Dr. Bonakdar, a North Carolina native, takes pride in caring for the people of his home state. After graduating with highest honors with a degree in chemistry from Duke University, he spent the next several years completing his medical training down the road at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, having to face the age-old dilemma of where to put his college basketball allegiance. Amongst his many achievements at UNC, he was hand-picked to receive the prestigious Internal Medicine Chairman’s Award by Dr. Ron Falk, a world leader in the field of Nephrology. He remained at UNC, one of the top glomerulonephritis centers in the country, to receive his nephrology training and completed an additional year to become a UNOS certified Transplant Nephrologist. He received his Nephrology board certification in 2019 and joined Durham Nephrology Associates in 2020. His career interests include kidney transplantation, glomerulonephritis and clinical research.