Meet The Faculty
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Mayo Clinic's campus in Phoenix, Arizona, is a leading center for kidney and pancreas transplantation.
Mayo Clinic's Kidney-Pancreas Transplant Program involves a multidisciplinary team consisting of transplant nephrologists, transplant surgeons, clinical nurse coordinators, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, study coordinators, social workers, and other allied health professionals, in addition to General Nephrology and Renal Transplant fellows. The entire transplant team will participate in your fellowship training.
Inpatient and outpatient areas dedicated to transplant patient care also are staffed by specialized nursing and allied health professionals. In addition to kidney and pancreas transplantation, the Transplant Center integrates programs in liver, heart, and lung, as well as blood and marrow transplantation to specifically facilitate collaboration in clinical, research, and educational pursuits among transplant specialists at the Phoenix campus of Mayo Clinic.
From the program director
From the very first kidney transplant done in 1999, the transplant program at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, has seen exponential growth. It is the largest program in the country and ranks among the best in the U.S. in transplant outcomes in all organ groups. This unparalleled depth and breadth of exposure is provided in a very structured and supportive environment, which maximizes your learning.
In addition to our focus on excellence in clinical training, there are numerous opportunities for research and education. Fellows typically present their research at national meetings and publish articles in peer-reviewed journals. Opportunities to participate in medical school education are also available.
Our fellowship is ingrained in the Mayo culture which is built on teamwork and mutual respect. We are committed to creating a stimulating, inclusive, and adaptive learning environment and are dedicated to enhancing the wellness of the fellow.
Our program is one of the best transplant nephrology fellowships in the country. It is a program that will intellectually challenge you and provide you with the experience and mentorship to excel in clinical care, education, and research. As the program director, I am committed to making this one-year training the best it can be so that you can grow to achieve excellence and carry on the Mayo legacy.
Sumi Sukumaran Nair, M.B.B.S., M.D.
Program Director
Faculty
In addition to caring for patients in clinical practice, Mayo Clinic's faculty is committed to teaching and facilitating the growth of medical knowledge. Many of our faculty members have published and lectured extensively and are highly regarded in their fields.
You work closely with the kidney and pancreas transplant faculty throughout your training in the Renal Transplant Fellowship.
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Bassam Abu Jawdeh, M.D.Medical Director of Pancreas Transplantation Program
Dr. Abu Jawdeh completed his General Nephrology Fellowship at Case Western Reserve University and his Transplant Fellowship at Johns Hopkins University. He joined Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, from the University of Cincinnati where he spent 10 years as a faculty member in the Division of Nephrology and assumed the role of Medical Director of Pancreas Transplantation. Dr. Abu Jawdeh received many awards including the Brigham and Women's Northeast Nephrology Young Investigators Award, the UC Bronze Pin Research Recognition Award for significant industry funding and the Top Medical Grand Rounds Presentation AWard voted for by faculty and trainees. Dr. Abu Jawdeh has received funding from the AHA and NIH (U01) as well as foundation grants and currently serves on the editorial board of NFK's Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease. In addition to clinical trials, his research interests include immunosuppression, recurrent glomerulopathies, and complement-mediated diseases including humoral rejection and thrombotic microangiopathies. |
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Sami Alasfar, M.D.Senior Associate Consultant
Dr. Alasfar joined the transplant group at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2022. After completing residency at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he completed the Nephrology and Transplant Nephrology Fellowships at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, in 2016, where he stayed as faculty and director of the transplant nephrology fellowship. He is currently pursuing an MPH degree at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with a focus on global and humanitarian health. His MPH practicum and capstone are about kidney disease care in conflict settings. In addition, he is passionate about studying cardiovascular disease and kidney transplantation, noninfectious complications of transplantation, and the impact of COVID-19 on solid organ transplant. Dr. Alasfar currently serves on the editorial board of BMC Nephrology journal, and he co-authors the post-transplant erythrocytosis card in UpToDate. |
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Pooja Budhiraja, M.B.B.S., M.D.Assistant Professor of Medicine
Dr. Budhiraja completed her Medicine and Nephrology training at the University of Arizona where she stayed on as faculty for a few years. She was on staff at the kidney transplant program of the University of Kansas for five years before joining the Division of Nephrology at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2020. She is the Associate Program Director for the Renal Transplant Fellowship. Her research interests include simultaneous kidney-pancreas transplantation, use of different immunosuppressant regimens, and analysis of outcome reporting in kidney transplant literature. |
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Harini Chakkera, M.D., M.P.H.Division of Nephrology Chair
After completing her General Nephrology and Transplant Nephrology fellowships at the University of California, San Francisco. Concurrent with her fellowship, she completed her M.P.H. at the University of Berkeley. Dr. Chakkera joined the faculty in the Division of Nephrology at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2005 and she is currently the chair of the Division of Nephrology. She has been the recipient of NIH T-32, NIH F-32, and NIH KL2 grant awards. Her research interests include epidemiology and translational research studying non-immunologic complications of kidney transplantation focusing on diabetes after transplantation. She has both NIH and intramural funding as sources of support for her ongoing research. She has also been a research mentor to several trainees. |
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Katrin Hacke, Ph.D.Assistant Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology
Dr. Hacke joined the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic in Arizona in 2022. Dr. Hacke earned her Diploma in Chemistry at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany. She then completed her PhD training at the German Cancer research Center (DKFZ) and was awarded a Ph.D. in Pharmacy from the Ruprecht-Karls University, Heidelberg, Germany. Dr. Hacke has considerable research experience. After moving to the United States, she performed post-doctoral preclinical research in ex vivo Gene Therapy at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). She was employed as a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell Biology at the University of Miami. While in Miami Dr. Hacke decided that she wanted her career to include meaningful clinical experience and therefore elected to pursue formal training as an HLA Laboratory Director. She completed her Histocompatibility Laboratory Director in training for Solid Organ Transplantation at the Vitalant HLA Laboratories in Sacramento, CA and Spokane, WA. Dr. Hacke was appointed as the Assistant HLA Laboratory Director for the DCI Transplant Immunology Laboratory, Nashville, TN where she also received formal training in HLA testing supporting Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation. Her research interests focus on genetic engineering technologies for modification of allogeneic cells to reduce HLA expression and thereby enhance the histocompatibility of donor cells in transplantation. |
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Raymond Heilman, M.D.Professor of Medicine
After completing his Nephrology Fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, Dr. Heilman joined the faculty in the Division of Nephrology at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1987. His research interests include steroid-free immunosuppression in kidney and transplantation, outcomes of acute rejection in kidney transplant recipients, the progression of fibrosis in kidney allografts, and identifying biomarkers related to kidney transplant outcomes. He has had both NIH and industry funding support his research. |
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Janna Huskey, M.D.Medical Director of Pancreas Transplant Program
Dr. Huskey completed her General Nephrology Fellowship at the University of Colorado and her Transplant Nephrology Fellowship at the University of Washington in Seattle in June 2012. She received the Gold Foundation Humanism and Excellence in Teaching Award as an internal medicine resident (an annual award given to the resident who demonstrates a commitment to teaching and compassion for patients, families, and co-workers) and she received the American Society of Transplantation Young Investigator Award in 2010. Her research interests include simultaneous liver-kidney transplantation and the pediatric to adult transition for kidney transplant recipients. She is the Medical Director of the Pancreas Transplant program. |
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Andres Jaramillo, Ph.D.Associate Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology
Dr. Jaramillo is currently the Director of the Histocompatibility Laboratory at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona. Previously, he was Director of the Histocompatibility Laboratory at Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network as well as at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois, he also previously served as Assistant Director of the HLA Laboratory at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Jaramillo received his PH.D. from the University of Louisville and completed his postdoctoral training in basic and transplant immunology at the University of Toronto and Washington University. Dr. Jaramillo has been the recipient of several prestigious awards such as a Fullbright Doctoral Fellowship, a Charles H. Best Postdoctoral Fellowship, a Candian Diabetes Association Postdoctoral Fellowship, a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award, and an ASHI Scholar Award. He has published more than 200 journal articles, book chapters, and meeting abstracts. His current research interest focuses on improving the diagnosis of antibody-mediated rejection. |
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Hasan Khamash, M.D.Assistant Professor of Medicine
Dr. Khamash completed his Nephrology Fellowship at SUNY-Story Brook and subsequent Transplant Nephrology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He was on staff at the kidney transplant program at the University of Alabama in Birmingham prior to joining the Division of Nephrology at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona in 2011. Dr. Khamash is the medical director of the kidney transplant program. His research interests focus on paired kidney donation, antibody-mediated rejection, and polyoma virus-associated nephropathy. |
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Lavanya Kodali, M.B.B.S., M.D.Assistant Professor of Medicine
Dr. Kodali joined the Nephrology group at Mayo Clinic in 2019. After completing her residency at Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, she completed a fellowship in Nephrology at the University of Memphis in 2012. She subsequently worked as faculty at the University of Missouri, Columbia, prior to moving to the University of Arizona, Tucson, in 2015. She served in the role of interim medical director of kidney and pancreas transplantation at the University of Arizona. Her research interests include outcomes of renal transplantation in the elderly, immunosenescence, and identifying markers to improve allograft and patient outcomes. |
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Hay Me Me, M.B.B.S.Senior Associate Consultant
After her internal medicine residency training at Nassau University Medical Center in 2019, Dr. Me Me continued her general nephrology fellowship at Westchester Medical Center in New York where she also served as a chief fellow. Subsequently, she graduated from the transplant nephrology fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2022. Dr. Me Me then joined as faculty. Her areas of research interest include post-transplant glomerulonephritis, the role of preimplantation biopsy, cardiovascular disease outcomes, infectious complications after transplantation, and precision medicine. |
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Girish Mour, M.B.B.S., M.D.Assistant Professor of Medicine
Dr. Mour completed his General Nephrology Fellowship at Nassau University Medical Center in 2007 along with his Critical Care Fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in 2008. After a brief period in private practice, he then went on to complete his Transplant Nephrology Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in 2015. His research interests include pre-transplant evaluation, simultaneous liver-kidney transplantation, and acute kidney injury. |
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Sumi Nair, M.B.B.S., M.D.Assistant Professor of Medicine
Dr. Nair completed her General Nephrology Fellowship at Stanford University in June 2014 and the following year she completed her Transplant Nephrology fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, where she subsequently joined the faculty. She is the Program Director for the Transplant Nephrology Fellowship. She has an appointment as Assistant Professor and was Renal Block Director in 2018 for Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine's inaugural class, and is currently the Assistant Renal Block Director for the medical school. She has had NIH and industry funding for her research. Her research interests include outcomes in pancreas and kidney transplant recipients, immunology of antibody-mediated rejection, and improving adherence in transplant patients. |
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Margaret Ryan, M.D.Assistant Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology
Dr. Ryan joined Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2017 as a faculty member of the Division of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology. She completed a combined Anatomic and Clinical Pathology residency at the University of Colorado, followed by a year-long sub-specialty fellowship in Renal and Transplant Pathology at the Ohio State University. Prior to joining the faculty at Mayo Clinic, Dr. Ryan was in a large private practice group in Denver, Colorado, where she supported nine hospitals' renal services. Dr. Ryan is passionate about education and is active in the medical school at Mayo Clinic, teaching both introductory pathology courses as well as renal pathology. She provides renal pathology education to our fellows through our bi-monthly renal biopsy conference, as well as one-on-one during scheduled rotations within the Department of Pathology. |
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Ruby Siegel, Ph.D.Associate Director, Histocompatibility Laboratory
Dr. Siegel joined the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, in February 2024. Dr. Siegel has considerable technical and operational experience working in histocompatibility laboratories. She was employed as an HLA laboratory specialist for 16 years at the Inland Northwest Blood Center (now Vitalant) in Spokane, WA. During this time, she obtained the Certified Histocompatibility Technologist (CHT) and Certified Histocompatibility Specialist (CHS) certifications offered by the American College of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ACHI). Then she was hired as the General Supervisor of Serology and Processing in the Histocompatibility, Immunogenetics and Disease Profiling Laboratory at the Stanford Blood Center in Palo Alto, CA. At this point in her career, Dr. Siegel decided to pursue a Ph.D. so that she could enter an HLA Director in Training Fellowship and ultimately become an HLA Laboratory Director. She was accepted into the Pharmaceutical Science and Molecular Medicine graduate program at the Washington State University in Spokane, WA. After obtaining her Ph.D. she entered the Director in Training Fellowship program in the Transplant Immunology Laboratory at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL. She completed her fellowship in December 2023. Her research interests include discovering drug targets to control inflammation in autoimmunity and testing novel immunosuppressive therapies to make transplant possible for highly sensitized organ transplant candidates." |
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Maxwell Smith, M.D.Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology
Dr. Smith is a faculty member of the Division of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology and is the Director of Renal Pathology at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona. He completed his residency in General Pathology as well as a Renal Pathology Fellowship at the University of Colorado. While on staff at the University of Colorado, he was the Director of Liver and Transplant Pathology, a position that included the native and allograft kidney biopsy service. He joined the faculty at Mayo Clinic in 2011. He directs the bi-monthly renal biopsy conference and is responsible for renal pathology education. While at the University of Colorado, Dr. Smith received multiple awards for excellence in pathology education. His research interests include translational studies involving solid organ allografts in collaboration with his clinical colleagues. |
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Visiting professors
Many prominent professors visit Mayo Clinic each year. They present their work during lectures, participate in hospital rounds and have informal discussions with trainees. You are encouraged to take full advantage of these educational opportunities.