
PUBLICATIONS
1. Hatamizadeh P, Ravel V, Lukowsky LR, Molnar MZ, Moradi H, Harley K, Pahl M,
Kovesdy CP, Kalantar-Zadeh K. Iron indices and survival in maintenance hemodialysis
patients with and without polycystic kidney disease. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2013
Nov;28(11):2889-98. doi: 10.1093/ndt/gft411. PMID: 24169614
2. Lukowsky LR, Kheifets L, Arah OA, Nissenson AR, Kalantar-Zadeh K. Nutritional
predictors of early mortality in incident hemodialysis patients. Int. Urol. Nephrol, 2013.
May 24. [Epub ahead of print]. PMID:23703546
3. Park J, Mehrotra R Rhee CM, Molnar MZ, Lukowsky LR, Patel SS, Nissenson AR,
Kopple JD, Kovesdy CP, Kalantar-Zadeh K. Serum creatinine level, a surrogate of
muscle mass, predicts mortality in peritoneal dialysis patients. Nephrol. Dial.
Transplant. 2013 Aug;28(8):2146-55. doi: 10.1093/ndt/gft213. Epub 2013 Jun 5.
PMID:23743018
4. Lukowsky LR, Mehrotra R, Kheifets L, Arah OA, Nissenson AR, Kalantar-Zadeh K.
Comparing mortality of peritoneal and hemodialysis patients in the first two years of
dialysis therapy: a marginal structural model analysis. CJASN, 2013 Apr;8(4):61928.doi:10.2215/CJN.04810512. Epub 2013 Jan 10. PMID:23703546
5. Shah A, Molnar MZ, Lukowsky LR, Zaritsky JJ, Kovesdy CP, Kalantar-Zadeh K.
Hemoglobin level and survival in hemodialysis patients with Polycystic Kidney
Disease and the role of administered erythropoietin. AJH. 2012 Aug; 87(8):833-6.
10.1002/ajh.23255. Epub 2012 May 28. PMID: 22641426
6. Lukowsky LR, Kheifets L, Arah OA, Nissenson AR, Kalantar-Zadeh K. Predictors of
Early Mortality in Incident Hemodialysis Patients: New insights. Am J Nephrol.
2012;35(6):548-58. doi: 10.1159/000338673. Epub 2012 Jun 6 PMID:22677686
7. Lievense H, Kalantar-Zadeh K, Lukowsky LR, Duong U, Nissenson A, Krishnan M,
Krediet R, Mehrotra R. Relationship of body size and initial dialysis modality on
subsequent transplantation, mortality, and weight gain of ESRD patients. NDT. 2012
Sep;27(9):3631-8. 10.1093/ndt/gfs131. Epub 2012 May 2. PMID:22553372
8. Lukowsky LR, Molnar MZ, Zaritsky JJ, Sim JJ, Mucsi I, Kovesdy CP, Kalantar-Zadeh
K. Mineral and bone disorders and survival in hemodialysis patients with and without
polycystic kidney disease. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2012 Jul;27(7):2899-907. doi:
10.1093/ndt/gfr747. Epub 2011 Dec 29. PMID:22207323
9. Molnar MZ, Mehrotra R, Duong U, Bunnapradish S, Lukowsky LR, Krishnan M,
Kovesdy CP, Kalantar-Zadeh K. Dialysis modality and outcomes in kidney transplant
recipients. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2012 Feb; 7(2):332-41. doi:
10.2215/CJN.07110711. Epub 2011 Dec 8. PMID:22156753
10. Kalantar-Zadeh K, Streja E, Molnar MZ, Lukowsky LR, Krishnan M, Kovesdy CP,
Greenland S. Mortality prediction by surrogates of body composition: an examination
of ‘Obesity Paradox’ in hemodialysis patients using composite ranking score analysis.
Am J Epidemiol. 2012 Apr15;175(8):793-803. 10.1093/aje/kwr384. Epub 2012 Mar
16. PMID:22427612
11. Chiu YW, Jiwakanon J, Lukowsky L, Duong U, Kalantar-Zadeh K, Mehrotra R. An
update on the comparisons of mortality outcomes of hemodialysis and peritoneal
dialysis patients. Semin Nephrol. 2011 Ma;r31(2):152-8. doi:
10.1016/j.semnephrol.2011.01.004. PMID:21439429
12. Molnar MZ, Lukowsky LR, Streja E, Dukkipati R, Jing J, Nissenson AR, Kovesdy
CP, Kalantar-Zadeh K.Blood pressure and survival in long-term hemodialysis patients
with and without polycystic kidney disease. J Hypertens. 2010 Dec;(28)12:2475-84.
doi: 10.1097/HJH.0b013e32833e4fd8 PMID:20720499
13. Kalantar-Zadeh K, Miller JE, Kovesdy CP, Mehrotra R, Lukowsky LR, Streja E,
Ricks J, Jing J, Nissenson AR, Greenland S, Norris KC. Impact of race on
hyperparathyroidism, mineral disarrays, administered vitamin D and survival in
hemodialysis patients. J Bone Miner Res. 2010 Dec;25(12):2724-34. doi:
10.1002/jbmr.177. Epub 2010 Jul 7. Erratum in: J Bone Miner Res. 2011
Feb;26(2):439. PMID:20614473
Abstracts and Presentations:
1. Elani Streja, Rajnish Mehrotra, Lilia Lukowsky, Jongha Park, Wei Ling Law, Connie
Rhee, Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh. Serum Calcium and Phosphorous and Mortality:
Comparision between Peritoneal Dialysis and Hemodialysis. [poster presentation at the
ISN World Congress of Nephrology June 2013, Hong Kong
http://www.abstracts2view.com/wcn/view.php?nu=WCN13L_1411]
2. Lilia R Lukowsky, Leeka I Kheifets, Onyebuchi A. Arah, Allen R. Nissenson, and
Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh. Associations between Changes in Protein Catabolic Rate and
Mortality in Incident Hemodialysis Patients During First two Years after Hemodialysis
Initiation [poster presentation at the Kidney Week November 2012 San Diego, CA]
3. Lilia R Lukowsky, Leeka I Kheifets, Onyebuchi A. Arah, Allen R. Nissenson, and
Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh. Associations of Serum Albumin Level and Dietary protein
Intake Estimate with Patient Mortality in the First 24 Months of Incident Hemodialysis
[poster presentation at the Kidney Week November 2012 San Diego, CA]
4. Lilia R Lukowsky, Leeka I Kheifets, Onyebuchi A. Arah, Allen R. Nissenson, and
Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh. Associations between Quarterly Changes in Serum Albumin
and Mortality in the First 24 Months after Initiation of Hemodialysis [poster
presentation at the Kidney Week November 2012 San Diego, CA]
5. Lilia R Lukowsky, Leeka I Kheifets, Onyebuchi A. Arah, Allen R. Nissenson, and
Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh. Marginal Structural Modeling of Dialysis Modality and
Survival in Incident Dialysis Patients during the first Two Years [poster presentation at
the Kidney Week November 2012 San Diego, CA]
6. Lilia R Lukowsky, Rajnish Mehrotra, Jongha Park Miklos Z Molnar Sapna P. Singh,
Joel D Kopple; Csaba P Kovesdy, and Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh. Decrement of Serum
Creatinine Level over Time and Increased Death Risk in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients
(PD) [poster presentation at the Kidney Week November 2012 San Diego, CA]
7. Lilia R Lukowsky, Leeka I Kheifets, Onyebuchi A. Arah, Allen R. Nissenson, and
Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh. Vascular Access Type and Early Death in the First Two Years
of Hemodialysis Treatment. ASN 2011 [poster presentation at the Kidney Week
November 2011 Philadelphia, PA]
8. Anuja P. Shah, Miklos Z Molnar, Lilia R Lukowsky, Joshua Zaritsky, Csaba P.
Kovesdy, and Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh. Hemoglobin Level and Survival in
Hemodialysis Patients with and without Polycystic Kidney Disease: The Role of
Administered Erythropoietin ASN 2011 [poster presentation at the Kidney Week
November 2011 Philadelphia, PA]
9. Miklos Z Molnar, Rajnish Mehrotra, Uyen Duong, Suphamai Bunnapradist, Lilia R
Lukowsky, Mahesh Krishnan, Csaba P. Kovesdy and Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh. Dialysis
Modality and Outcomes in Kidney Transplant Recipients. ASN 2011 [poster
presentation at the Kidney Week November 2011 Philadelphia, PA]
10. Uyen Duong, Rajnish Mehrotra, Csaba P. Kovesdy, Lilia Lukowsky, Allen R.
Nissenson, Miklos Z Molnar, and Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh. 84 Comparing Mortality
Risk of Minerals, PRT and Alkaline Phosphate over 6 years in 12,422 Chronic
Peritoneal Dialysis (CPD) Patients. AJKD April 2011; 57(4):B37
11. Miklos Z Molnar, Lilia Lukowsky, Csaba P. Kovesdy, and Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh.
210 Comparing Mortality of Non-Diabetic Maintenance Hemodialysis (MHD) Patients
with and without Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD). AJKD April 2011; 57(4):B69
12. Miklos Z Molnar, Uyen Duong, Rajnish Mehrotra, Csaba P. Kovesdy, Lilia Lukowsky,
and Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh. 211 Revisiting Mortality-Predictability of Serum Albumin
Measurement in Hemodialysis Patients. AJKD April 2011, 57(4):B69.
13. Lilia R Lukowsky, Leeka I Kheifets, Onyebuchi A. Arah, Csaba P. Kovesdy, and
Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh.Comparing Demographic Factors as Predictors of the First 90Day Mortality in Incident Hemodialysis Patients. ASN 2010 [poster presentation at
Renal Week, November 2010, Denver, CO]
14. Lilia R Lukowsky, Leeka I Kheifets, Onyebuchi A. Arah, Allen R. Nissenson, Csaba P.
Kovesdy and Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh. Relative Mortality Trends in the First 2 Years
among Incident Hemodialysis Patients. ASN 2010 [poster presentation at Renal Week,
November 2010, Denver, CO]
15. Lilia R Lukowsky, Leeka I Kheifets, Onyebuchi A. Arah, Allen R. Nissenson, Csaba P.
Kovesdy and Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh. Laboratory Measures as Predictors of the First 3Month Mortality in Incident Hemodialysis Patients. ASN 2010 [poster presentation at
Renal Week, November 2010, Denver, CO]
16. Debbie Benner, Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, Lilia R. Lukowsky, Steve Wilson, Kathy
Lahr, Karen Spach, Mahesh Krishnan. Association of the Malnutrition-Inflammation
Score with First 90-day Mortality in Incident Hemodialysis (HD) Patients. ASN 2010
[poster presentation at Renal Week, November 2010, Denver, CO]
17. Lilia Lukowsky, Gabriel McNeill, Elani Streja, Jennie Jing, Mahesh Krishnan,
Allen R Nissenson, and Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh. Comparing Mortality-Predictability of
Hyper-Phosphotoamia in Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients with and without
Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD). Am J Kidney Dis 2010 [poster presentation at the
NKF Spring Clinical Meeting May 2010, Orlando, FL]
18. Gabriel McNeill, Elani Streja, Lilia Lukowsky, Csaba P Kovesdy, Jennie Jing,
Mahesh Krishnan, Allen R Nissenson, Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh. Secondary
Hyperparathyroidism & Survival in Hemo-Dialysis Patients with and without
Polycystic Kidney. Am J Kidney Dis 2010 [poster presentation at the
NKF Spring Clinical Meeting, May 2010, Orlando, FL]
19. Lilia Lukowsky, Mahesh Krishnan, Jessica E Miller, Jennie Jing, Allen R Nissenson,
Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh. Examining the Patterns of Mortality and its Changes Over
Time During the First Months of Maintenance Hemodialysis Treatment. Hemodial Int
2010 [poster presentation at the Annual Dialysis Conference, March 2010 Seattle, WA]