Table of Contents
Credits
Host: Sara Dong
Guests: Caitlyn Vlasschaert, Hariharasudan Natarajan, Sam Kant, Jeannine Smith, Samira Farouk
Writing: Caitlyn Vlasschaert, Hariharasudan Natarajan
Edited and produced by Sara Dong with support from the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)
Our Guests
Caitlyn Vlasschaert, MD, MSc, PhD
Caitlyn Vlasschaert, MD, MSC is a current Nephrology Fellow at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. She is fascinated by the life-changing impact of kidney transplantation and has a primary research focus in kidney genetics, including how donor and recipient genetic variation shape transplant outcomes. She is an aspiring clinician-scientist who completed a PhD in kidney genetics during internal medicine residency. She is the recipient of ASCI Emerging Generation Award (2023) and STAT Wunderkind Award (2024).
Hariharasudan Natarajan, MD
Hariharasudan Natarajan, MD is a current second year nephrology fellow at Mount Sinai Hospital, and he will be pursuing a transplant nephrology fellowship next year. He is particularly interested in recurrent glomerulonephritis post-transplant. He is originally from India and completed residency at the University of Oklahoma.
Sam Kant, MD
Sam Kant, MD is a nephrologist and transplant physician at St. Vincent’s University Hospital and University College Dublin, where he is also the Director of the Internal Medicine Training Program in conjunction with the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland
Jeannina Smith, MD
Jeannina Smith, MD is a Professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. She is the Medical Director of the Transplant Infectious Disease Program. Her research focuses on infections in solid-organ transplant recipients, with a focus on viral infections including COVID and CMV, fungal infections, and antifungal pharmacology. She is passionate about medical education and is the former program director of the infectious disease fellowship and currently directs a preclinical integrated block at UW School of Medicine and Public Health and received the 2021 Dean’s Teaching Award for her teaching contributions.
Samira Farouk, MD, MSCR
Samira Farouk MD, MSCR, FASN, FNKF, FACP is a Professor of Medicine and Medical Education; Program Director of the Nephrology Fellowship Program, and Social Media Director of the Division of Nephrology. She is a board certified nephrologist and internist, and transplant nephrologist. Dr. Farouk is a graduate of Princeton University where she received her B.S.E in Chemical Engineering with a certificate in Spanish and Portuguese Language and Culture. She received her MD from Rutgers University – Robert Wood Johnson Medical School where she graduated with a Distinction in Research. She completed her internship, residency, and nephrology and transplant fellowship at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and also served as Chief Fellow.
Dr. Farouk is involved in all levels of medical education and teaches medical students, residents, and fellows and has been the recipient of multiple teaching awards. She is a Fellow Educator member of the Institute of Medical Education at ISMMS. She is interested in the development and study of innovative medical education tools and technologies, including free open access medical education (FOAMed) and social media. She is the co-founder of NephSIM (www.nephsim.com), winner of the 2018 ASN Innovations in Kidney Education contest, founder of the virtual nephrology mentoring program NephSIM Nephrons, co-faculty lead of Renal Fellow Network (www.renalfellow.org), and Executive Committee member of NephMadness and the Nephrology Social Media Collective. Dr. Farouk was the recipient of the 2020 American Society of Nephrology (ASN) William and Sandra Bennett Clinical Scholar of KidneyCure award. She is Deputy Co-Director of the ASN Board Review and Course Update (BRCU). She serves on ASN and American Society of Transplantation (AST) committees and is currently Past-Chair of the AST Trainee & Young Faculty Community of Practice. She currently serves as President of the New York Society of Nephrology, Associate Editor for Kidney Medicine, and on the Editorial Board of journals including the American Journal of Kidney Diseases and Clinical Transplantation.
Culture
Jeannina: The Pitt
Samira: any sports, recently the Olympics
Caitlyn: rock music, especially farewell tour concerts
Hariharasudan: South Indian cuisine
Consult Notes
Febrile is so excited to support #NephMadness 2026!
NephMadness is a nephrology educational initiative modeled after the college basketball tournament but with nephrology concepts!
This episode features the Trolls of Transplantation Region, and I’ll refer you to the NephMadness blog posts for today’s Consult Notes!
https://ajkdblog.org/2026/03/01/nephmadness-2026-trolls-of-transplantation-region/
Infographics
Goal
Listeners will be able to consider the impact of BK virus and CMV on renal transplant recipients
Learning Objectives
After listening to this episode, listeners will be able to:
- Compare and contrast the management of BK and CMV post-transplant
Disclosures
The guests and Febrile podcast report no relevant financial disclosures
Citation
Vlasschaert, C., Natarajan, H., Kant, S., Smith, J., Farouk, S., Dong, S. “#130: Trolls of Transplant with NephMadness”. Febrile: A Cultured Podcast. https://player.captivate.fm/episode/b11c17fa-2c7a-4aae-944a-31c511ee9763/