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Our Team

A board of directors, a core group of advisors, executive directors, faculty educators, investigators, fellows, interns, and administrators are the driving force behind GlomCon. This team designs and executes initiatives, collaborates on research and educational activities, and helps shape the mission of GlomCon.

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The background of our team is diverse and includes an international group of academic and private practice nephrologists, nephropathologists, scientists, and trainees. Like many other medical and research initiatives, we too believe that a close collaboration between clinicians, patients, scientists, and industry can drive meaningful progress in diagnosing and treating patients with complex diseases.​

The Leadership Team

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Ali Poyan Mehr, MD

Founding President

Dr. Ali Poyan Mehr is Founding President of the GlomCon Foundation, a nonprofit advancing kidney disease education and research. He trained at Charité Berlin, Yale University, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Poyan Mehr serves as Director of the Regional Glomerular Disease Program and Quality Lead for National Kidney Care Services at Kaiser Permanente Northern California.

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Junelle Speller

Chief Strategy Officer

​Junelle Speller is GlomCon's Chief Strategy Officer, leading initiatives including EMBARK Awareness. She brings over 25 years of healthcare strategy expertise and nearly two decades of lived kidney disease experience. As a patient thought leader, she drives advocacy efforts and speaks at major medical conferences. Junelle holds a BS in Biology from Yale and an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management.

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Sarah Rayburn

Chief Operating Officer

Sarah Rayburn is GlomCon's Chief Operating Officer, overseeing day-to-day operations and strategic growth. She ensures teams and projects run efficiently while aligning with GlomCon's mission. With expertise in organizational leadership and process optimization, Sarah implements systems that enhance productivity and collaboration. She is passionate about creating an environment where people and ideas thrive.

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Rica Mae Pitogo

Administrative Director

Rica Mae Pitogo is the Administrative Director of Research and Educational Programs at GlomCon Foundation. With a background in Industrial Engineering and currently pursuing a Master's in Health Data Science at UCLA, she leads GlomCon's Kidney Disease Registry development and manages the organization's digital platforms. Rica directs a team of project managers advancing glomerular disease education and research globally.

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Nicole Martinez

Project Manager

Nicole Martinez excels as a team player with strong interpersonal skills and an optimistic approach to challenges. She is committed to continuous growth and fostering positive relationships while delivering excellence in every task.

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Marianne Nunez

Project Manager

Marianne Gert Nunez, MD is a Project Manager at GlomCon coordinating fellowship programs for ILA and America. She bridges clinical insight and operations, aligning and tracking outcomes from planning through execution, and partnering with colleagues to resolve issues quickly.

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Melanie Ta

Project Manager

Melanie Ta leads the development and implementation of education programs at GlomCon. She manages program operations, coordinates cross-functional teams, and provides administrative support to enhance efficiency and drive successful outcomes.

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Alyssa Magallon

Project Manager

Alyssa Magallon leads graphic design and digital marketing at GlomCon, managing communications for GlomCon PACE, Glompedia, and educational programs. With a background in industrial engineering, she applies organizational skills and strategic thinking to enhance branding and support the foundation's mission.

The Administrative Team

The Vanguards

This core leadership group formulates GlomCon’s vision and, through their leadership, designs and executes ideas that are at the heart of GlomCon’s mission. They collaborate closely with workgroup and committee members, GlomCon’s board, faculty educators, clinical and scientific advisors.

GlomCon Seminar Moderators & Directors Dr. Benjamin Adam (2020 – present) Dr. Ali Poyan Mehr (2016 – present) Dr. Kassem Safa (2021 – present) Dr. Dia Waguespack (2018 – present) Past Moderators Dr. Irfan Agha (2019) Dr. Swati Arora (2019) Dr. Pravir Baxi (2017 – 2019) Dr. Jessica Lapasia (2019) Dr. Diana Mahbod (2019) Dr. Virginie Royal (2018 – 2019) Dr. Mario Rubin (2020 – 2022) Dr. Michelle M. O’Shaughnessy (2019) Dr. Kate Stevens (2018 – 2021)

GlomCon Virtual Glomerular Disease Fellowship Directors Dr. Vanesa Bijol (2021 – present) Dr. Sayna Norouzi (2020 – present) Dr. Kate Robson (2020 – present) Dr. Harish Seethapathy (2020 – present)

GlomCon Instructors and Education Committee Members Dr. Ayman Al Jurdi (2021 – present) Dr. Marco Bonilla (2022-present) Dr. Sol Carriazo (2021 – present) Dr. Orhan Efe (2021 – present) Dr. Alejandro Garcia (2022-present) Dr. Mohamed Hassanein (2021 – present) Dr. Sandra Karanovic (2022-present) Dr. Isabel Villegas Kastner (2022-present) Dr. Sahar Koubar (2022-present) Dr. Anoushka Krishnan (2021 – present) Dr. Jithu Kurian (2022 – present) Dr. Tanuj Lamech (2021 – present) Dr. Ali Poyan Mehr (2021 – present) Dr. Sayna Norouzi (2021 – present) Dr. Zainab Obaidi (2022-present) Dr. Arun Rajasekharan (2022-present) Dr. Joselyn Reyes Bahamonde (2021 – present)  Dr. Kate Robson (2021 – present) Dr. Sonia Rodriguez (2021 – present) Dr. Harish Seethapathy (2021 – present) Dr. Haresh Selvaskandan (2021 – present) Dr. Mythri Shankar (2021 – present) Dr. Arvind Singh (2022-present) Dr. Paolo Nikolai So (2021 – present) Dr. Vinay Srinivasan (2022-present) Dr. Benjamin Tan (2022 – present) Dr. Sayali Thakare (2022-present) Dr. Nasim Wiegley (2021 – present) Dr. Dilushi Wijayaratne (2022 – present)

GlomCon Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Dr. Nasim Wiegley (2021 – present) ​ Deputy Editors Dr. Orhan Efe (2022 – present) Dr. Mohamed Hassanein (2022 – present) Dr. Anoushka Krishnan (2022 – present) Dr. Paolo Nikolai So (2022 – present) ​ Associate Editors Dr. Ayman Al Jurdi (2021 – present) Dr. Sol Carriazo (2021 – present) Dr. Tanuj Lamech (2021 – present) Dr. Edgar Lerma (2022 – present) Dr. Sayna Norouzi (2021 – present) Dr. Ali Poyan Mehr (2021 – present) Dr. Joselyn Reyes Bahamonde (2021 – present) Dr. Kate Robson (2021 – present) Dr. Sonia Rodriguez (2021 – present) Dr. Harish Seethapathy (2021 – present) Dr. Haresh Selvaskandan (2021 – present) Dr. Mythri Shankar (2021 – present) Dr. Vinay Srinivasan (2022 – present) Dr. Sayali Thakare (2022 – present) ​ Past Associate Editors Dr. Swati Arora (2018 – 2019) Dr. Pravir Baxi (2018 – 2019) Dr. Jorge Castaneda (2018 – 2019) Dr. Orhan Efe (2021 – 2022) Dr. Mohamed Hassanein (2021 – 2022) Dr. Anoushka Krishnan (2021 – 2022) Dr. Jessica Lapasia (2018 -2019) Dr. Michelle O’Shaughnessy (2018 – 2019) Dr. Harpreet Singh (2018 – 2019) Dr. Paolo Nikolai So (2021 – 2022) ​ Graphic Communications & Design Editors Dr. Alejandro Garcia-Rivera (2022 – present) Dr. Ana Naidas (2022 – present) Dr. Paolo Nikolai So (2021 – present)

​GlomCon Ibero-Latinoamérica (ILA) Leadership Team GlomCon ILA Seminars Moderators and Directors Dr. Carmen Avila Casado (2018-present) Dr. Blanca Martinez Chagolla (2018-present) Dr. Joselyn Reyes Bahamonde (2022-present) Dr. Javier Soto Vargas (2018-present) ​ GlomCon ILA Magazine Editorial Manager Dr. Sol Carriazo (2022-present) Associate Editor Dr. Jorge Rojas Rivera (2022-present) Onconephrology Segment Coordinators for  ILA Magazine Dr. Marco Bonilla (2022-present) Dr. Jorge Michel (2022-present) GlomCon ILA Communications Team Dr. Denisse Arellano Méndez (2022-present) Dr. Alejandro Garcia Rivera (2022-present) Past Directors Dr. Julio Alejandro Gutiérrez Prieto (2018-2022) Dr. Franco H. Cabeza Rivera (2018-2022) Dr. Jorge Castañeda (2018-2020)

GlomCon Research Directors ​ Dr. Tingting Li 2019 (2019 – present) Dr. Haresh Selvaskandan (2021 – present)  ​ GlomCon Research Investigators Dr. Swati Arora (2019 – present) Dr. Vanesa Bijol (2022 – present) Dr. Erika Bracamonte (2022 – present) Dr. Farid G Ghalli (2021 – present) Dr. Ray Hsu (2020 – present) Dr. Kuang-Yu Jen (2022 – present) Dr. Kenar Jhaveri (2022 – present) Dr. Asta Jonasdottir (2021 – present) Dr. Stewart Lecker (2022 – present) Dr. Tingting Li (2019 – present) Dr. Iyad S Mansour (2021 – present) Dr. Ali Poyan Mehr (2019 – present) Dr. Nidia Messias (2022 – present) Dr. Dwarakanathan Ranganathan (2021 – present) Dr. Haresh Selvaskandan (2021 – present) Dr. Purva Sharma (2022 – present) Dr. Tripti Singh (2019 – present) Dr. Isaac Stillman (2022 – present) Dr. Amanda Tchakarov (2022 – present) Dr. Dia Waguespack (2021 – present) Dr. Nasim Wiegley (2021 – present)  Dr. Weixiong Zhong (2022 – present) ​ Research Tools & Applications Lead Cyn Huynh (2021 – present)  ​ Evidence Curation & Implementation Dr. Ali Poyan Mehr (2021 – present) Dr. Harish Seethapathy (2021 – present) Dr. Haresh Selvaskandan (2021 – present)

GlomCon Ambassadors | Global Mission ​ Dr. Joana Gameiro (2022 – present) – Portugal Dr. Nina Görlich (2021 – present) – Germany Dr. Edward Kwakyi (2021 – present) – Ghana Dr. Harish Seethapathy (2021 – present) – UK

Community Engagement Lead ​ Tejwinder Sandhu (2022 – present) Victoria Vera (2021 – present)

Program Managers ​ Rica Mae Pitogo (2022 – present) Reena E Ametorwo (2022 – present)

Strategic, Medical, and Scientific Advisors ​ Dr. Vanesa Bijol (2021 – present) Dr. David Friedman (2021 – present) Dr. Barbara Gillespie (2021 – present) Dr. Richard Glassock (2021 – present) Dr. Stewart Lecker (2021 – present) GlomCon Founding Member and GlomCon Fellowship-Trivia co-crerator Lauren Lee (2021 – present) Dr. Tingting Li (2020 – present) Dr. Nidia Messias (2021 – present) Dr. Martin Pollak (2021 – present)  GlomCon Founding Member Dr. Helmut Rennke (2021 – present) GlomCon Founding Member Dr. Mario Rubin (2019 – present) Dr. Isaac Stillman (2021 – present) GlomCon Founding Member Dr. Suneel Udani (2021 – present) GlomCon Founding Member

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Interested in joining our team?

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