Meet the team
Our lab is made up of three principle investigators, each directing their own innovative programme of research into kidney and bladder diseases. Hover over a lab member below for more information about their research, or click on their name to see further information.
Professor in Paediatric Nephrology and Wellcome Trust Investigator in Science
David leads the research group and a long-term research mission which aims to understand mechanisms which underlie kidney and bladder disease in children and adults with the goal of translating these findings for patient benefit. His work has combined experimental models of kidney and bladder disease using zebrafish, transgenic mice and patient samples with innovative technologies including three-dimensional imaging, mathematical modelling, gene editing, stem cell technology and novel therapeutic approaches. He is a former Kidney Research UK Senior Fellow and MRC New Investigator.
Research Fellow
Laura focuses on investigating mechanisms of polycystic kidney disease to identify new therapeutic targets.
Research Fellow
Saif combines novel imaging techniques and nanotechnology to deliver therapies directly to the kidney glomerulus.
Dr Pankaj Chandak
Research Fellow
Pankaj is a paediatric transplant surgery Fellow and Research Fellow, focused on machine perfusion of human organs for therapeutic manipulation, regeneration and repair, as well as bioengineering.
CEO of Encelo
Katia is the founder and CEO of Encelo, a company developing a novel device for cell capture and preservation from urine samples to offer unlimited and remote access to patient-specific primary cells.
Research Fellow
Jess focusses on bladder and kidney fibrosis in both development and disease. Her current research investigates the cellular and molecular changes in the paediatric urinary tract, specifically examining the impact of posterior urethral valves and other rare early-onset lower urinary tract disorders.
Daniyal studies lymphatic vessels in kidney development and diseases, such as polycystic kidney disease, transplant rejection and cancer. His research is supported by grants from Kidney Research UK, the Rosetrees Trust and the Polycystic Kidney Disease charity.
Foulkes Foundation Post-doctoral Fellow
Dr Kevin Cao
Research Fellow
Kevin is a surgical registrar at GOSH, and is also interested in posterior urethral valve obstruction and how this affects bladder fibrosis and kidney function.
Professor of Paediatric Nephrology
Rukkshana is Consultant in Paediatric Nephrology at GOSH. Her research focuses on cardiovascular disease in childhood kidney disease (CKD), combining laboratory work, clinical research studies and clinical trials.
Professor of Paediatric Nephrology and Transplantation
Stephen is clinical lead for renal transplantation and Director of the NIHR GOSH Clinical Research Facility at GOSH for Children NHS Foundation Trust. His 3 main research interests are i) renal transplantation, systemic lupus erythematosis and hypertension.
Professor of Paediatric Science
Adrian is Professor of Paediatric Science in the University of Manchester, Honorary Professor at UCL, and the founder of the KDD. His research: i. pinpoints genetic and environmental causes of renal malformations; ii. defines roles of implicated molecules in organogenesis; and iii. tests preclinical therapies to prevent malformations and promote regeneration.
Clinical Associate Professor
Dr. Oni is leading the £10.4M LifeArc-Kidney Research UK Centre for Rare Kidney Diseases, a national transformative project to accelerate the translational pathway for her speciality which has received global attention.
Senior Research Fellow
Karen is a BRC senior post-doctoral researcher. Her main research interest has been in understanding normal and abnormal human kidney development, and her current work is focussed on novel strategies that promote normal kidney development and differentiation.
Research Fellow
Gideon is looking at the effects of diabetes on blood vessels using vascular organoids. Making use of scRNA-seq data he finds novel genes which are changed during the course of disease and tries to modulate them in-vitro using organoids.
Lecturer in Basic Sciences - Royal Vet College
Elisa is a past member of the group and a current collaborator with a research focus on podocyte biology and inflammatory mechanisms in kidney physiology and disease.
Dr Barian Mohidin
PhD student
Barian's research involves identification and validation of tissue-based molecular biomarkers of kidney transplant rejection in children.
KRUK Intermediate Fellow
Jennie is interested in the molecular pathways that cause childhood glomerular diseases, in order to identify new treatments. Her work also aims to improve gene therapies for the kidney.
GOSH BRC Catalyst Fellow
Will is interested in microfluidic systems to model paediatric glomerular diseases, to identify blood factors which cause disease.
Consultant Paediatric Urologist
Mr Nav Johal is an academic paediatric urologist with a subspecialist focus on bladder exstrophy and congenital bladder dysfunction. His MRC-funded research investigates bladder fibrosis in conditions such as bladder exstrophy, neurogenic bladder, and posterior urethral valves, aiming to elucidate the developmental biology and pathophysiology underlying these anomalies. With over 50 peer-reviewed publications, his work spans molecular, histological, and functional analyses of the paediatric bladder to improve reconstructive surgical techniques and long-term outcomes. Based at UCL and Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, Mr Johal integrates translational research with clinical expertise to advance the understanding and treatment of complex congenital bladder disorders
Doctoral researcher
Andrew is interested in the link between chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease, developing 3D vessel models to monitor the physiological effects of the disease.
Tahmina Wickenden
PhD student
Tahmina is investigating the role of lymphatics in diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Her research focuses on trying to understand whether lymphatic changes in DKD can be explored as a therapeutic target.
Sonal Nandanwar
PhD student
Sonal is focusing on using novel imaging techniques, including HiP-CT, to investigate changes in the vasculature between young and aged mouse kidneys.
Emily Moore
PhD student
Emily is looking at the characterisation of childhood glomerular diseases, particularly at the potential changes in vasculature and lymphatic structures during development. She is also interested in the potential role of an angiogenic molecule in altering disease progression.
Dr Carolina Bebi
Clinical Fellow
Carolina is a Clinical Fellow in paediatric urology at GOSH. In the Long laboratory, she is studying how lymphatic grow in the urinary bladder, and whether targeting these vessels can alleviate bladder disease in children, supported by funding from The Urology Foundation.
Dr Aleksandra Berezowska
Research Fellow
Aleksandra's work focuses on transforming kidney stone care through a clinical pathway that rapidly characterizes stones, optimizes treatment, and prevents recurrence.
Jasmine Kaur
PhD student
Jasmine is working on developing gene therapy strategies for adult and infantile polycystic kidney disease (PKD).
Alumni
Past members of the lab
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Professor of Paediatric Education
Paul retired as a trained as a Paediatrician, specialising in Paediatric Nephrology and Fetal Medicine with honorary consultant appointments at GOSH, UCLH and the Evelina London Children’s Hospital. Paralleling this clinical work, he undertook a PhD in Developmental Biology and has instigated and led diverse research studies on normal and abnormal development of the kidneys, with particular interests in polycystic kidney diseases and bladder / lower urinary tract obstruction. Paul is also passionate about developing future generations of paediatricians and developed and revamped the UCL BScs and MScs in Paediatrics and Child Health respectively, as well as initiating the joint Harvard-UCL program in Global Pediatric Leadership.
Research Fellow
Lauren was interested in the role of Hedgehog signalling in the development of the kidney and the pathogenesis of Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease (ARPKD).
Research Fellow
Maria has retired and was interested in gene therapy strategies to alleviate polycystic kidney disease.