Fellow Focus in Four: Laura Aponte Becerra, Nephrology

I was born into a loving, underprivileged family, in a country with major social inequities. My grandparents, who raised me, considered knowledge the most precious asset. From an early age, I was taught to overcome challenges and never waste an opportunity to learn.

When I was seven years old, I learned how to fold my first paper crane. I find medicine and, in particular, the fields of nephrology and critical care medicine akin to origami. I enjoy trusting the process fold after fold and seeing how a thin layer can become strong and rigid when intertwined at the right angles. Each fold intertwines precisely with the next one, just like when working through the diagnostic and treatment options for a life-threatening condition or renal case.

The desire to emulate my grandparent’s sense of altruism combined with my passion for learning about processes in science, led me to medicine.

The Yale Nephrology fellowship offers the environment and resources to build any career path, from being a strong clinician exposed to diverse diseases in a hospital with more than 1,500 beds to being a world-renowned researcher or expert in global health. Since my interview day, I have found role models in academic excellence and supportive leadership fully invested in the education and professional growth of their trainees.

I was born and raised in Colombia, where I attended medical school at Universidad CES in Medellin. During my time as a medical student, I actively sought out experiences to broaden my perspective on viable solutions to bridge the gap between poverty and access to health care, which led me to an internship in Trujillo, Peru. I then volunteered with a nonprofit organization in Egypt and Turkey and later practiced as a general physician serving uninsured communities in my hometown.

Driven by a desire to learn how to ask the right questions and propose evidence-based solutions, I decided to hone my research skills. I moved to the U.S. to work as a clinical research fellow and later became the study coordinator of a clinical trial on the effects of intranasal insulin on cognition, eating behavior, and weight loss at Harvard Medical School. I completed an internal medicine residency at the University of Miami/Jackson Health System as part of the William J. Harrington Program. During my residency, I had the opportunity to collaborate with Partners in Health in Chiapas, Mexico, as part of the global health track. I then moved to New Haven to join Yale as a nephrology and critical care fellow.

After completing my fellowship at Yale, I would like to practice as a clinical nephrologist and intensivist at an academic institution with an emphasis on global health. Through research, I hope to create solutions to expand health care access on a systematic level.

The Department of Internal Medicine at Yale School of Medicine is among the nation's premier departments, bringing together an elite cadre of clinicians, investigators, educators, and staff in one of the world's top medical schools. To learn more, visit Internal Medicine.