Meet Our Nephrology Fellows

Alex is a native of Warwick, Rhode Island.  He received a B.S. in Exercise Science from the University of Connecticut and attended the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, in Dutch St. Maarten. Following graduation from medical school, he went on to complete his Internal Medicine training at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island-Alpert Medical School of Brown University.  Interests include critical care nephrology, and the interplay between chronic kidney disease and cardiac diastology.

Sandy graduated from Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok Thailand and spent a couple of years at the bench side where she delved into the world of Proteomics. She investigated target protein antigens in Lupus Nephritis and the role of bacteria in Calcium oxalate stone formation. She then completed her internal medicine residency at Jacobi Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine before joining the Nephrology Fellowship at BIDMC. In her free time, she is an avid foodie and loves nothing more than to lounge at home with her husband and baby.

Amar is originally from Mumbai, India. He graduated from Grant Medical College, Mumbai and then completed a 3-year residency in Internal Medicine at the K.E.M. hospital.  He then worked as an assistant professor in Internal Medicine for 4 years, before moving to the United States. Amar then joined the internal medicine residency program at the Westchester Medical Center/ New York Medical College in Valhalla, NY.  He joined the BIDMC nephrology fellowship in 2018 and is amazed at how genuinely nice everyone is.  His clinical interests lie in management of glomerular diseases and electrolyte disturbances.

Nate originally hails from Arlington, VA. He did his undergraduate studies at Dartmouth, medical school at Mount Sinai, and his residency in internal medicine at BIDMC. His research interests revolve around the epidemiology of chronic kidney disease in populations with unique risk factors, with a particular focus on chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) in Central America; he is also a board member of La Isla Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing the CKDu epidemic, particularly in Central America. He lives with his dog, Simon, and is an avid hiker, canoeist, and general lover of all things outdoors.

Phil Kemp graduated with a degree in biomedical engineering from Columbia University before attending Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. He moved to Boston to complete his internship and residency training at BIDMC. His interests are primarily in quality improvement and will be working on numerous nephrology-related projects in his second year, including standardizing a protocol for hyponatremia management and initial triaging of renal transplant patients upon presentation to the emergency room.

Natanong “Ten” Thamcharoen is a first year Nephrology Fellow. She is originally from Bangkok, Thailand, and goes by her easy-to-pronouce nickname, “Ten.” She is interested in general nephrology and palliative care in CKD patients (advanced directive, goal of care discussion in critically ill patients). She loves watching movies (most of her favorite movies are franchises like Marvel’s The Avengers, Harry Potter etc.). She enjoys going to concerts and living in Boston is a perk, since all concert tours come here!

Danwen Yang graduated from the MD/PhD program in Xiangya School of Medicine, Hunan, China. As part of her training, she came to the United States and did research in multidrug resistant transporters and hypoxic inducible factors. Shortly after graduation, she joined the internal medicine residency program in Quinnipiac University, St Vincent's Medical Center. The physiology and pathology of nephrology has always intrigued her. The process of meticulous investigation with the potential for tantalizing solutions, makes nephrology an exciting field. Upon completing her residency, she joined the BIDMC nephrology fellowship in 2017. She feels the BIDMC fellowship program has provided her with the guidance, support and resources to prepare her to be the best she can and to grow into a well-rounded nephrologist.

Min Zhuo graduated from Peking University Health Science Center at Beijing, China. She worked at Peking University First Hospital for two years as an internal medicine resident. She continued her internal medicine clinical training at Cook County Hospital and joined the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center nephrology fellowship in 2017. She is keenly interested in clinical research in nephrology. Her previous research focused on peritoneal dialysis, diabetic nephropathy and contrast-induced nephropathy. She has two lovely kindergarteners Iris and Kyla who always keep her busy.

Rhea Bhargava grew up in the northern part of India and graduated from the Armed Forces Medical College. After finishing her clinical rotations at the University of Colorado, she went on to finish her internal medicine residency at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Her interest in nephrology developed in medical school after being introduced to the “fish and philosopher” by one of her physiology professors. During fellowship she has become more inclined towards renal immunology and the impact of the immune system on kidney cells in autoimmune versus alloimmune diseases in the lab of Dr. George Tsokos (Rheumatology). She is a foodie and likes trying different cuisines from around the world (definitely the best part about traveling). She loves going to basketball games and exploring New England. In her own words, “BIDMC is the perfect place to train—you get a wide exposure of pathology and a good balance of supervision and autonomy. The people are definitely the best part though!”

Erika Drury is a native New Englander. She received her undergraduate degree at Boston College in Biology and completed medical school at Georgetown University. She was an internal medicine resident prior to starting her renal fellowship. She is currently working with Drs. Martin Pollak and Dave Friedman on a project seeking to identify biomarkers of APOL1-associated renal disease using metabolomics and proteomics-based approaches. She is also using data from the Cardiovascular Health Study to study other APOL1-variants and the risk of kidney and cardiovascular disease; this project is mentored by Dr. Kenneth Mukamal in the department of General Internal Medicine. To help expand her skillset for her current research focus, Erika completed a course on clinical investigation and is enrolled in a certificate course on biostatistics, both offered through Harvard Catalyst.

A graduate of Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi, Nikhil did his internal medical residency from New York Medical College (Valhalla, NY) and then worked as a hospitalist and Assistant Professor in Medicine at University of Florida (Gainesville) before joining Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for nephrology fellowship. He has focused his training in the fields of transplant and interventional nephrology and will be pursuing a Transplant Fellowship next year at BIDMC. Passionate about advancing the teaching and practice of nephrology, Nikhil has worked with medical educators across the country to build innovative tools in field of nephrology education, especially web-based. He received the 2017 ASN award for innovation and medical education on behalf of GlomCon. Nikhil has co-authored multiple book chapters and review articles in the field. He is also working on incorporating point-of-care ultrasound in nephrology practice and developing interventional nephrology as part of academic nephrology training. Nikhil is involved in multiple clinical research projects with an intention to build an expertise in clinical trials.