Rate My Professor Ashley Frazer-Abel

Ashley Frazer-Abel, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine-Rheumatology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, School of Medicine. She holds a PhD from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (2000) and a BA from Grinnell College (1990). As Director of Exsera BioLabs, she oversees a specialized clinical and research laboratory focused on complement system testing. Frazer-Abel's research specializes in complement biology, including deficiencies, dysregulation, therapeutics, and advanced laboratory analysis with emphasis on quality control. Her work explores complement's role in rheumatic and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension, kidney diseases like IgA nephropathy, membranous nephropathy, and glomerulopathies, age-related macular degeneration, type 1 diabetes islet autoimmunity, and infectious diseases.

Frazer-Abel has published extensively on these topics in high-impact journals. Key publications include "Association of Carboxypeptidase B2 Gene Polymorphisms With Graft Loss in Kidney Transplantation" (Transplant Direct, 2026), "A single-arm phase 2 trial of an investigational RNA therapeutic to complement factor B sefaxersen for treatment of IgA nephropathy" (Kidney Int, 2026), "Autoantibodies reactive with glomerular endothelial cells and podocytes in patients with membranous nephropathy" (J Transl Autoimmun, 2026), "Biomarkers in the Management of Complement-Mediated Kidney Diseases in the Era of Complement Therapeutics" (Clin J Am Soc Nephrol, 2025), "Genetic mapping of complement system proteins for islet autoimmunity in children with high risk of T1D" (Commun Biol, 2025), "A Phase 2 Trial of Hydroxychloroquine in Individuals at Risk for Rheumatoid Arthritis" (Arthritis Rheumatol, 2025), and "Dynamic Risk of Systemic Complement Activation With Time to Progression to Advanced Age-Related Macular Degeneration" (JAMA Ophthalmol, 2025). She was Principal Investigator on NIH grant F32AI050392 for "Mechanisms of Nicotine Induced Immunosuppression" (2002-2005). Frazer-Abel has contributed to external quality assurance programs for complement laboratories and served in editorial roles, including for Frontiers in Immunology on autoantibodies in kidney diseases. Her expertise advances diagnostics and therapeutics for complement-mediated conditions.