About me

Experience:

2026 -

Present

MRC and Kidney Research UK Professor David Kerr Clinician Scientist Fellowship (MRC LMS)

2023 -

Present

Honorary Consultant Nephrologist (Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust)

2025 -

2026

Chain Florey Transition-to-Independence Fellowship (MRC LMS)

2023 -

2025

Imperial Post-Doctoral Post-CCT Research Fellowship (MRC LMS)

2018 -

2019

Maternity leave

2017 -

2022

Kidney Research UK Clinical Training Research Fellowship (University College London)

2015 -

2016

Maternity leave

2005 -

2008

MB BS (King's College London)

2002 -

2005

BA (Hons) Medical Sciences, University of Cambridge

Research focus:

We investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying kidney development and disease. We want to understand exactly how the kidneys and urinary tract form during human development, and how errors in this process lead to structural malformations. My group combines genomic data from patients with functional genomics approaches to identify the genes and regulatory networks involved, with the aim of translating this knowledge into better diagnosis and ultimately better treatments for patients and their families.

Joined LMS:

2023

About me:

I joined the LMS because of its strong discovery science record and expertise in gene regulation. Running a renal genomics clinic on the adjacent hospital site allows me to identify the research questions that are important to patients and to make sure findings from the lab can be translated back into clinical care.

My awards and achievements:

MRC-KRUK Professor David Kerr Clinician Scientist Fellowship
UK Kidney Association Raine Award 2023

Impact of my work:

Congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) are the leading cause of kidney failure in children and young people, and in most cases we do not understand what causes this condition. By mapping the genes and regulatory networks involved in kidney and urinary tract development, this research aims to improve genetic diagnosis and ultimately find better treatments for patients and their families.

My Research

Renal Genomics

We aim to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying kidney development and disease, combining clinical data with large-scale genomic datasets and functional genomic approaches.

VIEW MY RESEARCH GROUP

Selected publications

Chan, M. M. Y., Sadeghi-Alavijeh, O., du Preez, S., Voinescu, C. D., van der Zanden, L. F. M., Groen In ‘t Woud, S., Schreuder, M. F., Feitz, W., Mingardo, E., Hilger, A. C., Reutter, H., Vendrig, L. M., Westland, R., Beaman, G. M., Newman, W. G., Woolf, A. S., Stanescu, H. C., Levine, A. P., Böckenhauer, D., & Gale, D. P. (2026). Whole-genome sequencing characterizes monogenic and polygenic contributions to structural kidney and urinary tract malformations. Kidney International. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kint.2026.07.037

Chan, M. M. Y., Nijenhuis, T., Galletti, F., Figueres, L., Gomez, M. V. P., Halbritter, J., Müller, R. U., & Gall, E. C. (2026). KDIGO 2025 Clinical Practice Guideline for ADPKD: A commentary on intracranial aneurysms and other vascular manifestations from the ERA Working Group Genes & Kidney. Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation. https://doi.org/10.1093/ndt/gfag096

Paterson, A. L., Chan, M. M. Y., & Roufosse, C. (2026). Genetic kidney disease in adults—the pathologists’ perspective. Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, 41(8), 1421–1428. https://doi.org/10.1093/ndt/gfag047

Berezowska, A., Cao, K., & Chan, M. M. Y. (2026). Genomic testing in pediatric urology: Implications for diagnosis and management. Journal of Pediatric Urology, 22(3), 105790. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpurol.2026.105790

Roberts, N. A., Chan, M. M. Y., & Woolf, A. S. (2026). The biology of congenital urinary bladder outflow obstruction. Trends in Molecular Medicine, 32(5), 472–483. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molmed.2025.09.009

Sadeghi-Alavijeh, O., Chan, M. M. Y., Stanescu, H., Gale, D. P., & Bockenhauer, D. (2026). Fifty shades of risk: Population studies and the genetic architecture of kidney diseases. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 37(2), 361–369. https://doi.org/10.1681/ASN.0000000893

Sadeghi-Alavijeh, O., Chan, M. M. Y., Tzoumkas, K., Doctor, G. T., & Gale, D. P. (2025). Quantifying APOL1, human leukocyte antigen, and other genetic contributions to unexplained kidney failure. American Journal of Kidney Diseases, 86(6), 740–750.e1. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.ajkd.2025.07.005

Gibson, J., Fieldhouse, R., Chan, M. M. Y., Sadeghi-Alavijeh, O., Burnett, L., Izzi, V., Persikov, A. V., Gale, D. P., Storey, H., & Savige, J. (2021). Prevalence estimates of predicted pathogenic COL4A3–COL4A5 variants in a population sequencing database and their implications for Alport syndrome. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 32(9), 2273–2290. https://doi.org/10.1681/ASN.2020071065

Levine, A. P., Chan, M. M. Y., Sadeghi-Alavijeh, O., Wong, E. K. S., Cook, H. T., Ashford, S., Carss, K., Christian, M. T., Hall, M., Harris, C. L., McAlinden, P., Marchbank, K. J., Marks, S. D., Maxwell, H., Megy, K., Penkett, C. J., Mozere, M., Stirrups, K. E., Tuna, S., Wessels, J., Whitehorn, D., Johnson, S. A., & Gale, D. P. (2020). Large-scale whole-genome sequencing reveals the genetic architecture of primary membranoproliferative GN and C3 glomerulopathy. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 31(2), 365–373. https://doi.org/10.1681/ASN.2019040433

Sadeghi-Alavijeh, O., Chan, M. M., Doctor, G. T., Voinescu, C. D., Stuckey, A., Kousathanas, A., Ho, A. T., Stanescu, H. C., Bockenhauer, D., Sandford, R. N., Levine, A. P., & Gale, D. P. (2024). Quantifying variant contributions in cystic kidney disease using national-scale whole genome sequencing. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 134(19). https://doi.org/10.1172/jci181467

Chan, M. M. Y., & Gale, D. P. (2023). Using genomics to understand severe COVID-19. Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, 39(5), 731–734. https://doi.org/10.1093/ndt/gfad262

Sadeghi-Alavijeh, O., Chan, M. M., Moochhala, S. H., Howles, S., Gale, D. P., Böckenhauer, D., Ambrose, J. C., Arumugam, P., Bevers, R., Bleda, M., Boardman-Pretty, F., Boustred, C. R., Brittain, H., Caulfield, M. J., Chan, G. C., Elgar, G., Fowler, T., Giess, A., Hamblin, A., . . . Wood, S. M. (2023). Rare variants in the sodium-dependent phosphate transporter gene SLC34A3 explain missing heritability of urinary stone disease. Kidney International, 104(5), 975–984. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kint.2023.06.019

Downie, M. L., Gupta, S., Chan, M. M. Y., Sadeghi-Alavijeh, O., Cao, J., Parekh, R. S., Diz, C. B., Bierzynska, A., Levine, A. P., Pepper, R. J., Stanescu, H., Saleem, M. A., Kleta, R., Bockenhauer, D., Koziell, A. B., & Gale, D. P. (2022). Shared genetic risk across different presentations of gene test–negative idiopathic nephrotic syndrome. Pediatric Nephrology, 38(6), 1793–1800. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00467-022-05789-7

Doctor, G. T., Gale, D. P., & Chan, M. M. (2023). Genomics in the kidney clinic. Clinical Medicine, 23(3), 246–249. https://doi.org/10.7861/clinmed.2023-rm2

Mingardo, E., Beaman, G., Grote, P., Nordenskjöld, A., Newman, W., Woolf, A. S., Eckstein, M., Hilger, A. C., Dworschak, G. C., Rösch, W., Ebert, A., Stein, R., Brusco, A., Di Grazia, M., Tamer, A., Torres, F. M., Hernandez, J. L., Erben, P., Maj, C., . . . Reutter, H. (2022). A genome-wide association study with tissue transcriptomics identifies genetic drivers for classic bladder exstrophy. Communications Biology, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-04092-3

Chan, M. M., Sadeghi-Alavijeh, O., Lopes, F. M., Hilger, A. C., Stanescu, H. C., Voinescu, C. D., Beaman, G. M., Newman, W. G., Zaniew, M., Weber, S., Ho, Y. M., Connolly, J. O., Wood, D., Maj, C., Stuckey, A., Kousathanas, A., Kleta, R., Woolf, A. S., Bockenhauer, D., . . . Gale, D. P. (2022). Diverse ancestry whole-genome sequencing association study identifies TBX5 and PTK7 as susceptibility genes for posterior urethral valves. eLife, 11. https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.74777

Dixon, P. H., Levine, A. P., Cebola, I., Chan, M. M. Y., Amin, A. S., Aich, A., Mozere, M., Maude, H., Mitchell, A. L., Zhang, J., Adlard, J., Ahmed, M., Aitman, T., Alachkar, H., Allsup, D., Almeida-King, J., Ancliff, P., Antrobus, R., Armstrong, R., . . . Williamson, C. (2022). GWAS meta-analysis of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy implicates multiple hepatic genes and regulatory elements. Nature Communications, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29931-z