The Division of Nephrology is proud to welcome five new fellows for 2017. We look forward to getting to know each of them in the following months.
Fizza Abbas, MD, earned her medical degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Abbas was a volunteer at the Sojourner Health Care Clinic, a safety-net clinic developed and managed by UMKC medical students to provide outpatient care to the homeless and underprivileged population in downtown Kansas City. She is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and is an avid reader.
Ryan Kunjal, MD, received his medical degree from the University of West Indies at St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Florida in Jacksonville, Florida. Dr. Kunjal volunteered as a Patient Educator at the SMARA Cancer Support Group, Trinidad and Tobago, lending support and comfort to cancer patients and their families. He likes to play cricket and volleyball and talk politics. Dr. Kunjal is fluent in English and Spanish and is certified in Basic Sign Language.
Rungwassee Rattanavich, MD, joins our department as a Transplant fellow. She received her medical degree from Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Thailand, and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at MetroWest Medical Center, Framingham, Massachusetts. She has been a nephrology fellow at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison, Wisconsin, for the past two years. Dr. Rattanavich enjoys cooking Thai food and playing the Thai dulcimer, Khim, a stringed musical instrument. In fact, in 2003, she was selected for the role as the Thai dulcimer performer in an International Cultural Exchange Program performance in Wales, Great Britain.
Sadaf Sheikh, MD, received her medical degree from Fatima Jinnah Medical University, Pakistan, and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at St. Luke’s Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Sheikh recently worked on a clinical research project involving anaplastic gliomas with Dr. Jiayi Huang, here at Washington University. She is fluent in English, Hindi and Urdu. In her spare time, Dr. Sheikh likes to cook, spend time with her family, watch TV, and read the New England Journal of Medicine.
Rima Thakkar, MD, earned her medical degree from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine of Midwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Through her volunteer work, Dr. Thakkar has been heavily involved in helping provide healthcare to the homeless and uninsured here in the US, as well as to villagers in Costa Rica and Nicaragua (International Service Learning, Nicaragua). Outside interests include watching movies, reading, running, baking, cooking, traveling, and spending time with friends and family.
Miraie Wardi, MD, received her medical degree from the University of North Texas, Fort Worth, Texas, and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Texas Tech University, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, El Paso, Texas. As a student member of the American Osteopathic Association, Dr. Wardi participated in the DO Day on Capitol Hill in Washington DC (2013 and 2014), an event that helps educate US Senators and Representatives on issues relevant to physicians, such as funding for graduate medical education. “Church, family and friends” are very important to Dr. Wardi. She enjoys traveling and learning about different cultures and languages of the world and is fluent in English, Arabic and Spanish. She loves music and art, and feeds her passion for learning by being an avid reader of books, journal articles and the news.