LAB MEMBERS

FACULTY

Wei Sun, MD

Research Assistant Professor
Medicine-Cardiology
sunw2@upmc.edu

Steven Woodcock, PhD

Scientific Operations Officer, VMI

Research Assistant Professor
Medicine-Cardiology
srw22@pitt.edu

POSTDOCS / FELLOWS

Sanya Arshad, PhD

Health Sciences Research Fellow

arshads@pitt.edu | 412-383-1270

 I joined the Chan lab at a Post-Doctoral Associate in 2020. I am a PhD from King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, India. During my PhD, I worked on assessing the prevalence of FVIII inhibitors in congenital hemophilia A and correlating its presence with mutations and cytokine profiles of these patients. I worked as a Research Assistant at Mass General Cancer Center, Boston for a year and gained experience in Next Generation Sequencing on Illumina platform. Currently, I am working on understanding the role of endothelial frataxin deficiency in Friedreich’s ataxia by utilizing in-vitro and in-vivo models.

In my free time I enjoy cooking, going on drives and playing with my Cats.

Chen-Shan (Julia) Woodcock, PhD

Postdoctoral Scholar (T32)

jcsw17@pitt.edu | 412-383-1270

RESEARCH STAFF

Yassmin Al Araj

Clinical Research Coordinator

yassminalaaraj@pitt.edu

Adam Handen, MS

Computational Specialist

handena@pitt.edu | 412-648-2094

Hee-Jung (Janice) Kim, BS

Laboratory Technician

hjk34@pitt.edu

Conan Rooney

Laboratory Technician

cpr29@pitt.edu

Miranda Tai, MS

Laboratory Technician

taiy@upmc.edu | 412-383-1270

Miranda recently graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a master degree in Biomedical Engineering. She is interested in the roles and functions of microRNA and long-noncoding-RNA in pulmonary hypertension.
In her spare time, Miranda enjoys art, music, playing badminton, kayaking, and exploring new places as well as trying out new (yummy) food!

Ying Tang

Research Specialist IV, Senior Lab Manager

yit3@pitt.edu | 412-648-2094

Ying has extensive experience in the development of viral vectors and the application of stem cells for gene and cell therapy, especially for musculoskeletal disease and injury. She has played a major role in the following projects: 1) recombinant adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector-based gene therapy for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD); 2) bone regeneration including the use of gene-enhance human mesenchymal stem cell with biomaterial scaffolds; 3) the development of techniques in small animal experiments and imaging.

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Her research is focused on the field of gene transfer and stem cell modification utilizing AAV, lentivirus and retrovirus. She is currently investigating: 1) the response of pulmonary and peripheral blood vessels to hypoxic and ischemic injury; 2) strategies for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension (PH).
In these projects, small animals, such as transgenic and double-knock out mice, are bred, genotyped and treated for pulmonary and peripheral blood vessel related diseases. Imaging techniques frequently used in these animal experiments include micro-CT for bone imaging.  Imaging techniques employed in cell-based experiments include dot blot, western blot and other immunostaining procedures.

Annie Watson, MPH

Clinical Research Coordinator

watsonam3@upmc.edu | 412-647-4964

Annie spent many years doing bench work in genetic laboratories and later completed an MPH at the University of Pittsburgh. Afterwards, she became a clinical research coordinator. She is interested in expanding the pulmonary hypertension biorepository to facilitate future studies.  She is elated to be part of the Chan lab, as it provides an opportunity for her to learn more about the clinical trial process and the development of novel therapies.  In her free time, Annie likes kayaking, running, watching movies and attending Pittsburgh cultural events.

 

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

Erica Carson

Administrative Coordinator
carsonec@upmc.edu | ecc50@pitt.edu
412-383-6030