Loan Mitigation Program: 2026 Recipients
The ASN Loan Mitigation Program (LMP) aims to reduce the loan burden of future nephrology leaders. Please join ASN in congratulating this year's recipients.
Anjana Murali, MD
Anjana Murali is an incoming nephrology fellow to the University of Michigan. Her career goals are to become a transplant nephrologist and medical educator in the field. She earned her MD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine as part of the physician-scientist training program, and she is currently finishing her internal medicine residency at the University of Pennsylvania. Outside of work, Anjana enjoys exploring national parks, playing board games, visiting new countries, and spending quality time with friends and family.
Ashley Widmer, MD
Dr. Ashley Widmer is a third-year Internal Medicine resident at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. Raised in Anchorage, Alaska, she earned her bachelor's degree in Biology with a secondary concentration in Spanish with honors from the University of Alaska Anchorage. She went on to attend the University of Washington School of Medicine, where she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society.
Dr. Widmer is excited to pursue a Nephrology fellowship at the University of Washington. She is drawn to the field for its intersection of complex physiology, longitudinal patient relationships, and its focus on caring for medically and socially vulnerable populations. Her clinical interests include critical care nephrology, chronic kidney disease, dialysis, cardiorenal syndrome, and medical education. As a proud Filipina American and member of the LGBTQ+ community, she is passionate about mentoring queer and BIPOC individuals.
Outside of medicine, Dr. Widmer enjoys spending time with loved ones, cooking and baking, playing guitar, reading cozy mysteries, and excelling at trivia nights.
Samuel D Adams, MD
Dr. Samuel Adams was born and raised in Spokane, Washington, where he obtained his undergraduate degree in biology-premed at Eastern Washington University in 2014. His subsequent gap year unintentionally turned into five which were spent working in the medical field, playing guitar in a grit-grass band, and starting a family with the love of his life. In 2019 he began his medical training at Washington State University's Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, graduating in 2023. He and his family (including his wife and three sons) moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he has been completing his pediatric residency through Michigan State University at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital. After brief infatuations with pediatric cardiology, emergency medicine, and critical care, he finally came to his senses and realized that pediatric nephrology was his true calling. This change of heart was influenced not only by the enthusiastic mentorship of the late (truly great) Jens Goebel, but by his close connection to the renal physiology of Lowe Syndrome, with which his youngest son was diagnosed in 2021. Dr. Adams has since matched into a pediatric nephrology fellowship with Indiana University's School of Medicine at Riley Children's Hospital where he is set to begin in July of 2026. During fellowship he is excited to pursue existing research opportunities in Lowe Syndrome and learn how to better support families through the highs and lows of chronic disease.
Santoshi Mounika Kandalam, MD
Mounika Kandalam, MD is a SF Bay Area native, San Francisco Bay Area native completing her Med-Peds residency at Tulane University. Her interest in nephrology began during her time in the Georgetown Master's in Physiology program and has been shaped by a lasting fascination with renal physiology and the community of clinicians and educators who practice within the field.
Throughout medical school and residency, Dr. Kandalam continued to fall in love with the collaborative and mentor-ship driven nephrology community. Shaped by experiences witnessing those with chronic illness, disability, and global health inequities navigate life, she is passionate about improving quality of life for patients with kidney disease through advocacy, education, and policy initiatives. Her clinical interests include global health, quality improvement, and healthcare policies that affect education and employment. She is committed to mentorship and aspires to build a career that integrates humanism, innovation, and purpose-driven care. As she prepares to move to New York for fellowship training, Dr. Kandalam will sincerely miss New Orleans, the culture, traditions, and the city's unmistakable joy, color, and sense of community that have shaped her both personally and professionally.
Stefanie Worwa, DO
Dr. Stefanie Worwa is a third-year internal medicine resident at the University of Minnesota Medical Center in her hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota. She previously completed her undergraduate degree in Biology, Society, and the Environment there in 2012, followed by earning a Phlebotomy certification shortly after graduation. She then spent seven years working as an Implementations Director for a large medical scribe company and as an Administrative Associate at a pain management center.
She earned her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from A.T. Still University's Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2023, where she was inducted into the Sigma Sigma Phi Honors Fraternity and the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Dr. Worwa received the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award in 2023. During medical school, she was also recognized with Silver Level status in the Touch Hour volunteer program. Her volunteer activities include organizing food pantry distributions, mentoring pre-med students, providing technology support to seniors, and delivering meals to those in need.
Dr. Worwa's interest in nephrology was initially sparked during her intern year of residency, when an early nephrology rotation exposed her to conditions like IgA nephropathy and lupus nephritis, revealing the discipline's complexity. While completing elective nephrology rotations across various Twin Cities institutions to better understand kidney disease in diverse populations, she deepened her focus on preventive nephrology, with an emphasis on patient education about the connection between hypertension, diabetes, and kidney health.
She has contributed to medical research, with publications in Kidney International Reports and Diabetology, and has presented at national conferences, including the American Society of Nephrology's Kidney Week. Dr. Worwa is eager to continue serving her community by completing her nephrology training at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.
Outside of medicine, Dr. Worwa enjoys spending time with her fiancé and their two cats, Puddin' and Buddy. She also likes cooking (though she admits she's not the best at baking), gardening, and taking indoor cycling classes.
Tongwa Betangbeh Aka, MD
I am Tongwa B. Aka. I was born and raised in Cameroon, West Africa, until the age of 16 when I moved to the Unites States with my family. I earned a bachelor's degree in Biology from Oakland University in Rochester Hills, MI and worked as a Research Associate for two years before attending St. George's University for medical school. I graduated medical school in June 2023 and am currently completing internal medicine training at Eisenhower Medical Center. I am excited to be starting my Nephrology fellowship training at Wake Forest University, NC in July 2026.
As a first-generation physician, I understand the importance of representation and mentorship. I enjoy mentorship and advocating for diversity in the field of nephrology. I am also passionate about empowering patients through education and quality improvement initiatives to reduce hospitalization rates (especially in underrepresented communities disproportionately affected by kidney disease) and improve quality of life.