Prof Stephen (Ben) Walsh
Professor of Nephrology and Honorary Consultant Nephrologist
Head of the Centre of Physiology
Ben is a clinician scientist with an interest in both rare renal tubular disorders and disorders of blood pressure. His research involves the physiology of renal epithelial sodium and other solute transport, and how that relates to blood pressure homeostasis, in rare genetic (Gitelman and Gordon syndromes, distal Renal Tubular Acidosis), rare acquired (Tumour induced Osteomalacia) as well as common (hypertension, metabolic syndrome) diseases. His laboratory group uses physiological and imaging methods with cell and animal models as well as human subjects. He also has collaborations with researchers at NASA and is part of the European Space Agency Topical Teams and GeneLab Analysis Working Groups on Space Omics, looking at the effects of microgravity and galactic cosmic radiation on the kidney.
Email: stephen.walsh@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Wesley Hayes
Consultant Pediatric Nephrologist
Wesley is a kidney specialist at Great Ormond Street Hospital, where he leads the children’s kidney tubular service. He is a clinical researcher and chief investigtor of the National Institute for Health and Care Research funded randomised trial “PlasmaLyte Usage and Kidney Tranplant Outcomes in Children”, and national coordinating investigator for two international research trials of new treatments for chidlren with rare disease.
Email: Wesley.Hayes@gosh.nhs.uk
Dr Rhys D R Evans
Associate Professor of Nephrology and Consultant Nephrologist
Rhys is an academic clinician based within the UCL Department of Renal Medicine. With Ben, he runs the tubular clinic at the Royal Free, which provides clinical care for patients with rare inherited and acquired tubular kidney diseases. His research is focused on the impact of the extracellular ionic environment on the immune system. He was awarded a PhD for his work investigating the impact of sodium on immunity in which he provided the first description of immunodeficiency in patients with inherited salt-losing tubulopathies. He aims to understand more about how the immune system is altered in patients with tubular diseases in addition to exploring how tubular function is affected by altered immunity. He is currently funded by Kidney Research UK to investigate the impact of sodium on immune responses in kidney transplant recipients.
Dr Vaksha Patel
Laboratory Manager
Vaksha is a proteomics specialist with over a decade of experience in industry and the current Lab Manager for UCL's Department of Renal Medicine. She holds a BSc in Applied Biology, MSc in Molecular Pathology and a PhD in Applied Proteomic techniques.
Her interests are in quantitative approaches to proteomics, the integration of complementary classical and emerging modalities, wine, knitting, big data problems and bioinformatics. Her wealth of experience and breadth of knowledge, make Vaksha the must-go-to person for any and all laboratory issue (both scientific, political and personal… consultations are usually charged by the glass). Her skills span multiple modalities in the field of proteomics, molecular, cellular technique, and she is well connected with multiple leading proteomics laboratories throughout the UK both in academia and industry.
Outside of the lab, Vaksha is a prominent advocate for the neurodivergent community, and currently sits on the board of managements for Austism Hounslow.
Email: vaksha.patel@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Keith Siew
Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow
Keith is a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow primarily based at UCL. He previously completed a British Heart Foundation supported PhD in Medicine at the University of Cambridge collaborating intensively with the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit at Dundee University, and trained as an experimental physiologist-pharmacologist [Joint BSc (Hons)] and advanced microscopist [MSc] at University College Dublin. His work focuses on using integrative physiological approaches to elucidate the links between dietary salt intake, renal electrolyte homeostasis, blood pressure control, arterial stiffness and bone health. His research combines 3D imaging of optically cleared post-mortem and biopsied samples, quantitative and spatial omics modalities, with in vivo physiological and pharmacological assessments of both rare disease patients and genetically engineered animal models of renal electrolyte and blood pressure disorders. Keith is also the current Scientific Editor of Physiology News magazine at The Physiological Society.
Dr Alessandra Grillo
Research Fellow
Alessandra completed a BSc in Biomedical Engineering and a two-year MSc in Bioengineering at the University of Genova (Italy), specialising in Biomaterials and Rehabilitation Engineering. She was awarded with an Erasmus+ studentship which allowed her to work at UCL on the use of biomaterials for delivery of drugs to treat peripheral nerve injury as part of her MSc project. She was recently awarded a PhD in tissue engineering at the Centre for 3D Models of Health and Disease (UCL). Her PhD project involved the development of a novel biocompatible mesh for abdominal wall repair combining synthetic and natural components. She took an interest in tissue engineering, with a focus on the use of collagen to mimic the ultrastructure and anisotropy of native tissues. Alessandra, now research fellow in Walsh’s group at the Department of Renal Medicine (UCL), has started her research on the renal reabsorption of inorganic nitrate and its effect on blood pressure, with the development of an in vitro model of the collecting duct (funded by Kidney Research UK).
Chutong (Eunice) Zhong
PhD Student
Eunice completed her MSc Clinical Nutrition and Public Health in the University College London (UCL) and then started her PhD journey with Dr Stephen Walsh after discovering her interest in clinical research. She is now entering her 3rd year of PhD, working hard on a methodological project of developing new techniques to targeted isolate primary human distal convoluted tubule (hDCT) cells from urine. The cells will be cultured into 3D tubuloid/cellular model in vitro and are pivotal for tubular patho/physiology research, disease characterisation and personalised medicine. This advanced method is non-invasive and allowed continuous monitor of disease progression and treatment efficacy. Her work has been presented in Europhysiology 2022 and ASN Kidney Week as oral and poster presentations. Eunice has recently received awards from Physiology Society and ASN Kidney STARS program.
Twitter : @EuniceCTZ
Email: chutong.zhong.19@ucl.ac.uk
Zhongwang (Shawn) Li
PhD Student
Zhongwang completed a BEng in Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Sheffield and an MSc in Computing at Cardiff University. He is currently a first-year PhD student at the Department of Renal Medicine and Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging at University College London (UCL). His research focuses on analysing renal medical images, including glomerulus segmentation from the bright field renal biopsy slide images and 3D segmentation/reconstruction of the nephron and tubular from the optical cleared and stained human renal tissue. The projects and workflows will be packaged as open-source tools, which assist medical researchers in quickly and easily quantifying and qualifying their target in the images. His research has been presented as poster presentations at BioMedEng 2022, EuroPhysiology 2022, and ASN Kidney week. Zhongwang has recently received awards from the ASN Kidney STARS program.
Twitter : @ZwlShawn
Email: zhongwang.li.21@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Elizabeth Wan
Kidney Research UK PhD Student
Elizabeth completed her undergraduate medical training at the University of Oxford. After graduating she moved to East London to take up an Academic Foundation Programme post, centred around medical education. She then moved to the Royal Free Hospital where she undertook Core Medical Training, including a 6 month post in the renal unit. She successfully applied to be an Academic Clinical Fellow alongside renal specialty training, spending her research time familiarising herself with wet lab techniques to explore mouse models of renal tubular disorders. Elizabeth has just come back to the lab as a Kidney Research UK Clinical Fellow, undertaking a PhD. Her research uses wet lab and bioinformatic approaches to explore the role and regulation of the sodium chloride co-transporter in the distal convoluted tubule.
Twitter : @bethrose859
Email: e.wan@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Gerlineke Hawkins-van der Cingel
PhD Student
Gerlineke completed her undergraduate medical training at UCL Medical School. She completed the foundation program in Yorkshire and core medical training and clinical fellow posts in north and east London before joining the North East London Renal training program. Currently she is working on a PhD project between UCL and the Charité Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, including clinical work at the CERKID (Centre for rare kidney disease at the Charité). This project includes a clinical trial, wet lab techniques and bioinformatics to examine the role that hyperoxalaemia may have in cardiovascular disease, particularly in end stage kidney disease.
Anson Tang
Kidney Research UK PhD Student
Anson joined the group as an MRes student after having achieved First-Class Honours in BSc Pharmacology from UCL. During her 6-month research project in the group, she worked on developing a protocol to isolate and culture segment-specific tubular epithelial cells from the urine of tubulopathy patients. She is now continuing her Master project into a Kidney Research UK funded PhD at the London Tubular Centre.
Twitter : @cl_anson
Email: anson.tang.18@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Viola D’Ambrosio
PhD Student
Viola is a nephrologist and PhD student at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Rome, Italy. She graduated from Sapienza University medical school and completed her nephrology training at A. Gemelli Hospital in Rome. She joined the London Tubular Centre in 2022 as a clinical fellow and she is currently conducting her doctoral research entitled “the role of oxalate in end-stage kidney disease” under the EJP-RD fellowship program at UCL – Royal Free Campus. Her clinical and academic interests focus on rare kidney diseases, tubulopathies and kidney stones.
Twitter: @Violadmb