Current Fellows
Get to know our fellows' research interests in the profiles below:

Marta Martinez Calle
Postdoctoral Fellow
Marta is a Postdoctoral Fellow who completed her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. Her primary research interest is focused on unravelling the molecular mechanisms of HNF4α in bone dynamics, as well as its interaction with FGF23 production in health and chronic kidney disease.

Guillaume Courbon
AHA Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Guillaume is an AHA Postdoctoral Research Fellow. He completed his PhD in Physiology and Immunology at the University of Lyon and MS in Biotechnology at the University of Saint Etienne, France. His primary research interests include exploring the novel mechanisms of regulation of inflammation and anemia of chronic disease during chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disorder, with a strong focus on the physiopathological role of FGF23 and identification of novel FGF23 regulatory targets. In the CTMH group, Guillaume is interested in the translation of basic findings to unravel patient physiopathology and design therapeutical strategies against chronic inflammatory diseases.
Alex Leidner, MD
Postdoctoral Fellow
alexander.leidner( at )northwestern.edu
Alex is a Nephrologist who completed his fellowship at Northwestern's Mcgaw Medical Center. In addition he completed additional training through Northwestern's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Fellowship in Cardiovascular Disease and attained an MSAI. Currently, he is an NIH T32 Postdoctoral Fellow working on algorithms to better predict and treat diabetic CKD, with hopes in identifying latent features for early therapy and prevention of severe diabetic kidney disease.

Jane Joy Thomas, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
jane.thomas( at )northwestern.edu
Jane's research interests lie in defining microRNA-122 (miR-122) as a novel therapeutic target in chronic kidney disease (CKD). She also interested in determining the significance of iron deficiency and inflammation in establishing a link between miRs and FGF23 in CKD.
She obtained her PhD in Medicine from Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany, in 2018 as a Signgene Fellow and Lady Davis Fellow.