WashU Nephrology is proud to celebrate the promotions, effective July 1, 2026, of four outstanding faculty members whose achievements keep our division at the forefront of renal care, transplantation, and nephrology research.
Please join us in congratulating Monica Chang‑Panesso, MD; Massini Merzkani, MD; Rohan Paul, MBBS; and Timothy Yau, MD, on their well‑deserved promotions.
Monica Chang-Panesso, MD, has been promoted to associate professor of medicine.
Since joining WashU Nephrology in 2015, Chang-Panesso has demonstrated a deep commitment to bench research alongside her clinical practice. Her work focuses on the molecular mechanisms of kidney repair after acute injury, with particular emphasis on how aging impairs recovery and contributes to chronic disease progression.
In 2025, she received her first NIH RO1 grant and was awarded funding from the KidneyCure Transition to Independence Grants Program, a foundation of the American Society of Nephrology.
Dr. Chang-Panesso was recently installed as a Roger M. Perlmutter Career Development Assistant Professor at WashU Medicine. This professorship supports early‑career scientists pursuing promising and innovative medical research.
Her additional recent accomplishments include the 2023 Southern Society for Clinical Investigation (SSCI) Research Scholar Award and the 2022 American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) Council Young Physician-Scientist Award. She also received a five-year K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award in 2020 to investigate tubular senescence and proliferative capacity of the aging kidney.
Massini Merzkani, MD, has been promoted to associate professor of medicine.
Dr. Merzkani joined the WashU Nephrology Transplant faculty in 2020, bringing strong clinical expertise in long-term renal allograft survival, recurrence of glomerulonephritis after transplantation, and the management of complications related to kidney transplantation. He is currently the Transplant Nephrology Fellowship Program Director.
He was recently named the recipient of our 2025 Transplant Teaching Award, the highest level of recognition for teaching in the Transplant Nephrology Section. This honor reflects his strong dedication to education and his impact on trainee development. Dr. Merzkani was also the inaugural recipient of the award in 2023.
In 2024, Dr. Merzkani participated in the 6th Annual Nephrology Symposium, a collaboration between WashU Nephrology and the Guatemalan Social Security Institute (IGSS)/University of San Carlos, held in Guatemala. The symposium highlights current topics in clinical nephrology and kidney transplantation and strengthens international educational partnerships.
He has also been an annual participant in the Nephrology Conference of Honduras since 2024 and will be returning this year. In addition, he is collaborating with the Honduran Society of Nephrology on development of the kidney transplant protocol for Honduras.
Dr. Merzkani also served as a mentor at the January 2026 St. Louis Fellows Forum, hosted by the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) serving Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas. This event brings together renal fellows and mentoring teams from WashU Medicine and Saint Louis University School of Medicine for an evening of professional education and collaboration.
Rohan Singh Paul, MBBS, has been promoted to associate professor of medicine.
Dr. Paul joined the WashU Nephrology Transplant faculty in 2022, bringing clinical and research interests in delayed graft function, organ quality, and patient safety.
He is also dedicated to teaching the next generation of transplant nephrologists and is currently part of the Nephrology Transplant Fellowship Program leadership team.
Follow Dr. Paul @rohanspaul on X.
Timothy Yau, MD, has been promoted to professor of medicine.
A highly respected and valued educator of our faculty, Dr. Yau has earned repeated recognition for his exemplary teaching, creativity, and dedication to training the physicians of tomorrow. Most recently, he was named the 2025 Pre-clinical teacher of the year and Stanley Lang Teacher of the Year at the WashU School of Medicine Distinguished Service Teaching Awards (DSTA) Ceremony, an honor selected by medical students for outstanding contributions to foundational science education.
In 2021, he was among the inaugural recipients of the Academy of Educators Honor Roll Awards, recognizing faculty for their outstanding contributions to medical education.
Dr. Yau has also played a key role in shaping medical education at WashU. He served on the Phase 1 Integrated Curriculum Design team, the group responsible for developing the new curriculum launched for the entering class of medical students in 2020.
In addition to his skill as a teacher, Dr. Yau is an accomplished musician who plays guitar, fiddle, piano, and concertina, and is an enthusiastic fan of traditional Irish music. He plays at sessions regularly in the St. Louis area and is also one of the instructors at St. Louis Irish Arts.
