Division of Nephrology
Faculty

University Hospital / Newark, New Jersey

Julius M. Gardin, MD, MBA, FACC, FASE

Professor of Medicine

Director (Interim), Division of Nephrology

Faculty Profile

Dr. Gardin is serving as the Interim Director of Nephrology in addition to his responsibilities with the Cardiology Division. His scholarly publications include over 25 related to the field of Hypertension.

Julius M. Gardin, MD, MBA is a Professor of Medicine, Director (interim), Division of Nephrology & Hypertension, Director (interim), Division of Cardiology and the Chief of Quality and Program Development for the Division of Cardiology at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. He previously served as Chair of the Department of Medicine (2008-2015) at Hackensack University Medical Center. Dr. Gardin cares for patients with a wide spectrum of cardiac conditions and risk factors, and has been listed annually in the Who’s Who, Best Doctors in America and Top Doctors publications.

Dr. Gardin earned his undergraduate and medical degrees with honors from the University of Michigan. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at University of Michigan-affiliated hospitals and then completed a fellowship in Cardiology at Georgetown University Hospital.  Dr. Gardin has made important contributions to cardiac investigation through research funded by the American Heart Association, the National Institutes of Health and the medical industry. His ongoing research has helped to elucidate the role of non-invasive cardiac imaging in predicting the risk of developing heart attacks and stroke. He has been an author of more than 200 original research articles, in addition to guidelines, editorials, textbook chapters, review articles, and a U.S. patent. Dr. Gardin serves on multiple editorial boards and is currently an Senior Consulting Editor for the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography. He is a former President of the American Society of Echocardiography, International Cardiac Doppler Society, and Council on (Society of) Geriatric Cardiology and was awarded the Melvin L. Marcus Gifted Teacher in Cardiology Award from the International Academy of Cardiology.

Stuart E. Baskin, MD

Clinical Professor of Medicine

Faculty Profile

Joshua M. Kaplan, MD

Associate Professor of Medicine

Faculty Profile

Dr. Joshua Kaplan is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the New Jersey Medical School. Dr. Kaplan earned his medical degree from Cornell University in 1995, completed his Internal Medicine residency at New York University, and completed his fellowship in Nephrology at Harvard in 2002. He has been working at New Jersey Medical School since 2004, after two years in private practice.

Dr. Kaplan participates in various clinical research projects, having a particular interest in Hypoxia Factor Inhibitor Prolyl Hydroxylase Inhibitors (HIF-PHIs) in the treatment of anemia of chronic kidney disease, as well as lupus nephritis, and has published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Lancet on these topics.

Smita Mahendrakar, MD

Assistant Professor of Medicine

Faculty Profile

Dr. Smita Mahendrakar is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the New Jersey Medical School. Dr. Smita Mahendrakar earned her medical degree from Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, India in 2001. Completed her internal medicine residency at Seton Hall University and completed her fellowship in nephrology at Rutgers University in 2015. She has been working at New Jersey Medical School since 2008. Dr. Mahendrakar participates in various clinical research projects, having a particular interest in lupus nephritis.

Christopher Estiverne, MD

Assistant Professor of Medicine

Faculty Profile

Dr. Estiverne completed his medical school and residency training at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, where he also completed a Chief Residency. He completed his Nephrology training at the combined Brigham and Women's/Massachusetts General Hospital fellowship program. His administrative interests include working in the DEI sphere and his clinical interests are in improving quality of life for patients on dialysis.

Veterans Affairs - New Jersey Healthcare System/ East Orange, New Jersey

Jennine Michaud, DO

Kara Chenitz, MD

Niveen Bebawy, MD

Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center

Francis L. Weng, MD, MSCE

Chief, Transplant Division

Dr. Weng joined the Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in 2005. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University, in Boston, Massachusetts, and his medical degree from Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York City. Dr. Weng then completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, followed by a nephrology fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During his fellowship, he obtained additional training in both transplant nephrology and clinical research and earned a Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology. Dr. Weng has served as the principal investigator on several large research studies funded by government agencies such as the National Institutes of Health. He has published over 50 research and review articles in medical journals and speaks locally and nationally on transplant-related topics. Dr. Weng’s research interests include: racial disparities in access to transplant; medication adherence in transplant recipients; and health education regarding kidney transplantation. As Chief, Dr. Weng overseas all aspects of the Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division, from patient care to quality to clinical research.

Anup M. Patel, MD

Director, Transplant Research

Dr. Patel joined the Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in 2004 after completing an internal medicine residency and fellowships in nephrology and transplant nephrology at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He received his medical degree with distinction from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School. An active researcher, Dr. Patel has been involved in several major research studies in kidney transplantation. Dr. Patel was appointed Director, Transplant Research of the Transplant Division in 2019. Prior to that, he was Transplant Clinical Director. Dr. Patel is board-certified in internal medicine and nephrology.

Praveen Kandula, MD, MPH, FACP, FASN

Medical Director, Living Donor Institute

Dr. Kandula joined Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in 2013 after completing a fellowship in transplant nephrology at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, and a fellowship in nephrology at Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana. Prior to that, he served as the comedical director of the Transitional Care Unit at St. Johns Hospital, Springfield, Illinois. Dr. Kandula completed his residency and internship at Rochester General Hospital and received a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery at Rangaraya Medical College, India. Dr. Kandula is board certified in nephrology and has published articles in peer reviewed journals. As the Medical Director of the Living Donor Institute at Cooperman Barnabas, he oversees the medical evaluation and care of persons interested in serving as living kidney donors.

Navdeep Dhillon, MD

Transplant Physician

Dr. Dhillon joined the Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in 2009 after completing a general nephrology and transplant nephrology fellowship at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, and a residency in internal medicine at the University of Texas in Galveston. She received her medical degree from the Government Medical College and Hospital in Chandigarh, India. Dr. Dhillon is a member of the American Society of Nephrology, the American Medical Association and the American Society of Transplantation. Prior to joining Cooperman Barnabas, Dr. Dhillon performed and published basic science research related to solid organ transplantation.

Ryan J. Goldberg, MD

Transplant Physician

Dr. Goldberg, board certified in internal medicine and nephrology, joined the Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in 2010 from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado. While there, he completed two fellowships, one in general nephrology, followed by an AST/ASN renal transplant fellowship. He completed his residency in internal medicine also at the University of Colorado. He received a post-baccalaureate degree from the University of Colorado at Denver, Denver, Colorado, and an undergraduate degree from Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York

Purna Bindu Nandigam, MD

Transplant Physician

Dr. Nandigam joined Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center from Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, where she completed a transplant nephrology fellowship. Prior to that, she spent several years in private practice as a general nephrologist. Dr. Nandigam completed her general nephrology fellowship at Hahnemann University Hospital/Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, and an internal medicine residency at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Newark, NJ. She is board certified in both internal medicine and nephrology. A published researcher, Dr. Nandigam’s clinical research interests include immunosuppressive drug minimization, tools to assess immunosuppressive efficacy, and antibody-mediated rejection.

Kim Tibaldi, MD

Transplant Physician

Dr. Tibaldi joined the Renal and Pancreas Transplant Division at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in 2008 from the University of Michigan, University Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she completed a transplant nephrology fellowship and served as a clinical lecturer in the Department of Medicine. Prior to that, she spent several years on staff in the Nephrology Division at Henry Ford Health Systems in Detroit, Michigan. Dr. Tibaldi completed a general nephrology fellowship and an internal medicine residency and internship at New York Medical College, St. Vincent Catholic Medical Center of Manhattan. Dr. Tibaldi is board certified in internal medicine and nephrology. Her clinical interests include anemia in chronic kidney disease, malignancy after kidney transplantation, and clinical outcomes in transplant.