Shruti Gupta, MD, MPH

Shruti earned her undergraduate degree from Yale University, her MD from the University of Virginia, and completed Residency in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. She completed Fellowship in Nephrology at the BWH/MGH Joint Program, during which time she earned an MPH from Harvard School of Public Health and received an F32 grant from the NIH. Shruti is currently supported by an NIH K23 Career Development Award. She is Director of Onconephrology at BWH/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the President and Founder of the American Society of Onconephrology, and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She and Dr. Leaf have co-authored >30 papers, including first-author papers in JAMA Internal Medicine and Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. In her free time, she enjoys running, yoga, and traveling.

Rebecca Karp Leaf, MD

Rebecca earned her undergraduate degree from Columbia University, her MD from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and completed Residency in Internal Medicine and Fellowship in Hematology-Oncology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She is a Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Porphyria Center in the Division of Benign Hematology at Massachusetts General Hospital, and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Rebecca is interested in antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, hematologic complications of pregnancy, and porphyria. She published original first-author papers in American Journal of Hematology and British Journal of Haematology, and co-authored papers in Annals of Internal Medicine and Blood. She has also served as an expert consultant and co-author on five New England Journal of Medicine clinicopathologic conferences.

Osman Arif Yilmam, MD

Osman earned his medical degree from Ankara University School of Medicine and completed residency in Internal Medicine at Norwalk Hospital of the Yale University program. He is currently a Fellow at the BWH/MGH Joint Nephrology Fellowship Program. His interests include acute kidney injury, glomerulonephritis, and onconephrology. He is currently working on a project examining the change in erythropoietin and 1,25(OH)2 D levels in human acute kidney injury. Outside of work, he enjoys outdoor activities, playing soccer, reading, and cooking.

Sarah Kaunfer, BS

Sarah was raised in Massachusetts and graduated from UMass Amherst in 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. She joined the Leaf Lab as a Research Coordinator in 2022 with the goal of studying AKI following cardiac surgery. In her free time, Sarah enjoys French horn performance, community service, and travel. In the future, she plans to pursue a career in medicine.

Lavanya Durai, BS, BA

Lavanya grew up in Florida and joined the Leaf Lab as a Research Coordinator in 2022 after graduating from the University of Florida, where she studied Biology and Political Science. She plans to pursue a career in biotechnology or medicine in the future. During her free time, Lavanya enjoys photography, exploring the city, and trying new hobbies.

Tushar Shenoy, BS

Tushar grew up in Florida and graduated from the University of Florida in 2023 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Microbiology. After graduation, he joined the Leaf Lab as a research coordinator. In his free time, Tushar enjoys weightlifting, playing soccer, and cooking. He plans to pursue a career in medicine.

Audrey Monson, BS

Audrey moved to Boston after graduating in 2022 from UNC-Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. She joined the Leaf Lab in 2023 as a Research Trainee while she completes her Master’s in Medical Sciences at Boston University. In her free time, Audrey enjoys skiing, reading, and playing with her cat, Oliver. She plans to pursue a career in medicine.

Winston Leaf, MD, PhD

Winston joined the Leaf Lab in 2019 as a postdoctoral research trainee. He is passionate about eating snacks and taking long naps.

Robert Hayden, MD

2021-2023

Rob earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, and completed residency in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. During his time in the Leaf Lab, Rob worked on project examining renal outcomes following rasburicase administration in patients with hyperuricemia and acute kidney injury. He is currently a Fellow at the BWH/MGH Joint Nephrology Fellowship Program.

Shobana Krishnamurthy, MBBS

2022-2023

Shobana grew up in Hyderabad, India and graduated from SVS Medical College and Hospital in 2018. She joined the Leaf Lab as a Postdoctoral Research Trainee in 2022. Shobana assisted with a multicenter randomized clinical trial investigating nicotinamide mononucleotide (a form of vitamin B3) as a novel treatment for COVID-19-associated AKI. She plans to pursue residency in Internal Medicine.

Helena Kim, BA

2021-2023

Helena grew up in New Jersey and graduated from Cornell University in 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Society. Following graduation, she joined the Leaf Lab as a Research Coordinator and lead an independent study investigating AKI in patients following bone marrow transplantation. Helena is currently a medical student at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Rafia Ali, MBBCh

2021-2022

Rafia was born in Karachi, Pakistan, raised in Aberdeen, Scotland, and graduated from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Bahrain in 2020. She joined the Leaf Lab in 2021 as a Postdoctoral Research Trainee and conducted projects involving the role of Rasburicase in Tumor Lysis Syndrome and prevention of Acute Kidney Injury during cardiac surgery. Rafia is currently pursuing her residency in Internal Medicine at Hackensack University Medical Center.

Charlotte Thomas, BS

2021-2022 

Charlotte grew up in Iowa, graduated from Duke University in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, and joined the Leaf Lab as a Research Coordinator. During her time in the Leaf Lab, she led a study investigating the novel relationship between platelet factor-4 antibodies and AKI in hospitalized patients. Charlotte is currently a medical student at Harvard Medical School.

Isabel Park, BA

2020-2022 

Isabel grew up in New Jersey and joined the Leaf Lab as a Research Coordinator after attending Amherst College, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics. In the Leaf Lab, she helped launch DEFEAT-AKI, a phase 2, multicenter, randomized clinical trial investigating iron chelation as a novel therapy for prevention of AKI following cardiac surgery. She also co-authored a manuscript in Annals of the American Thoracic Society, and led a study investigating the relationship between platelet count and risk of AKI across multiple clinical settings. Isabel plans to pursue a career in medicine.

Harkarandeep Singh, MBBS

2020-2021

Harkarandeep grew up in Punjab, India and graduated from Seth G.S. Medical College, Mumbai, in 2019. He joined the Leaf Lab as a post-doctoral research trainee in 2020. During his time in the Leaf Lab, he co-authored publications in JAMA Internal Medicine and BMJ. Harkaran is currently completing his residency at Rochester General Hospital for Internal Medicine.

Shreyak Sharma, MBBS

2018-2020

Shreyak grew up in Punjab, India, and graduated from Government Medical College and Hospital in Chandigarh in 2017. During his time in the Leaf Lab, Shreyak co-authored an original publication in the New England Journal of Medicine on suPAR as a novel marker and therapeutic target in human AKI, a first-author manuscript in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology on iron chelation as a therapeutic strategy for AKI prevention, and a co-first author manuscript in Kidney International Reports on AKI following paracentesis. He also co-authored manuscripts in the Journal of the American Society of NephrologyNephrology Dialysis Transplantation, JAMA Internal Medicine, and BMJ. Shreyak completed residency in Internal Medicine at Yale, and is currently a Fellow in Gastroenterology at Yale.

Frank Cortazar, MD

2015-2020

Frank completed his training in Nephrology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Joint Nephrology Fellowship Program, and subsequently joined the faculty at MGH. During this time, he and Dr. Leaf worked together on two multicenter clinical studies examining the clinicopathologic features of immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated AKI. This work resulted in first-author publications in Kidney International (>300 citations) and the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. Frank is a nationally recognized expert in glomerulonephritis, and serves as the Director of the New York Nephrology Vasculitis and Glomerular Center in Albany, NY.

Kapil Kumar Pokharel, MBBS

2019-2020

Kapil grew up in Pokhara, Nepal and graduated from B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in 2016. During his time in the Leaf lab he co-authored original publications in JAMA Internal Medicine, Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, and BMJ. Kapil is currently completing residency in Family Medicine at Louisiana State University, Shreveport.

Samah Abu Omar, MD

2019-2020

Samah was born and raised in Amman, Jordan. She graduated from Jordan University of Science and Technology School of Medicine. During her time in the Leaf Lab she co-authored manuscripts in JAMA Internal Medicine and BMJ. Samah completed residency in Internal Medicine at MedStar Health, Georgetown University School of Medicine. She is currently an endocrinology fellow at Oregon Health & Science University.

Tanveer Shaukat, MBBS

2019-2020

Tanveer graduated from King Edward Medical University, Pakistan in 2017. During his time in the Leaf Lab he co-authored a manuscript in JAMA Internal Medicine and BMJ. Tanveer is currently completing Internal Medicine residency at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in Queens, NY.

Zoé Kibbelaar, BA

2018-2019

Zoé was born and raised on Curaçao, a small island in the Dutch Caribbean. She graduated from Harvard College and joined the BWH Renal Clinical Research Team in 2018, working under the supervision of Drs. Sushrut Waikar, Finnian McCausland, and David Leaf. Her work on immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated acute kidney injury resulted in a co-first author publication in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. She also co-authored manuscripts in JAMA Internal Medicine and BMJ. Zoé is currently a medical student at Harvard Medical School.

Deekchha Uprety, MBBS

2018-2019

Deekchha grew up in Kathmandu, Nepal, and graduated from Kathmandu Medical College in 2014.  She worked in the Leaf Lab from 2018 to 2019 as a postdoctoral research trainee, where she co-authored a manuscript in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology on immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated AKI. She is currently completing residency in Internal Medicine at Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania.

Sam Short, MD

2017-2019

Sam grew up in Washington State and graduated from Amherst College. He joined the BWH Renal Clinical Research Team in 2017 and worked under the mentorship of Drs. Sushrut Waikar, Finnian McCausland, and David Leaf. His work on hemoglobin A1c as a predictor of cardiac surgery-associated AKI resulted in an oral presentation at the 2019 ASN Kidney Week conference. He published an original first-author paper in Critical Care Medicine, and also co-authored manuscripts in JAMA Internal Medicine, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, and BMJ. Sam is graduated from the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont in 2023 and is pursuing residency in North Carolina. Sam and Dr. Leaf continue to work together on various collaborations.

Neeraja Krishnasamudram, MBBS

2016-2018

Neeraja grew up in Tirupati, India, and graduated from Sri Venkateswara Medical College in 2007. She worked in the Leaf Lab as a postdoctoral research trainee and co-authored a manuscript in Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation. Neeraja is currently completing residency in Internal Medicine at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital affiliated with Georgetown University Hospital. She hopes to apply for Fellowship in Endocrinology.

Kirolos A. Jacob, MD, PhD

2015

Kirolos spent three months in the Leaf Lab as a research trainee during his final year of medical school at Utrecht University (The Netherlands). Under the dual supervision of Dr. Leaf and Dr. Sushrut Waikar, he analyzed data from a large, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of dexamethasone in cardiac surgery, resulting in a first-author publication in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. Dr. Jacob is currently a resident in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Utrecht University Medical Center. Dr. Jacob and Dr. Leaf continue to work together on various collaborations and have co-authored manuscripts in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, Anesthesiology Clinics, Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, and Kidney360.

Anas Raed, MD

2013-2014

Anas earned his Medical Degree from the University of Damascus Faculty of Medicine (Syria), and worked as a postdoctoral research trainee in the Leaf Lab. During his time in the Leaf Lab he published a second-author paper in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and co-authored a paper in Critical CareHe completed residency in Internal Medicine at Augusta University, Medical College of Georgia, where he is also currently completing Fellowship in Gastroenterology.