Dr. Malavika Prasad (friends and family call me Malu)

Assistant Professor
Pediatric Nephrology

How long have you worked in Pediatrics?   Finished my Fellowship in 2019.

What is your favorite thing about your job? It is a mixed bag! Ranges from seeing bread and butter cases to diagnosing some cool but difficult renal conditions to providing acute care nephrology and holding hands for our chronic kidney disease sprinting from dialysis to transplant.

What is your hometown?
It is complicated J. Born in Ahmedabad, city in Gujarat,India. Stayed in Mumbai followed by Chennai (also cities in India) for most of my school and medical school.

What is your favorite movie?
Hard to pick one since I am a movie buff. Would say Indiana Jones, Dark Knight, Lord of the Rings, Eat Prey Love, Forest Gump and Pursuit of Happiness.

Tell us about your family:
My parents and my younger sister live in India. Parents are retired bankers and sister took a chill job in financial consulting firm. I have a four year old daughter named Swara (means melody) and we moved to Louisville last year.

Do you have pets?
I wish. Would love to have a labradoodle or a golden retriever.

What are you doing, where are you going, for your next vacation?
In my downtime (when I have any), I spend all my time with my 4 year old. Otherwise I paint and hike. My next vacation may be to Alaska or Banff, Canada.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A marine biologist for Nat Geo or a painter on streets of Montmarte in Paris. If couldn’t do either, then a biology teacher.

What is one of your proudest accomplishments?
Me matching into surgical residency at Univ of North Carolina. Followed by how I managed my daughter alone through different yet difficult personal circumstances in the past 7 years.

What is your favorite quote?
"Ruin is essential for transformation."

What was your first job?
Medical officer at a hospital in Chennai, India.

What is your favorite ice cream?
Amorino cream and black cherries gelato, Dulce de leche.