Current Members
Katherine Scovner Ravi, MD, MPH
Katherine Scovner Ravi, MD, MPH is a physician and clinical researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the renal division. She completed her medical school training at the University of Vermont, her residency training at Brown University, and then came to Boston in 2017 to complete her nephrology fellowship at the combined Brigham and Women’s/Massachusetts General Hospital program. During this time, she also received her master’s degree from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. In 2020, she joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School where she loves teaching medical students and PhD candidates renal physiology and mentoring them in their research goals. Dr, Ravi’s research is in predictors of sudden cardiac death in hemodialysis patients. She received the Ben J. Lipps Research Fellowship grant from the American Society of Nephrology to support her work during her fellowship training and more recently was awarded a K23 award from the National Institutes of Health to further support the early years of her research career. She continues to care for patients facing kidney disease in her outpatient clinic, at dialysis units, and at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She loves running, singing, and visiting her family on their farm in Vermont.
Armida Lefranc Torres, MD
Armida Lefranc-Torres, MD, is a clinical and research fellow in the joint nephrology fellowship program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/ Massachusetts General Hospital. Originally from Mexico, she completed her medical education at Tecnologico de Monterrey Campus, Monterrey. Her journey continued with a research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and internal medicine residency training at Berkshire Medical Center. Her passion for vascular access and hemodynamics in hemodialysis patients led her to join Dr. Mc Causland’s laboratory as a second-year fellow. During this time, she received the Research Grant for Vascular Access Award from the American Society of Interventional Nephrology to support her research focused on vascular access and outcomes. Armida is also interested in nutrition for patients with Chronic Kidney Disease and End Stage Renal Disease. Beyond her clinical and research pursuits, she enjoys mentoring Hispanic physicians seeking a medical career in the United States and is a strong advocate for Hispanic patients requiring dialysis and transplants. Armida loves dancing, traveling, and spending quality time with friends and family.
Brona Moloney, MD
Brona Moloney is a clinical/research fellow in Nephrology at MGB. She is also pursuing a Master’s in Medical Sciences and Clinical Investigation. She completed her Nephrology and Internal Medicine training with the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in 2022. She also spent a period of her training working in Intensive Care and Acute Medicine at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, South Australia. Brona’s research interests include cardiorenal syndrome, with a focus on improving outcomes for dialysis patients. She is also interested in point of care ultrasound in the assessment of the cardiorenal patient, in both a trial setting and in clinical practice. In her spare time, Brona sings with the Harvard choir, and enjoys hiking and going for brunch!
Valentina Castro Loaiza
Valentina Castro Loaiza is a research assistant in the Mc Causland Lab. Originally from Queens, New York, she graduated from Boston College with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a minor in Chemistry. She joined the Mc Causland lab in 2022 as a research trainee before being integrated as a research assistant in 2023. Valentina is interested in the associations between nephrology and cardiology in a research-dominant setting. She is also interested in using her Spanish speaking skills to connect with a larger population seeking medical care at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She enjoys cooking, working out, spending time with friends and family, and basking in the sun.
Emily Haejin Song
Emily Song is a research assistant in the Mc Causland Lab. She grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and graduated from Harvard College with a Bachelor of Arts in History of Science in 2024. She is interested in studying cardiovascular health in pediatric patient populations and hopes to one day enter academic medicine as a clinician-investigator. In her free time, Emily enjoys teaching group cycle classes, hiking on the Appalachian Trail, playing guitar, and exploring new cafes.
Alumni
Anika T. Singh, MBBCh, MMSc
Anika T. Singh was a research fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the renal division. She grew up in the Boston area and completed her medical school training at University College Dublin. She graduated from Harvard Medical School’s Master of Medical Science in Clinical Investigation in 2021 and earned the Gordon William’s Gold Medal upon graduation. Her research focus is on predictors of blood pressure change in hemodialysis, intradialytic hypertension, and patient symptoms in hemodialysis. She is also a curriculum fellow at Harvard Medical School. Her hobbies include singing, cooking, and theatre.
Timothy Yen, MD
Timothy Yen, M.D. is a third-year clinical/research fellow in the Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Massachusetts General Hospital joint nephrology fellowship program. He completed his medical school training at the Duke University-National University of Singapore program and then an internal medicine residency at Methodist Dallas Medical Center, serving as chief resident in his final year. His research interests include volumetric assessment in hemodialysis, patient outcomes in dialysis, and cardiorenal disease. He is currently enrolled in Harvard Medical School’s Masters in Medical Science and Clinical Investigation. Outside of work, he enjoys cooking, indoor rock climbing, and exploring Boston.
Simon Correa-Gaviria, MD, MMSc
Simon Correa is an Internal Medicine Resident at Yale and an associate research fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the renal division. Soon after graduating from University of Antioquia Medical School (Colombia), he worked as a general practitioner directing programs for non-communicable diseases with a special focus on cardiovascular disease prevention. He then joined the Harvard Medical School’s Master of Medical Science in Clinical Investigation Class of 2018 and earned the Gordon Williams Gold Medal upon graduation. During this master’s program, he spent two years at the TIMI study group where he investigated on Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) in Chronic Kidney Diseases (CKD) and worked as a medical reviewer for the safety desk. Upon graduation he joined the Mc Causland team extending his research on CVD in CKD to end-stage renal disease and hemodialysis. His research encompasses observational studies looking at predictors of intradialytic hypotension with a special focus on neurohormonal axes, studies evaluating risk factor for progression of CKD and CVD, and the use of point-of-care devices in hemodialysis. He is interested in conducting clinical trials in CKD and ESRD and is a member of the Clinical Endpoint Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He hopes to become the next cardiorenal trialist. He enjoys cooking, live music, salsa dancing and is a triathlon enthusiast.
Katherine M. Wang, MD MS
Katie is a Clinical Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the Division of Renal Medicine. She completed medical school and residency training at Albany Medical College, and completed Nephrology training at Stanford University where she also obtained a Master’s in Health Policy. During fellowship, she was supported by the American Kidney Fund Clinical Scientist in Nephrology Program to conduct research in hypertension and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with kidney disease. Outside of work, Katie loves trying new cuisines and spending time outdoors with her family.
Katherine Curtis
Katherine Curtis was a research coordinator at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the renal division. She grew up in New York and graduated from Cornell University where she majored in Human Biology, Health, and Society. Katherine joined the Mc Causland Research Group in 2019. She is interested in symptom management in the hemodialysis population. She is also interested in identifying biomarkers for comorbidities in the CKD population. She enjoys theater, playing the piano and the saxophone, cooking, and exploring the outdoors.
Daniel Del Castillo Rix
Daniel Del Castillo Rix was a research trainee at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the renal division. He was born and raised in Cartagena, Colombia and is on track to complete his medical school training at Universidad del Norte Medical in December 2021. He is enrolled in Harvard Medical School’s Global Clinical Scholars Training Program cohort of 2021. His professional interests are in medical education, internal medicine and studying causes for eGFR decrease in CKD patients. He is a basketball fan that enjoys tinkering with tech and playing video games.
Despina Georgiadis
Despina Georgiadis was a research coordinator at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the renal division. She grew up in the Boston area and recently graduated from Boston College where she majored in Biology. She is interested in predictors of CKD progression and how to improve a patient’s symptoms while on hemodialysis. She enjoys working out, travelling, photography, and spending time with family and friends.
Joseph Matte
Joe Matte was a research coordinator at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the renal division. He grew up in Sturbridge, Massachusetts and recently graduated from UMass Amherst, where he earned degrees in Biochemistry and Spanish. He is interested in the biomarkers and symptoms of CKD. In his free time, Joe enjoys working out, playing classic rock on guitar and bass, and attempting to learn Japanese.
Omer Kamal, MD
Omer Kamal worked as a research fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the renal division. He grew up in Punjab, Pakistan. Omer graduated with Honors from College of Medicine, University of Lahore. Dr. Kamal has started residency in Internal Medicine at Jersey Shore University Medical Center. His interests include development of cardio-renal AI algorithms and devices in medicine. He enjoys music, cooking, photography, and spending time with his family.
Xavier Guerra Torres, MD
Xavier E. Guerra Torres obtained his medical degree from the University of Zulia Medical School in Maracaibo, Venezuela in 2012. During this time he combined academic activities with clinical and epidemiological research at the Endocrine and Metabolic Research Center, participating as a co-investigator in a epidemiological studies of metabolic syndrome in Venezuela. He also served as a teaching assistant of Biochemistry and Human Metabolism. After graduation, he worked as a general practitioner in rural communities focused on infectious, cardiovascular, and metabolic conditions. At the same time, he continued postgraduate studies in the Obesity, Diabetes, and Thyroid Diseases Program at the University of Alcalá, Spain in 2012, and he also obtained a Diploma in University Teaching at University of Zulia in 2013. He completed Nephrology Residency at Hospital Universitario Príncipe de Asturias in Alcalá de Henares in 2020. During his residency years he conducted clinical research studies on inflammation, sarcopenia, dialysis, and autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease and also collaborated with the ISIS 416858-CS5 trial (NCT03358030). Xavier is interested in combining clinical practice and research, especially in CKD, dialysis, cardiovascular diseases, and metabolic syndrome. He is enthusiastic about art, music, European and Hispanic history, and enjoys baseball and soccer.
Murad Alostaz
Murad Alostaz was a research trainee at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the renal division. He grew up in Amman, Jordan. In 2018, he earned his bachelor’s of science in biology from UCLA (University of California Los Angeles) with both departmental and Latin honors. Currently, he is pursuing medical school and a masters degree in public health. His research interests are in terminal diseases especially chronic kidney disease and diabetes. Murad enjoys cooking, barbering, and calisthenics training.
Gavin Lundy
Gavin is a final year medical student who completed a research observership with us at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2019. He studies at Queen’s University in Belfast, Ireland where he also completed a Masters in Cancer Medicine. His interests include adverse outcomes in hemodialysis and he hopes to enter the UK’s academic foundation programme upon graduating medical school. Gavin enjoys triathlons, hiking and is a big football (and soccer!) enthusiast.
Christopher Huang
Christopher Huang was a research assistant in the Mc Causland Lab. He grew up in Seattle, Washington and studied Biomedical Engineering Sciences at Dartmouth College. He will matriculate to medical school in the summer of 2024. Chris is interested in comorbidities and major contributing factors to Chronic Kidney Disease as well as medical education. He is also interested in working with vulnerable populations including the elderly. In his free time, Chris enjoys cooking, playing piano, gaming, and outdoors activities including hiking, fishing, and foraging.
Roberto S. Rodríguez Jiménez
Roberto Rodríguez was a research assistant in the Mc Causland Lab. He was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico before graduating with high honors from Dartmouth College with a BA in biomedical engineering and the Thayer School of Engineering with a Bachelor of Engineering. He joined the Mc Causland Lab in 2023 to gain more research and clinical experience before graduate school. His interests lie in combining his protein engineering research experience and clinical medicine, particularly with an eye towards conditions that disproportionately affect underserved populations. When not in lab, you can find Roberto at the gym, exploring the outdoors, exploring the historical sites of Boston, or spending time with his friends.
Alumni not pictured:
- João Sérgio Neves, MD
- Patrick B. Reeves, MD
Lab Photos
