Professor, Department of Surgery and Population Health
Vice Chair, Department of Surgery and the Surgical Sciences
Director, Center for Surgical and Transplant Applied Research (C-STAR)

Professor, Department of Surgery and Population Health
Co-Director, Center for Surgical and Transplant Applied Research (C-STAR)
Director, C-STAR Operations Research Core

Associate Professor, Department of Surgery and Population Health
Associate Vice Chair for Research, Department of Surgery
Director, C-STAR EASE Lab

Associate Professor, Department of Surgery and Population Health
Director, Center for Surgical and Transplant Applied Research (C-STAR) Qualitative Core

Associate Professor, Department of Surgery and Population Health
Director, C-STAR Quantitative Core

Research Assistant Professor, Departments of Surgery and Population Health

Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery

Associate Professor, Division of Transplantation and Institute of Systems Genetics

Research Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Population Health

Associate Professor, Department of Surgery
Director, Research, NYU Langone Transplant Institute
Director, Incompatible Kidney Transplant Program

Research Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery

Associate Professor, Department of Surgery

Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery
Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics

Program Manager, Center for Surgical and Transplant Applied Research

Carolyn Sidoti leads a team of research coordinators and analysts conducting research in the field of transplantation. Carolyn operationalizes C-STAR’s studies so they move forward and remain compliant with institutional, state, and federal policies. Carolyn graduated from Bucknell University in 2019 with a BS in mathematics and a BA in music. Thereafter, she began working as a research coordinator at Johns Hopkins University. Last March, when her faculty mentors transitioned to NYU Langone, she joined the team to help establish and build C-STAR. In her spare time, she is a violinist who loves to perform.

Associate Director, Registry Studies

Darren Stewart provides leadership on transplant-related studies. Before joining NYU Langone, Darren spent 14 years as a researcher with the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), most recently as principal research scientist. Previously, after graduating with an MS in statistics from North Carolina State University, he spent a combined 10 years in the banking and aerospace engineering fields. During his time with UNOS, Darren worked extensively with Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) committees to inform policy development and was principal investigator for the novel UNOS Labs initiative, conducting behavioral science research on organ offer acceptance decision-making. His main research interests include maximizing deceased donor organ utilization, optimizing the organ allocation system, and improving post-transplant outcomes.

Research Associate

Data Analyst

Yusi Chen has a master’s degree in epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her research focuses on pharmacoepidemiology with a specific interest in transplantation and the effects of immunosuppressive agents. In particular, she is interested in better understanding complications following kidney transplant and risk predictions using administrative databases.

Research Associate

Anthony Corcoran is originally from Dublin and recently completed his bachelor of science in physiology and kinesiology at the University of Florida. During his time at university, Anthony worked in laboratories focused on revealing the relationship between the human gut microbiome and the onset of chronic illness. He now studies quality of life in patients who have kidney disease to improve outcomes. In his free time, Anthony enjoys running and cycling.

Research Assistant

Eric Donohue recently graduated from the University of Virginia with a BS in biomedical engineering. He is interested in both research and medicine and aspires to become a physician. He is actively working on research studies examining the quality of life of individuals with kidney disease. Outside of work, Eric enjoys swimming and playing volleyball at the beach in his hometown on Long Island.

Research Collaborator

Yijing Feng is a doctoral student in epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She earned her master of health science in epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University in 2019. After graduation, she worked as a research data analyst in the epidemiology research group in organ transplantation at Johns Hopkins. She is continuing her training as an environmental epidemiologist, and her research interests are environmental risk factors and transplant outcomes.

Senior Research Scientist

Nidhi Ghildayal holds a PhD in health decision science from the University of Minnesota. She completed her MPH in epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and her postdoctoral training at the Department of Population Health at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare. She has worked in a range of public of health spheres and with multiple longitudinal cohorts, and enjoys exploring new areas of research.

Data Analyst

Jingyao Hong completed her MHS in epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University in 2019, with a master’s thesis studying the association of retinopathy with kidney disease. Jingyao’s research focuses on kidney disease and kidney transplant, with a wide range of research interests including cognitive function, microvascular impairment, frailty, and aging.

Student Research Intern

Research Associate

Barbara Krawczuk is a recent graduate of Emory University with a BS in neuroscience and behavioral biology. She is interested in investigating the kidney transplant process through the lenses of age and race, as well as associated patient mistrust and organ procurement rates.

Senior Data Analyst

Yiting Li has more than 10 years of experience as a data analyst and statistician in nephrology, transplant surgery, and geriatric medicine. Yiting earned her MPH degree in epidemiology in 2012 and a BS in neuroscience, both from the University of Michigan.

Data Analyst

Yi Liu earned his MBBS at Sun Yat-sen University in China and MS in epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is eager to understand the risk factors for aging and kidney transplant outcomes among candidates and recipients. Yi’s research covers the topics of CT-based body composition (such as sarcopenia and myosteatosis), obesity, functional status, cognitive function, and frailty.

Surgical Resident
Vilcek Graduate Resident

Jane Long is a third-year general surgery resident at Mayo Clinic, Rochester. She received her medical degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, her master’s degree from the Rhode Island School of Design, and her undergraduate degree from Yale University. She is looking forward to returning to the East Coast, joining the C-STAR family, and studying epidemiology at NYU Langone.

Research Project Manager

Natalia Martinez-Lopez completed her undergraduate degree in biomedical sciences at the University of Puerto Rico and her master’s in international health policy and management at NYU. She has worked on multiple National Institutes of health (NIH) grant–funded clinical trials, and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)–funded health disparities research to improve healthcare outcomes.

Data Analyst

Gayathri Menon works with registry data to explore healthcare delivery and accessibility in populations with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD), particularly vulnerable subpopulations. She has an MHS in epidemiology from the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. Her research interests include transplantation equity, kidney disease, and epidemiologic methods. In her spare time, Gayathri is an avid reader and enjoys going on hikes.

Surgical Resident

Garyn Metoyer is a postgraduate year 4 general surgery resident at LifeBridge Health Sinai Hospital of Baltimore. Originally from Columbus, Ohio, he graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a bachelor of science in biology and then received his medical degree from Wright State University in 2020. He was first exposed to abdominal organ transplant during rotations at Johns Hopkins Medical Center. He is interested in pursuing an abdominal transplant fellowship and is passionate about addressing social determents of health and patient advocacy as a clinician and future surgeon–scientist.

Visiting MD/PhD Student

Evelien Quint is a visiting MD/PhD student from the University of Groningen in The Netherlands. Her research focuses on frailty in the kidney transplant population and on prehabilitation interventions to improve postoperative outcomes.

Resident

Jennifer Alejo is a surgical resident at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and originally from Fallston, Maryland. She first became interested in transplantation while researching long-term outcomes in living kidney donors within the Epidemiology Research Group in Organ Transplantation (ERGOT) during her undergraduate education at Johns Hopkins University. She received her MD from the University of Virginia in 2018 and completed her junior residency at Wake Forest. During her T32 postdoctoral research fellowship at Johns Hopkins, her primary focus was COVID-19 vaccine responses and outcomes in solid organ transplant recipients. She plans to apply for abdominal transplant surgery fellowship. Outside of medicine, Jen enjoys exercising, cooking, baking, and live music.

Medical Student

Shivani Bisen is a medical student at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. She completed her BA in public health studies and the psychological and brain sciences at Johns Hopkins University in 2020. Since matriculating at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Shivani has continued her pursuits to understand post-donation outcomes and the field of transplantation. She is interested in surgical and transplant outcomes research, equity in access to transplant services, transplant surgery, and cardiothoracic surgery.

Senior Data Analyst

Teresa Po-Yu Chiang has experience working with large national databases and cohort studies. Teresa has studied transplant center behavior, post-donation outcomes in donors, and post-transplant outcomes in recipients, and is studying COVID-19 vaccine response in immunocompromised patients and post–COVID-19 outcomes in solid organ transplant recipients. Teresa is interested in mental health and wellbeing, global health, and public health education.

Surgical Resident
Vilcek Graduate Resident

Senior Data Analyst

Tanveen Ishaque is originally from Dhaka, Bangladesh, and completed her MBBS at Dhaka Medical College where she worked for renowned nongovernmental organizations. She obtained her master’s degree in epidemiology from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Tanveen is passionate about ensuring equal access to healthcare. Her research interests are geographic, social, and allocation disparities in transplant waitlisting, equity in access to transplant, and improving post-transplant outcomes.

Medical Student

Ian S. Jaffe is a medical student in the MD/MSCI program at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. He is originally from New Jersey and completed his undergraduate degree at Duke University. Ian's research and clinical interests have ranged widely across several disciplines, giving him an appreciation for the multifaceted challenges of organ transplantation. His current interests include immunosuppression refinement, highly-sensitized organ recipients, and longitudinal transplant outcomes. Ian is passionate about improving equity, access, outcomes, and the patient experience in transplant surgery, which he hopes to do through both clinical work and research.

Senior Data Analyst

Jennifer Motter earned her MHS from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with a concentration in cardiovascular and clinical epidemiology. Her expertise involves the use of single-center, multicenter, and national data in transplantation. She currently leads multiple national collaborative efforts, which include the National Cancer Institute and American Society of Transplantation. She is a recipient of the Investigator Award from the American Transplant Congress and is an aspiring a physician–scientist who is interested in blending her interests in clinical trials and outcomes research to optimize access to care, counseling, and management for patients.

Research Analyst

Suhani Patel recently graduated from Columbia University with an MPH in epidemiology. She received her BS in environmental health from the University of Washington, which sparked her interest in infectious disease control in resource limited settings. Most recently, her research interests have included dismantling the model minority stereotype and advocating for health equity with a focus on the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) community.

Data Analyst

Kelly Terlizzi recently earned her master of science in clinical research from the NYU College of Dentistry. She has worked extensively with large claims datasets and other administrative data to evaluate healthcare policy. She has published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, International Journal of Pediatric Dentistry, and Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. Kelly studied biochemistry and holds a bachelor of arts from Barnard College.

Data Analyst

Laura Zeiser completed her ScM in epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2020. Her work uses transplant registry data to explore potential strategies for expanding organ availability. She is interested in improving access to organ transplant, equitability in waitlist outcomes, and post-transplant patient and graft survival.

Research Program Coordinator

Jasmine Akhtar organizes and assists in managing studies addressing geographic disparities in donor family access to support services, evaluating the risk of kidney failure among living kidney donors by presence of specific genetic variants, and assessing telemedicine as a means of evaluating and counseling living donors. Akhtar graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, in May 2021 with a BS in neurobiology and physiology.

Student Research Intern

Trainee

Medical Student

DURI Research Fellow

Chelsea Cromwell is currently a rising sophomore at NYU. She is on the pre-med track, majoring in Africana studies and minoring in child and adolescent mental health studies. In the future, she wants to branch into medicine in hopes of becoming a dermatologist. Over time Chelsea has found herself interested in research regarding disparities towards people of color in the healthcare field. She is excited about the knowledge and experience that C-STAR has to offer.

Research Program Coordinator

DURI Research Fellow

Sophia Gunawan a rising junior at NYU, majoring in global public health/biology. Currently working with the Natarajan Lab at NYU Langone/VA NY Harbor Healthcare System in their development of a stage-matched behavioral intervention to improve hypertension control among veterans. Her research interests remain broad within microbiology and the health sciences. Sophia is particularly intrigued by cancer research as, at the moment, she aspires to become a physician and specialize in pediatric oncology. Nonetheless, thus far in her research journey, she’s most interested in learning and deepening an understanding of new research techniques and methods, from the qualitative analysis she has been working with to wet-laboratory techniques. Recently joined the Diversity Undergraduate Research Incubator at NYU to meet like-minded peers and find mentors in the research community who may have walked different paths than she will yet share similar interests and goals.

Senior Data Analyst

Katya Kaplow specializes in developing and analyzing mixed methods surveys. She graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, in May 2021 with a master’s degree in epidemiology. Katya has a background in health equity and health literacy research.

Medical Student

Jonah Klapholz is a fourth-year medical student at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. He is a native New Yorker and completed his undergraduate degree in human development at Cornell University in 2019. As an aspiring academic surgeon, Jonah’s interests include surgical education, advocacy in surgery, and the social determinants of surgical care. At C-STAR, Jonah will be completing a scholarly concentration in bioethics. He aims to explore the logistic and ethical ramifications of xenotransplantation and the potential inequities that would arise in the context of near-unlimited organ supply. In his spare time, Jonah enjoys taking care of his many house plants, painting, and fly fishing.

Assistant Research Scientist

Samantha Klitenic has a background in law and public policy. Her research focuses on transplant policy, regulation, and governance, as well as ways to improve the policymaking and implementation processes. Additionally, she is interested in health equity, legal epidemiology, and public health advocacy. Samantha received her JD from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2018.

Medical Student, University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine

Denise Nemeth is an aspiring surgeon and medical student at the University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine in San Antonio, Texas. She is originally from Piedras Negras, Mexico. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and her master’s degree at UT Health San Antonio. She is passionate about providing healthcare to medically underserved and marginalized communities. Denise’s research and subspecialty interests are varied and include transplant surgery, minimally invasive surgery, wound healing, and gender equity within surgical specialties. She is an advocate for Latino and rural health and provides leadership to social media outreach activities for the Association of Women Surgeons.

DURI Research Fellow

Julianna Tellas is a first generation rising junior at NYU majoring in psychology with a minor in child and adolescent mental health studies. Julianna’s research interests are centered around clinical, behavioral, and developmental psychology. Regarding her career in the future, Julianna intends on becoming a child psychologist. Both very excited and grateful for the opportunity of being part of C-STAR. Working in research with C-STAR, she is looking forward to gaining experience in research itself, as well as developing and building onto skills such as collecting data, working with participants through interviews, and overall learning more about the organ transplant system in New York City!

Senior Research Scientist

Karen B. Vanterpool has a background in health behavior and sexual and reproductive health. She is a behavioral scientist with methodological skills in intervention design, biostatistics, and qualitative science. She has more than 10 years of experience conducting behavioral and social science research addressing health disparities among diverse populations. Her current research focuses on upper-extremity vascularized composite allotransplant and organ transplant in persons living with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV. Dr. Vanterpool has a doctoral degree in health behavior from Indiana University Bloomington School of Public Health, an MPH in social and behavioral sciences from the University of Florida, and a BS in community health from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Ashley Xu is a nurse with more than 14 years of experience in medical surgical care, cardiac intensive care, and cardiothoracic surgery and transplant operating room care. She graduated with a PhD from Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, and her research interest lies in mix methodology, caregiver science, device therapy, solid organ transplants, cardiovascular disease, community participatory research, and social media in research. She was a National Institute of Health/National Institute of Nursing Research Interdisciplinary Trainee, American Association of Colleges of Nursing Johnson & Johnson Minority Faculty Scholar, and a Heart Failure Society of America Nurse Research Fellow.

Data Analyst

Daniyar Akizhanov completed his bachelor of arts in computer science and operations research at Rice University in 2023. During his studies, he developed machine learning models for electrocardiography data at Texas Heart Institute and an optimization pipeline for warehouse logistics at TU Dortmund. Daniyar is developing simulation software for testing organ allocation policies. He is excited about adapting a wide range of technical approaches to address the needs of disadvantaged communities.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Maarten Coemans, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher currently visiting C-STAR. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sociology, as well as a master’s degree in statistics. In 2020, he obtained his PhD in applied biostatistics at the University of Leuven (Belgium), wherein he focused on modelling rejection and outcomes after kidney transplantation, both on single and multicenter European cohorts. Maarten has high-level expertise in longitudinal, survival, and joint modelling, and is passionate about applying these techniques to large-scale databases. At C-STAR, he is broadening his scope from the European to the American transplant population by developing an optimized score for heart allocation using registry data. In his spare time, Maarten enjoys hiking and jogging.

Surgical Resident
Vilcek Graduate Resident

Undergraduate Student

Nicolai Cronin is an undergraduate student majoring in industrial engineering at Purdue University. Nicolai has previously worked as a business management consultant at Gibb River Group specializing in fuel network optimization and contract analysis. His research focuses on human-factors analysis and decision modeling to better understand how personal preferences predict consumer purchasing patterns. In the future, Nicolai would like to lead a consulting firm specializing in consumer analytics.

General Surgery Resident, Brookdale Hospital and Medical Center

Amrusha Musunuru is a general surgery resident at Brookdale Hospital and Medical Center pursuing a dedicated research year at C-STAR. Her research interests include heart allocation, kidney transplant outcomes in older populations, and experiences and outcomes of left-handed surgeons. Before starting residency, she graduated from the Armed Forces Medical College in India. She hopes to pursue an abdominal transplant fellowship. Outside of medicine, she enjoys running, swimming, and binge-watching TV shows, MASH being her favorite.

Grants Manager

Emma Bardoff has more than 17 years of experience working in the higher education and nonprofit sectors, and applies her extensive accounting expertise to managing C-STAR grant submissions and grant finances. Before joining NYU Langone, Emma served as grants manager for the C-STAR team at Johns Hopkins University, where she managed the financial administration of federal, state, and private grants.

Associate Director of Research Administration, Research Administration POD

Margo Gladys works with various department and institute leadership to oversee pre- and post-award functions at a local level. She has more than 14 years of experience in pre- and post-award research management, finance, and healthcare administration. She is passionate about an integrative approach in healthcare and works as a wellness consultant and coach. She is currently pursuing a master of science in health and human performance from Pacific College of Health and Science.

Grants Specialist, Research Administration POD

Scot Laney came to NYU Langone in 2021 with many years of grant management experience in institutions of higher education. Scot has an MBA from Fordham University and is passionate about supporting the innovative medical research at NYU Langone.

Director of Research Administration, Research Administration POD

Brittany Leach works with various department and institute leadership and academic department–sponsored research operations support teams to oversee pre- and post-award functions at a local level. The Research Administration POD is a dynamic community of research administrators that support our faculty with pre-award, award stage, and post-award research administration. She is skilled in higher education administration, healthcare administration, and research administration, and has an executive master in public administration from NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Collaborating Faculty

Luis Arias-Espinosa earned his medical degree at Universidad Panamericana School of Medicine in Mexico City. He spent three years researching hematologic and pancreatic neoplasms at the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition. Luis is an aspiring academic transplant surgeon who has a particular interest in harnessing translational research to optimize clinical outcomes.

Assistant Professor of Nursing, NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing

Research Assistant Professor, Department of Urology
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Population Health

Assistant Professor, Hansjorg Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery
Assistant Professor, Department of Population Health

Assistant Professor, Department of Population Health
Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery
Director, Transplant Ethics and Policy Group

Associate Professor, Ronald O. Perelman Department of Emergency Medicine
Associate Professor, Department of Population Health
Faculty Collaborator, Institute for Excellence in Health Equity

Administrator, Department of Surgery

Nicholas Dibble is responsible for providing administrative and financial oversight and leadership across C-STAR missions. Nicholas joined NYU Langone in 2014 and has more than 20 years of healthcare experience. Nicholas has developed strong relationships across the organization and plays a key role working with faculty across a number of different education, operations, and research initiatives, and has provided important mentorship and growth opportunities to many members of the administrative staff. Before joining NYU Langone, Nicholas had roles of increasing responsibility at EmblemHealth in the areas of project management, budgeting, and cost containment. He also previously worked in the health and wellness departments for a number of large corporations including Salomon Smith Barney, Marriott, and HIP Health Plan. Nicholas earned his BS from Ithaca College and his MBA from Baruch College/Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai.

Administrative Assistant

Johanna Paguay provides administrative support for C-STAR faculty directors, leadership, and other staff and trainees. Johanna is a trained medical assistant with more than 16 years of experience in pediatrics, cardiology, and sports medicine, and graduated from the New York School for Medical and Dental Assistants in 2005. Johanna joined NYU Langone in 2013 and in 2019 joined NYU’s Steps for Success Ambassador Program, becoming the ideal example of growth within the institution.