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MEMBERS
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Eman Akam-Baxter, PhD
Instructor in Investigation
Sosnovik Lab
Eman’s research focuses on the development of imaging tools that can inform on molecular mechanisms of fibrotic heart and lung diseases. Dr. Akam-Baxter received her PhD from the University of Arizona and completed her postdoctoral training at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging.
Eman is also passionate about mentoring, outreach, and the advancement and equal representation of historically marginalized communities in STEM fields. She is the co-founder of the Melanated and Dedicated (MaD) Scientist outreach program.
Mostafa Al-Alusi, MD
Research Fellow/Cardiology Clinical Fellow
Ellinor Lab
Mostafa is a fourth year cardiology fellow currently conducting research on the MGH Cardiovascular Research Center T32 training grant under the mentorship of Dr. Patrick Ellinor. His recent work has included development of a deep learning digital biomarker for hypertension from 12-lead electrocardiogram waveforms, as well as a model to automatically assess right heart structure and function from echocardiogram videos. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Health Data Science at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and will resume clinical training in cardiac electrophysiology in July 2024.
Jamie W. Bellinge, PhD, MBBS
Research Fellow
Sosnovik Lab
Jamie is a Nuclear Medicine Physician in training from Perth, Western Australia. He has research interests in PET imaging of cardiovascular diseases and will be working with the Sosnovik group on a novel thrombus seeking radiotracer.
ORCID
Fouad Bitar, MD
Research Fellow
Fahed Lab
Fouad attained his BS in Chemistry and MD from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. His interest is focused on ischemia with no obstructive coronary artery disease through leveraging multiple datasets.
Lydia Djenoune, PhD
Instructor in Investigation
Yuan Lab
Lydia Djenoune is an instructor in the Yuan lab. She received her PhD from the French National Museum of Natural History under the mentorships of Dr. Claire Wyart and Prof. Hervé Tostivint studying the molecular and morphological heterogeneity of the cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons and the role of the polycystin channel Pkd2l1 in spinal cord development. For her postdoctoral training, she first joined the group of Prof. Iain Drummond at MGH to probe the role of calcium signaling in kidney glomerular morphogenesis. In the Yuan lab, Lydia aims to decipher the role of cilia, polycystin channels, and mechanosensation in cardiogenesis.
ORCID
MyBibliography
Gregory R. Gipson, PhD
T32 Research Fellow
Yu Lab
Gregory studied Biochemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and pursued research in the fields of infectious disease and gastrointestinal disease before receiving his doctorate in Structural Biology at the University of Cincinnati. He is currently studying the impact of TGF-b signaling on vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis and HHT.
Priyanka Gokulnath, PhD
Research Fellow
Das Lab
Priyanka completed her doctoral research in Molecular Cell Biology as a Marie Curie ESR Fellow at the National Research Council in Naples, Italy, focusing on the role of long non-coding RNA in High-Grade Serous Ovarian Carcinoma. Currently, her work focuses on identifying and understanding the role of circulating extracellular RNA biomarkers in heart failure and COVID-19. She is also studying the function of long non-coding RNAs in the context of heart failure and am exploring targeted therapy against specific diseases using conditional siRNAs.
Takenori Ikoma, MD, PhD
Research Fellow
Lewis Lab
Takenori received an MD and PhD in Japan. Specializing in clinical heart failure, he has conducted research on arrhythmias, cardiomyopathies, and cardiopulmonary exercise testing, as well as foundational studies using mass spectrometry. His primary interest is in the areas of hemodynamics and the impact of metabolism during exercise.
Lova Prasadareddy Kajuluri, PhD
Research Fellow
Malhotra Lab
I did my PhD in cell and molecular biology from CSIR-CDRI, India. Before joining the lab of Dr. Rajeev Malhotra at MGH, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Boston University. His research interests include the identification of therapeutic targets and developing gene therapy to treat vascular calcification.
ORCID
Mohamad Kassab, MD
Research Fellow
Jaffer Lab
Mohamad’s research focuses on evaluating the impact of therapeutics and imaging agents on vascular inflammation, utilizing advanced intravital and intravascular molecular imaging systems.
Isabela Landsteiner, MD
Research Fellow
Lewis Lab
Isabela earned her MD degree from Marilia Medical School – Brazil. She is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at the Cardiovascular Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she focuses on investigating mechanisms of exercise intolerance, metabolic response patterns to exercise, and deep phenotyping in the HCM and heart failure population.
Christian Lino Cardenas, PhD
Instructor in Investigation
Lindsay Lab
Mohammed Mahamdeh, PhD
Instructor in Investigation/T32 Reseach Fellow
Yuan Lab
Mohammed is a biophysicist, optical engineer and microscopist who seeks to apply cutting-edge optical techniques to address fundamental and translational questions in cell biology, biomechanics, development and disease. In particular, he is interested in cilia signaling and mechanics and the role of cilia in heart development, function and disease.
Brianna Moon, PhD
Instructor in Investigation
Sosnovik Lab
Brianna earned her BS in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Arizona and a PhD in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania. Her work focuses on the use of molecular MR-PET imaging to detect and assess cardiovascular disease.
Ohad Oren, MD
T32 Research Fellow
Natarajan Lab
Ohad is currently a Cardiovascular Medicine fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Having previously trained in Hematology and Oncology at Mayo Clinic, he has a special interest in clonal hematopoiesis and its effects on the cardiovascular system. Ohad hopes to take advantage of his cross-disciplinary expertise and utilize big data and genetic epidemiology to better understand the mechanisms underlying the heightened risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with clonal hematopoiesis.
Harvard Catalyst
Rashmi Richa, PhD
Research Fellow
Lindsay Lab
Rashmi’s expertise is in molecular mechanisms of vascular dysfunction. She holds a PhD and MS degree from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. Currently, her research interests revolve around deciphering the intricate signaling pathways involved in Multisystemic Smooth Muscle Dysfunction Syndrome (MSMDS) and developing innovative gene therapeutic approaches for targeted modulation of vascular function.
Christopher Rock, PhD
Instructor in Investigation
Sosnovik Lab
Christopher received his PhD from Drexel University and was a T32 fellow at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. His research interests include: biomechanics, optical microscopy, biomedical image analysis and processing, and diffusion tensor MRI.
Shreya Sangam, PhD
Research Fellow
Yu Lab
Shreya is currently working as a Research Fellow in Dr. Paul Yu’s laboratory. She is involved in basic, translational, and clinical research in the areas of vascular biology and vascular medicine, particularly pulmonary hypertension. Her research interests include cardiovascular and pulmonary vascular diseases.
Yanxi Shi, MD
Research Fellow
Roh Lab
Yanxi has a background in clinical diagnostics and the treatment of cardiovascular and arrhythmia disease. Her main research direction is the intersection of cardiovascular disease and aging.
Abhilasha Shiv Chandra Singh, PhD
Research Fellow
Roh Lab
Kuldeep Singh, PhD
Research Fellow
Malhotra Lab
Kuldeep is a research fellow at the Cardiovascular Research Center, MGH. He has a background in molecular biology and cardiovascular physiology. His research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanism of atherosclerosis, vascular calcification, and aortic stiffness. A major objective of his current research is to identify and validate novel genetic targets for vascular calcification.
Yang Sui, PhD
Research Fellow
Fahed Lab
Sui earned her PhD from Chinese Academy of Sciences. Her research interest is to identify the genetic loci of coronary disease and improve risk prediction.
Geerthy Thambiraj, PhD
Research Fellow
Armoundas Lab
With expertise in biomedical engineering, Geerthy focuses on leveraging physiological signal processing techniques embedded with AI algorithms to automate and enhance medical diagnostics.
My research aims to advance diagnostic precision and continuous monitoring systems in healthcare.
Aatira Vijay, PhD
Instructor in Investigation
Jaffer Lab
Aatira’s research focuses on vein wall fibrosis and inflammation in deep vein thrombosis (DVT), aiming to enhance DVT resolution with the ultimate goal of reducing future post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS) events in patients. She is using a two-pronged approach by a) preventing the recurrence of DVT and b) in case of surgery/thrombectomy, using adjunct therapies to reduce vein wall inflammation to prevent PTS.
Peng Xia, PhD
Instructor in Investigation
Yu Lab
Roh Lab
Aguirre Lab
Peng focuses on age-related endothelial cell biology and microvascular pathophysiology in multiple cardiovascular diseases, with the support of the NIH/NIA K01 award.
Juan Yang, PhD
Research Fellow
Yuan Lab
In November 2023, following the completion of her PhD at the University of New Hampshire in September 2023, Juan became a member of the Yuan lab. During her doctoral studies, she focused on researching primary cilia and neuron migration in the postnatal developing mouse brain. At the Yuan lab, her current research continues the study of primary cilia, utilizing zebrafish and human embryonic stem cell-induced heart cells as model systems to unravel the involvement of primary cilia in cardiac development.