Lab Members

Trainees and Current Positions

Graduate Students

Louise M. Bilezikjian, Ph.D., 1981
Project: Regulation of Cardiac Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Phosphorylation and Function by Calmodulin
Current Position: Staff Scientist, Clayton Foundation Laboratories for Peptide Biology, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA

Bruce A. Davis, Ph.D., 1984
Project: Regulation of Cardiac Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Function by Calcium‑Calmodulin‑Dependent Phosphorylation
Current Position: Associate Research Scientist in Cellular and Molecular Physiology at Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT

Hae Won Kim, Ph.D., 1989
Project: Mechanism of Regulation of the Calcium Pump in Cardiac Sarcoplasmic Reticulum by Protein Kinases and Protein Phosphatases
Current Position: Chair, Department of Pharmacology and Professor, School of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

Judy Harrer, Ph.D., 1994
Project: Regulatory Effects of Phospholamban on Cardiac Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Function: Molecular, Biochemical and Biophysical Analysis
Current Position: Assistant Chief for Inpatient Programs at VAMC, Un Cincinnati , Cincinnati, OH

Vivek Kadambi, Ph.D., 1995
Project: Transgenic Approaches to Uncover the Role of Phospholamban in
Contractility and the Regulation of its Expression in Heart
Current Position: Sr. Vice President, Vertex Pharmaceuticals., Cambridge, MA

Jay Slack, Ph.D., 1996
Project: Delineation of a Role for Phospholamban in Skeletal Muscle
Current Position: Research Fellow at Taste and Wellbeing, Cincinnati, OH

Angie Brittsan, Ph.D., 2000
Project: Transgenic Approaches to Elucidate the Role of Phospholamban in Basal
Contractility and During b-Adrenergic Stimulation of the Heart
Current Position: Heart Failure Transplant Physician, St Francis Hospital Indianapolis, IN

Jing Zhai, Ph.D., 2000
Project: Assessing the Structural and Functional Relationship of Phospholamban via
Generating Transgenic Models Expressing a Pentameric Phospholamban Asn27 to an Ala Mutant
Current Position: Associate Professor,Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA

Rajesh Dash, MD, Ph.D., 2001
Project: A Study of the Interactions Between Phospholamban, b-Adrenergic Drive, and Gender in the Heart
†Fellow of the American Federation of Aging Research (2000)
Current Position: Director of SSATHI & CardioClick, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, CA

Andrew Carr, Ph.D. 2001
Project: The Role and Regulation of the Type-1 Phosphatase in Smooth and Cardiac Muscle Contractility: Evidence From Genetically-Altered Mice
Current Position: Clinical Scientist at Procter and Gamble, Cincinnati, OH

Qiujing Song,DMD, Ph.D. 2004
Project: Effects of Genetic Manipulation of Phospholamban Protein Levels on Contractile Function and Remodeling in Murine Cardiac and Slow-Twitch Skeletal Muscles
Current Position: General Dentist, Chang Dental Center, IL USA

Kimberly Gregory, Ph.D. 2005

Project: Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Calcium Cycling and Cardiac Disease Current Position: Lead IME & Grants, GlaxoSmithKline, Raleigh-Durham, NC

Anand Pathak, MD, PhD, MPH 2005

Project: The Role of the Protein Phosphatase 1 Inhibitor-1 in Regulation of Murine Cardiac Physiology and Progression of Cardiomyopathy.
Current Position: Medical Officer FDA

Qunying Yuan, Ph.D. 2007

Project: The Role of Junctin in the Regulation of Cardiac Function
Current Position: Associate Professor, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University, Huntsville, AL

Bryan Mitton, MD, Ph.D., 2007

Project: Protein Phosphatase Inhibitor-1 as a Positive or Negative Regulator of Cardiac Contractility
Current Position: UCLA Department of Surgery, Pediatrician Physician Palos Verdes Medical Group, Rolling Hills Estates, CA

Persoulla Nicolaou, Ph.D. 2008

Project: The Role of Inhibitor-1 and Heat Shock Protein 20 in Cardiac Pathophysiology
Current Position: Associate Professor, Associate Head of the Department of Basic and Clinical Sciences| MD Programme Director, University of Nicosia, Cyrpus

Shan Chen, M.S. 2009
Project: Elucidating the Role of HRC
Current Position: Bio-Statistician, New England Research Institute, Newton, MA

Pei-dong Han (Chinese Exchange student), Ph.D. 2009
Project: Regulation of Myocardial Function by SR Proteins
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Peking University

Zhiguo Zhang (Chinese Exchange student), Ph.D. 2009
Project: The Role of HAX-1 in Cardiac Function
Current Position: Business Access Manager, Abbott Diabetes Care, China

Jiang Qian, Ph.D. 2010
Project: The Roles of Small Heat Shock Protein 20 and its Phosphorylation in the Regulation of Cardiac Function and Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury
Current Position: Research Associate, Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology, Un South California

Chi Keung Lam, Ph.D. 2012
Project: Cardioprotection by HAX-1
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Cardiovascular Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Guansheng Liu, Ph.D. 2015
Project: The Role of PLN and Hsp20 Human Mutations
Current Position: Staff Fellow at FDA, Silver Springs, MD

George Gardner, Ph.D. 2018
Project: Phosphorylation of Hsp20 in Cardiac Function and Survival
Current Position: Regulatory Submissions Manager, MEDPACE, Cincinnati, OH

Fawzi Alogaili, Ph.D. 2020 (Co-mentor with Dr D. Hui)
Project: The Role of HAX-1 in Diabetic Cardiomyopathy
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Rutgers Un, New Brunswick, NJ

Mohit Kumar, Ph.D. 2020 (Co-mentor with Dr S Sadayappan)
Project: The role of MyBBC-phosphorylation in vivo
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow Un of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH

Postdoctoral Trainees

Dr. Ellen F. Young (1985‑1987) *NIH Training Grant Fellow

Current Position: Research Associate, Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC

Dr. Ramesh Gupta (1985‑1989) *AHA Fellow, 1987-1988

Current Position: Scientist, Department of Cardiology, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI

Dr. Stephen Rapundalo (1985‑1987) *NIH Training Grant Fellow

Current Position: President and CEO at Michigan Biosciences Industry Association, Ann Arbor, MI

Dr. Gyorgyi Jakab, Visiting Associate Professor from the University of Szeged, Hungary (1985‑1987)

Recent Position (Diseased): Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Szeged University, Szeged, Hungary

Dr. Istvan Edes, Visiting Associate Professor from the University of Szeged, Hungary (1987‑1989)

Current Position: Professor of Cardiology, Institute of Cardiology, University of Debrecen, Hungary

Dr. Grazyna Szymanska (1988‑1992) *AHA Fellow, 1991‑1992

Current Position: Owner Biopharmaceutical Consultants, Sudburry, MA

Dr. Hae Won Kim (1989-1990)

Current Position: Chair, Department of Pharmacology and Professor School of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

Dr. Laszlo Talosi (1989‑1991)

Current Position: Attending Cardiologist, University of Szeged, Szeged Hungary

Dr. Chong Zhang (1989‑1991)

Current Position: Anesthesiologist, University of Dayton/Miami Valley Hospital, Dayton, OH

Dr. Wu‑sheng Luo (1990‑1997)

Current Position: Attending Physician, Associate Anesthesiologists, Peoria, IL

Dr. Sathivel Ponniah (1991‑1995) *AHA Fellow, 1992‑1993
Current Position: Director Animal Research Facility, Lee Kong Chain School of Medicine, Singapore

Dr. Kobra Haghighi (1993-Present) *NIH Training Grant Fellow, 1993-1996
Current Position: Research Scientist, Department of Pharmacology and Cell Biophysics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH

Dr. Eva Kiss (1992‑1995) *NIH Fogarty Fellow, 1993-1995
Current Position: Cardiologist, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary

Dr. Guo-Xiang Chu (1993-1999)
Current Position: Attending Physician, HeartCare Midwest, Bloomington, IL

Dr. Peter Karczewski (September-December 1994)
Current Position: Scientist, Research Training Group, University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Dr. Judy M. Harrer (1994-1995)
Current Position: Assistant Chief for Inpatient Programs at VAMC, Un Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH

Dr. Carola Tilgmann (1994-1995)
Current Position: Head of Research and Learning , Deputy Manager, Library & ICT Medical Faculty, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

Dr. Yoji Sato (1995-1998)
Current Position: Head,DivisionofCell-BasedTherapeuticProducts
NationalInstituteofHealthSciences, KawasakiCity,Kanagawa, Japan

Dr. Jay Slack (1996-1997)
Current Position: Research Fellow at Taste and Wellbeing, Cincinnati, OH

Dr. Lawrence Messnard (1996-1998)
Current Position: Educator, Paris, France

Dr. Vivek Kadambi (1996-1999) *AHA Fellow, 1997‑1998
Current Position: Sr. Vice President, Vertex Pharmaceuticals., Cambridge, MA

Dr. William Lester (1997-1999) *AHA Fellow, 1998-1999
Current Position: Director, Medical Science Liaisons at Amgen, Keller, Texas, United States

Dr. Helen Kiriazis (1997-2000) *GLAXO Fellow, 1997‑1998
Current Position: Senior Research Officer, Research Scientist, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia

Dr. Roy Sutliff (Co-Sponsor w/Dr. R. Paul: 1995-1999) *NRSA Fellow, 1997-99
Current Position: Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA

Dr. Konrad Frank (1998-2001)* DF Fellow, 1999-2001
Current Position: Unser Team, Department of Cardiology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

Dr. Albrecht Schmidt (1998-2000)
Current Position: Professor, Echocardiography and Cardiac Imaging, Medical University, University of Gratz, Gratz, Austria

Dr. Wen Zhao (1999-2011) *AHA Fellow, 2001-2003
Current Position: Professor, Zhengzhou University School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, China

Dr. Beate Beyermann (2000-2001)
Current Position: Cardiologist, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

Dr. Angie Brittsan (2000)
Current Position: Heart Failure Transplant Physician, St Francis Hospital Indianapolis, IN

Dr. Andrew Carr (2001)
Current Position: Clinical Scientist at Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, OH

Dr. Yoshiki Uehara (2001-2002)
Current Position: Faculty, Division of Cardiology, the Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

Dr. Guochang Fan (2001-2006)
Current Position: Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Systems Physiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH

Dr. Tonya L. Nichols (2001-2002)
Current Position: Associate Director for Strategic Operations
Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Dr. Patricia Rodriguez (2003-2007); CNIC Spanish Government Fellow, 2003-2006
Current Position: CNIC Spanish Government Research Scientist, Madrid, Spain

Dr. Jason R. Waggoner (2004-2007) *AHA Fellow, 2005-2007
Current Position: Manager, Clinical Research at Ethicon, Inc., Cincinnati, OH

Dr. Guoli Chen (2004-2009) *AHA Fellow, 2005-2007
Current Position: Clinical Assistant Professor of Pathology,Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, University Park, PA

Dr. Xiaoyang Zhou (2005-2008)
Current Position: Associate Professor, Department of Cardiology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

Dr. Alexandros Moulis (2006-2007)
Current Position: Medical Head at Sandoz, Athens, Greece

Dr. Stela Florea (2007-2012)
Current Position: Medical Laboratory Scientist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH

Dr. Tracy Pritchard (2008-2012; NIH T32 HL007382: 2008- 2012)
Current Position: Director of Medical Education, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH

Dr. Wen-Feng Cai (2008-2012)
Current Position: Senior Associate Scientist, Amgen Inc, Thousand Oaks California

Dr. Persoulla Nicolaou (2008-2009)
Current Position: Associate Professor | Associate Head of the Department of Basic
and Clinical Sciences| MD Programme Director, University of Nicosia, Cyrpus

Dr. Vivek Singh (2009-2013) *AHA Fellow, 2010-2012
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

Dr. Chi Keung Lam (2012-2015; NIH T32 HL007382: 2013- 2013)
Current Position: Instructor, Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California

Dr. Philip Bidwell (2012-2018) *AHA Fellow, 2013-2014; NIH T32 HL125204
Current Position: Assistant Professor of Medicine, Cardiovascular Division, University of Minnesota, MN

Dr. Swati Kunduri (2013-2016)
Current position: Medical Science Liaison at Chiesi Global Rare Diseases, Cincinnati, OH

Dr. Guansheng Liu (2015-2017)
Current position: Staff Fellow, Pharmacologist Reviewer, FDA, Silver Springs, MD

*Sponsored Fellowships by Dr. Kranias

RESEARCH ASSOCIATES AND SCIENTISTS

† Dr. Kobra Haghighi (2001-Present)
Dr. Guo-Xiang Chu (2008-2009)
Dr. Wen Zhao (2001-2011)
Dr. Guochang Fan (2001-2005)
† Present in the lab