Our Fellows
Sebastian Gandarillas, MD
First-Year Fellow
Hometown: Quito, Ecuador Medical School: Universidad Central del Ecuador Residency: Lincoln Medical Center, NY Clinical interests: Acute kidney injury, acid base disorders, electrolyte imbalances Hobbies: Fitness, running, watching soccer, electronic music Favorite part of kidney: Macula densa (the brains behind fluid and bytes hemeostasis)
Sungsoo Kim, MD
First-Year Fellow
Hometown: San Jose, CA Medical School: SUNY Downstate Residency: Westchester Medical Center Clinical interests: Electrolyte Disturbances, Acid-Base Disorders, CKD Hobbies: Trying new food places in NYC Favorite part of kidney: Proximal tubule
Melissa Notis, MD
First-Year Fellow
Hometown: Tenafly, NJ Medical School: Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School Residency: George Washington University Clinical interests: General nephrology, academic medicine, home dialysis Hobbies: Dance, drawing, watching hockey (let's go Rangers) Favorite part of kidney: Juxtaglomerular apparatus
Madhumita Rajagopal, MD, PhD
First-Year Fellow
Hometown: Lagos, Nigeria Medical School: Albert Einstein College of Medicine Residency: The Mount Sinai Hospital Clinical interests: Hyponatremia, fluid-electrolyte disturbances, Diabetic kidney disease, CKD, RRT Hobbies: Cooking, traveling, gardening Favorite part of kidney: Collecting duct
Noor Shahin, MD
First-Year Fellow
Hometown: Haledon, NJ Medical School: St. George's University Residency: ISSM at Elmhurst Hospital Center Clinical interests: Glomerular disease, electrolyte balance Hobbies: Photography, woodworking, car modification Favorite part of kidney: Juxtaglomerular apparatus
Phoenix Xu, MD
First-Year Fellow
Hometown: Fuzhou, China Medical School: Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Residency: Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Clinical interests: Home dialysis Hobbies: Traveling. I have been to all 7 continents Favorite part of kidney: Cortex
Beatriz Zayas, MD
First-Year Fellow
Hometown: Guaynabo, PR Medical School: University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus Residency: Temple University Hospital Clinical interests: MedEd, health policy and patient advocacy, health literacy, resistant hypertension, transplant, home dialysis Hobbies: Dancing, traveling, eating, spending quality time with friends and family Favorite part of kidney: The renal medulla (it's the only hyperosmolar part in the body!)
Michael Chang, MD
Second-Year Fellow
Hometown: Chicago, IL Medical School: Rush Medical College Residency: Montefiore Medical Center Clinical interests: Electrolyte disturbances, CKD, acid/base physiology Hobbies: Yelping, video games, working out Favorite part of kidney: The tubules
Marta Dzyadyk, MD
Second-Year Fellow
Hometown: Syracuse, NY Medical School: Weill Cornell Medical College Residency: The Mount Sinai Hospital Clinical interests: Electrolyte disorders and AKI, transplant Hobbies: Running, nature, podcasts ("Hidden Brain" is my favorite), piano Favorite part of kidney: The PCT - I love a good sorting system!
Douglas Farrell, MD
Second-Year Fellow
Hometown: Lincroft, NJ Medical School: Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Residency: The Mount Sinai Hospital Clinical interests: Diabetic kidney disease, complex hypertension, volume status assessment, POCUS Hobbies: New York City history, baseball, frisbee with my dog, dining around New York City Favorite part of kidney: Proximal tubule
Justina Ray, MD
Second-Year Fellow
Hometown: New York, NY Medical School: SUNY Downstate Residency: The Mount Sinai Hospital Clinical interests: CKD, Glomerular Disease Hobbies: Traveling, reading, jogging, writing, trying new restaurants in NYC, seeing friends Favorite part of kidney: I'm impressed by the PCT - it's so productive and efficient. However, I'm partial to the glomerulus.
Abhinaya Sridhar, MD
Second-Year Fellow
Hometown: Chennai, India Medical School: Kasturba Medical College - Mangalore, Manipal University, India Residency: Westchester Medical Center Clinical interests: Electrolytes, acid base disorders, nephrotic-nephritic syndromes Hobbies: You say Broadway, I say when?, travel Favorite part of kidney: I can't seem to choose. They all work together and so hard to maintain homeostasis!
Varsha Suresh, MD
Second-Year Fellow
Hometown: Chennai, India Medical School: Sri Ramachandra Medical College, Chennai Residency: University of Central Florida Clinical interests: Diabetic kidney disease Hobbies: Hiking, cooking, alternative music, and trying new restaurants Favorite part of kidney: The glomerulus!
Dureya Syed, MD
Second-Year Fellow
Hometown: New Hyde Park, NY Medical School: NYIT-COM Residency: Stony Brook University Hospital Clinical interests: MedEd, critical care Hobbies: Hiking, kayaking, soccer Favorite part of kidney: Alpha and beta intercalated cells (love they beauty in how they function).
Gilana Gomberg, MD
Third-Year Fellow
Hometown: El Dorado Hills, CA Medical School: Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont Residency: Yale-Waterbury Internal Medicine Residency Program Clinical interests: Electrolytes, acid-base disturbances, glomerular disease Hobbies: Jewish life, being a new mom, writing Favorite part of kidney: Loop of Henle
Rahul Maheshwari, MD
Third-Year Fellow
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois Medical School: University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Medicine Residency: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Clinical interests: Chronic kidney disease, bone mineral disease Hobbies: Photography, rock climbing, houseplant-collecting Favorite part of kidney: Proximal tubule
Hridyesh Sikri, MD
Third-Year Fellow
Hometown: Amritsar, Punja, India Medical School: Government Medical College, Amritsar Residency: Staten Island University Hospital, NYC Clinical Interests: Hobbies: Tennis, racquetball, ping pong, chess, badminton Favorite Part of the Kidney: Glomerulus
Madhusudan Vijayan, MD
Third-Year Fellow
Hometown: Chennai, India Medical School: Kilpauk Medical College, India Residency: Jacobi Medical Center Clinical interests: Critical care nephrology, hyponatremia, renal replacement therapy Hobbies: Hiking, soccer, cricket, reading non-fiction books Favorite part of kidney: Collecting duct
George Worthen, MD
Third-Year Fellow
Hometown: Nova Scotia, Canada Medical School: Dalhousie University Residency: Dalhousie University Nephrology Fellowship: Dalhousie University Clinical interests: Kidney transplant Hobbies: Raising my 4 kids! Favorite part of kidney: Juxtaglomerular apparatus
Our fellows work hard in the hospital and clinics, but also find time to participate in many activities outside of their clinical responsibilities. Some events highlighted below include our Welcome Social, Annual Holiday Party, Fellows' Graduation Night, New York Society of Nephrology Fellows' Night, American Society of Nephrology's Kidney Week, National Kidney Foundation's Annual Kidney Walk, #NephJC Tweet Up, NephMadness, and Bi-Annual Nephrology Karaoke Night.
Contact Us
Cassidie Derras Program Coordinator Division of Nephrology cassidie.derras@mssm.edu
1 Gustave L. Levy Place Box 1243 New York, NY 10029 (212) 241-0693