Meet the team

Professor Barratt focuses on glomerular disease, multi-system renal disease and complications of CKD, in particular renal associated anemia. He is The Mayer Professor of Renal Medicine & Honorary Consultant Nephrologist and leads the Renal Research Group within the College of Life Sciences University of Leicester, UK. He is the IgA nephropathy Rare Disease Group lead for the UK National Registry of Rare Kidney Diseases (RaDaR) and a member of the steering committee for the International IgA Nephropathy Network.

Dr. Boccia is Medical Director of the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders in Bethesda, Maryland, and Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He also serves as the Chief Medical Officer for the International Oncology Network (ION). He conducts research in exploring the latest advances in cancer treatment and offers individualized care to patients with focus on multi-modal treatment regimens.

Dr. Cheung is a Consultant Nephrologist and Honorary Senior Lecturer, University of Leicester, UK. His PhD examined factors that contribute towards progressive kidney damage in IgA nephropathy (IgAN), and his current interests focus on clinical trials in this condition. He leads a number of investigator-initiated studies in collaboration with industry and academic partners, and has served as UK national chief investigator and principal investigator on multiple IgAN clinical trials. He leads specialist clinics in glomerular diseases and in vasculitis and lupus nephritis. He is a steering committee member and active member of several national working groups, including the UK IgAN rare diseases group and the UK glomerular diseases clinical studies group.

Dr. Khasraw’s is a neuro-oncologist, professor of medicine and Deputy Director of the Center for Cancer Immunotherapy at Duke University, USA. He is interested in translating research into new therapies and at Duke, is tasked with speeding up clinical research and translation for scientists across all departments and tumor sites. He leads several clinical and translational programs with significant laboratory collaborations and is the principal investigator on first-in-human Phase I immunotherapy clinical trials in solid tumors. His research interests include biomarker development and design of innovative clinical trials to improve outcomes for patients with primary and metastatic cancers of the central nervous systems.

Dr. Kotwal is a clinical nephrologist at Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney Australia, Program Head of the Renal and metabolic division at The George Institute for Global Health and a senior clinical lecturer at the University of NSW. She is the principal investigator for the Glomerular Disease Registry and Biobank in Sydney and the Global Kidney Patients Trial Network (GKPTN). Her main interests include novel and pragmatic clinical trials and she is passionate about increasing clinical trial access for patients with kidney disease together with increasing personalized medicine capacity in Australia.

Dr. Pecoits-Filho is a practicing Nephrologist and clinical investigator focused on evolving the way CKD patients are treated in day-to-day clinical practice by integrating observational research with clinical trials. He is the Scientific Director of the DOPPS program at Arbor Research Collaborative for Health, Michigan, and a professor of Medicine at the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná, Brazil.

Inna has both clinical and research background in Internal Medicine & Nephrology. Located in the Netherlands, Inna is involved in many George Clinical trials in chronic kidney disease, working predominantly in the EMEA region as Regional Scientific Lead. Her clinical research experience ranges from observational / registries studies in the field of end-stage kidney disease and renal replacement therapy, to Phases I-IV clinical trials in different types of chronic kidney disease, including Diabetic Nephropathy and various forms of Glomerulonephritis.

Professor Thomas’ research focus is on the application of genomic technologies to the understanding and management of cancer. He is the inaugural Director, Centre for Molecular Oncology, University of New South Wales; Head of the Genomic Cancer Medicine Laboratory, Garvan Institute of Medical Research; and CEO of Omico. He founded the Australasian Sarcoma Study Group and established Australia’s leading adolescent and young adult cancer unit at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Professor Thomas leads the International Sarcoma Kindred Study and led the first international study of denosumab in Giant Cell Tumor of bone, leading to FDA and TGA approval.

Dr. Trimarchi focuses on glomerular diseases, particularly in proteinuria and podocyturia, IgA nephropathy, focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis, lupus nephritis and Fabry disease. He is Head of the Division of Nephrology and Renal Transplantation at the Hospital Británico de Buenos Aires and a member of the Steering Committee of the International IgA Nephropathy Network. He is involved in many clinical research protocols related to glomerular diseases and CKD as member of the advisory board and Steering Committee, as KOL or national coordinator.

Dr. VanderWalde specializes in melanoma and is experienced in genomic tumor assessment, public health, tumor immunotherapy, medical ethics and precision oncology. He is the Global Head of Clinical Research at Caris Life Sciences and works as Research Faculty at West Cancer Center where he served as the Director of Research from 2014 to 2021. He is also Professor in the Division of Epidemiology at the University of Memphis School of Public Health. Dr. VanderWalde has extensive experience in clinical research, including the design and conduct of clinical trials, results reporting, regulatory filing and interactions between investigators and the pharmaceutical industry.

Dr. Wong’s research interest is in understanding the pathomechanism of kidney fibrosis and he has actively promoted the development of both clinical and pre-clinical research in delaying CKD progression in diabetic nephropathy, IgA nephropathy, and management of cardiovascular complications associated with CKD. He is a renal physician and Senior Staff Specialist at the Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney; Senior clinical Lecturer of University of Sydney and University of NSW; and Senior Research Fellow, Renal & Metabolic Division for The George Institute and at the Kolling Institute.