Committee Members

Rosy Chavez-Najera earned her Ph.D. from the University of Nevada Reno and completed her Post-Doctoral training at the Hawai’i Psychology Internship Consortium. She is the associate director at the NAVIGATE First-Episode Psychosis clinic, providing outpatient services to individuals with psychotic disorders and schizophrenia. Since earning her Ph.D., she completed an MBA in healthcare administration, co-authored a book chapter, four scientific manuscripts, and serves as community/joint faculty for the school of medicine. She is also a senior editor for APA’s Clinician Reader’s Digest. Her expertise includes working with individuals experiencing mood disorders, trauma, and serious mental illness.

Vin-Cent Wu, group director of Taiwan Primary Aldosteronism Investigation (TAIPAI) and the National Taiwan University Study Group on Acute Renal Failure (NSARF), is a Professor of Medicine with career-long research in acute kidney injury and primary aldosteronism, and nephrology while being an activist for translational medicine.

Vin-Cent actively involved in the analysis of the largest database of acute kidney injury in the (NSARF and Consortium for Acute Kidney Injury and Renal Diseases (CAKs) strive to advance high-quality care in acute kidney injury (AKI) and aspires to plunge the worldwide increasing prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) from the perspective of AKI-CKD transition. I am the committee of acute Disease Quality Initiative (ADQI) and Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO).

Vin-Cent conducts the TAIPAI database, which is the largest registry about primary aldosteronism in Chinese people. This project is to improve the diagnosis of aldosteronism and aldosterone-related cardiovascular, psychosocial morbidity and mortality.

Dr. Sahil Sabharwal graduated medical school from St. George’s University School of Medicine and currently practices Internal Medicine at the University of Arkansas Northwest Campus in Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA. He has presented original research across the United States, including at the American College of Physicians and the American College of Gastroenterology national conferences. Dr. Sabharwal has also published in many prestigious journals, including the American Journal of Gastroenterology and the Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery, and has won awards at both the state and national levels. Dr. Sabharwal also serves on the peer-review editorial team for the Journal of Spine Surgery.

Hsuan-Yu Hung is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Pharmacy, Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan and a part-time lecturer there. He has been practicing as a pharmacist for 12 years and his areas of research interest are evidence based medicine, epidemiology, chronic hepatitis C, type 2 diabetes mellitus and the effectiveness of direct acting antivirals. With limited journal publications, he is also a peer reviewer for some good medical journals and an active contributor to international conferences. Hung’s work is aimed at improving clinical research and therapeutic outcomes in liver and metabolic diseases.

Kunming Pan is a PhD graduate in clinical pharmacy. As a clinical pharmacist in Zhongshan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University, I have long been concerned about the safety of clinical medication, especially drug-induced kidney injury, vancomycin-induced acute kidney injury (AKI). I will present my work around vancomycin induced AKI. Vancomycin combined with piperacillin tazobactam is the most attention and controversial combination drug regimen in the field of vancomycin induced AKI, and I will focus on this part of my work in this presentation.

Fabrizio Cristiano graduated in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Chieti in 2006, he specialized in nephrology at the University of Modena in 2012. He has been a medical director at the ASL of Lanciano Vasto Chieti since 2017 at the Nephrology and dialysis unit of the hospital of Ortona. He obtained the VASED master’s degree for the creation of vascular accesses in hemodialysis at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa in 2024; he is currently a PhD student in Medical Biotechnology at the University of Chieti with scientific collaboration activity at the Nephrology, dialysis and transplant unit of the Italian hospital in Buenos Aires

Zineb Ben Khadda is a young Moroccan researcher who earned her PhD in December 2023 from the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of Fès. Her doctoral research focused on Chronic Interstitial Nephritis of Unknown Cause (CINAC), also known as CKDu, with a particular emphasis on farmers exposed to pesticides. Passionate about public health, she continues her research on the links between environmental factors and chronic diseases, aiming to contribute to the prevention and management of emerging diseases.

Caleb D. Alterman As an ambitious and diligent student, I am deeply committed to expanding my knowledge in Biology and Chemistry. Concurrently, I am devoted to refining my written and verbal communication skills while pursuing academic excellence. My overarching aspiration is to pursue a medical education after college. Beyond academic endeavors, I enjoy downhill skiing, cycling, and global travel.

Professor Andrew Davenport is a distinguished nephrologist based in the United Kingdom, affiliated with University College London (UCL). With decades of experience in nephrology, Professor Davenport has made significant contributions to the understanding and treatment of kidney disease, particularly in the areas of dialysis and fluid management. He has published extensively in leading medical journals and is recognized internationally for his clinical research and academic leadership. In addition to his research, he plays an active role in teaching and mentoring medical students and healthcare professionals at UCL.

Professor Kamm began his career at Northwestern University earning a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He subsequently earned both a Master’s and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at MIT. Since 1978, he has been a professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. Professor Kamm was one of the founding members of the Biological Engineering department when it was created in 1998.

Patrick Honoré, graduated from Louvain Medical School as MD (1988) with high distinction, Specialist in Internal Medicine (1993) with the Highest Distinction , Intensive Care Specialist (1994) with the Highest Distinction and Nephrologist (1995) with the Highest Distinction. During his internship, he completed more than 2 1/2 years specialisation in Nephrology and Dialysis. For almost 5 years, he received ICU training abroad (United Kingdom, Australia and USA). Pr Honoré is Board member of the Belgian Intensive Care Society and closely involved in the Nephrology section of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine. He is also a distinguished member or consultant of many scientific committees and decision-making organizations dedicated to diagnosis, treatment, and research in the field of acute kidney injury in the critically ill. Pr Honoré authored or co-authored more than 500 peer-reviewed papers ,more than 750 abstracts and more than 85 book chapters . He was also editor of three books dedicated to Critical Care Nephrology.He has been invited as a speaker at more than 750 national and international conferences in almost 100 different countries. He acts as reviewer for more than 45 international journals, including top-ranking journals in the field of critical care medicine and nephrology. He is a member of the editorial board of several 25 high-standard journals. He is also Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Translational Internal Medicine (open access) since 2013 (in pubmed since 2016), editor-in-chief of Journal of Translational Critical Care Medicine & Journal of Translational Kidney Research since 2015 (open access too).He is also appointed as section editor for Renal in Annals of Intensive Care starting from February 2016.Since 2009, he fulltime fulfils the position of Head of Clinics in the Intensive Care department of the University Hospital, Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB) and became Clinical Tutor and Senior Lecturer at the VUB Faculty of Medicine.Since 2012, he fulfils the position of Full Professor at the VUB Faculty of Medicine. In the ICU department, he leads the Critical Care Nephrology Platform which incorporates intensivists, nephrologists and nurses dedicated to daily education, research and treatment of acute kidney injury. In particular, he directs and organizes continuous renal replacement therapy on a 24/24; 7/7 on-call basis.He has also start a CRRT program using citrate dedicated to small children (less than 10 kg) in the UZB -PICU since 2013.Since January 2018, he is holding the position of Co-Director of ICU Department and ICU Research Director, Prof of Medicine at the ULB University.Since the 01 Jan 2022, he is holding the position of Full Director of ICU Dept at CHU-Brugmann..Since November 2022, he is holding the position of Head of ICU, CHU UCL Namur Godinne and Prof at the UCL University sinds July 2022..

Dr. Mohan, a distinguished physician-scientist, trained in Pathology and Rheumatology at the National University of Singapore and Singapore General Hospital. He completed his doctoral thesis on the cellular immunology of lupus at Tufts University, Boston, and his post-doctoral training focused on the genetic analysis of murine lupus. As an independent investigator, his research has centered on elucidating the cellular, molecular, and genetic factors leading to murine lupus nephritis, with corresponding translational studies in human lupus nephritis. His recent work has focused on translating basic biological findings towards the early diagnosis of end-organ involvement in autoimmune diseases. Currently, Dr. Mohan’s studies utilize proteomic platforms to discover new biomarkers and targets in chronic rheumatic diseases and selected cancers, applying advanced bioengineering technologies to enhance the management of these ailments.

Dr. Muthusamy Thangaraju (Raju) is a breast cancer research scientist. I started my research career as a breast cancer Scientist in 1991 when I was a graduate student at the University of Madras, India. Then I moved to the McGill University, Montreal, Canada as a post-doctoral fellowships and studied the role of protein tyrosine phosphatases, SHP1 and SHP2, in breast cancer growth and progression. Then I joined at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, and expanded my research in breast cancer and investigated the role of BRCA1 and BRCA2, the two breast cancer susceptibility genes, in the regulation of DNA damage repair and apoptosis in breast cancer. Then I joined the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Frederick, MD where I explored the functional implication of CCAAT/Enhancer Binding Protein delta (CEBPD) in mammary gland development and its relevance to mammary tumor growth and progression. Currently, I am a Professor at the Augusta University and studying the role of epigenetics and regulation of mammary gland development and its association with mammary stem cells (MaSC) and breast cancer stem cell (BCSC) self-renewal. I also studies the role of GPR109A, Netrin-1, and Epigenetics in Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD).

Sergio L Schmidt has completed his PhD at the age of 31 years from Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and postdoctoral studies from the Deparment of Psychiatry at University of Alberta (Canada).  He is the director of Neurology Post-Graduate Program in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil . He has published more than 100  papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an editorial board member of reputed journals.

Zhang Sen obtained a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Shandong University in 2002, and then received a master’s degree and a doctor’s degree from Peking Union Medical College, China, respectively. From 2008 to 2011, he as a visiting scholar at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He has been engaged in the research and development of novel drugs for almost 20 years. He has conducted and participated in a number of national grants including basic research and R & D of the new drugs. As the first author or corresponding author, he has published more than 20 SCI indexed papers, applied for 10 patents and 3 new drugs are currently under research.

Dr. Farsad Afshinnia is Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Michigan. He is trained in Internal Medicine and Nephrology. His clinical responsibilities include ICU and general nephrology care in the inpatient and outpatient settings. His research focuses are on understanding metabolic risk determinants of progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD), and identification of prognostic metabolites predicting CKD progression using multiomics platforms in established CKD cohorts with and without diabetes. To that end the impact of novel biomarkers in risk stratification and early diagnosis, besides their impact on renal and cardiovascular outcomes beyond currently used traditional biomarkers are under investigation.