Rebecca Anderson – Clinical Research Coordinator
I have a BA in Communication from Capital University. I came to work in the Heart Center here at Nationwide Children’s two years ago and recently made the move over to Research. I help physicians submit research studies, talk to patients and organize data. I am looking forward to learning and growing along with our Center as we look to the future.

Diane M. Carver – Operations Manager
As Operations Manager I coordinate all Center process improvement initiatives; present, monitor, and analyze fiscal data; and work with The Heart Center, Children’s Foundation, and our community partners to communicate and expand our research talents within the Center for Cardiovascular & Pulmonary Research. I received my BA in Communications from Capital University and my Masters degree in Public Administration from The University of Akron. I have experience in both non-profit and government organizations in the areas of fund development, fiscal and policy analysis, program development and evaluation, and Continuous Quality Improvement. I’m excited to be part of the Center as we move forward; leading pediatric cardiology research in the US and abroad.

Anuradha Guggilam – Postdoctoral Student
I graduated in May 2009 from Louisiana State University and my doctoral dissertation involved studying the role of TNF induced oxidative stress in the autonomic regulatory centers of the brain in the progression of ischemic heart failure. My new projects in Lucchesi’s lab link my clinical training as a veterinarian and my graduate school experience in cardiovascular physiology to conduct heart failure related research in rodents and pigs. My current research aims at understanding the myocyte sarcomere assembly and Ca++ homeostasis in volume overload heart failure model. This project will help delineate the precise functional and structural alterations the myocytes undergo in response to volume overload as well as to surgical closure of the shunt. My other research interests include micro RNAs and their relevance in heart failure pathogenesis.

Bing Han – Post Doctoral
I have a PhD degree from the College of Pharmacy at the Ohio State University. I have been focusing on research projects in cardiovascular disease. Currently, I am working in the Giannone Lab. My focus is the prenatal imprint on cardiovascular system. We are studying the impact of prenatal inflammation and preterm delivery on cardiac structure, function and myocardial nitric oxide regulation by using rodent models

Bethany Hashiguchi – Statistical Analyst
I am currently a PhD student in Sociology at The Ohio State University, and have four years of experience in sociological and health related research analysis. In the Center for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research, I assist with study design and statistical analysis. My research interests are social and racial stratification, including disparities in health/healthcare by income and race.

Hong Huang – Research Scientist
I received my MD degree from Beijing Medical University, Beijing, China, and my PhD degree in pharmacology from The Ohio State University. Cardiovascular disease is my primary research interest, from animal models to translational research. My current research includes endothelial biology and signaling; developing mouse models of pre-natal and peri-natal inflammation induced cardiovascular dysfunction; clinical studies regarding effects of secondhand smoke exposure on vascular function in children; and management of the heart center tissue bank.

Kirk Hutchinson – Research Assistant
I am from New Orleans, Louisiana and left hurricane country with my wife and two little girls to work with Dr. Pamela Lucchesi at Nationwide Children’s. I am currently a graduate student working on my PhD in Pharmacology. My research involves determining the extent to which reactive oxygen species regulate cardiac fibroblasts and how this affects heart function in volume overload heart failure. I use isolated cells as well as in vivo functional assessments to correlate the contributions of fibroblasts to heart function.

Selvi Jeyaraj – Postdoctoral Student
I received my Ph.D. from the Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Program at The Ohio State University. My doctoral studies, in the lab of Dr. Beth Lee, investigated the regulation of the RNA binding protein HuR in response to renal ischemia/reperfusion injury. I am a member of the Lab of Dr. Maqsood Chotani at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and will be studying the role of the small G protein, Rap1 in the cardiovasculature and in stress responsive signaling.

Paige S. Katz – Research Assistant
I am currently a PhD student in the Physiology Department at Louisiana State University. Currently, I am studying how type 2 diabetes affects coronary artery remodeling in the db/db mouse model.

Sara Koenig – Research Assistant
I received my BA in biology with a minor in chemistry from Ohio Wesleyan University in June 2009. As an undergraduate student, I worked in a molecular genetics lab that focused on nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) as a type of post-transcriptional regulation using S. pombe as a model system. As a Research Assistant in Dr. Vidu Garg’s laboratory in the Center for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research, I am currently involved in human genetic studies specifically using array comparative genomic hybridization to identify novel copy number variations in children with cardiac malformations.

Mary McAllister – Research Aide
I am currently a first year undergraduate student at the University of Notre Dame. I am in the Pre Med/ Pre Professional program with a focus on Biology and Botany. I am a Research Aide in Dr. Lucchesi’s lab. I am responsible for preparing solutions, running protein assays, and assisting the graduate students with their projects. I am interested in literature, music and running.

Susan Meyer – Research Associate
I have a BS in Biology from Muskingum College and an MS in Microbiology from The Ohio State University with eight years experience in contract research including experimental design, execution and reporting, project task management, budgeting, scheduling, and presentation to clients. I also have one year experience in clinical research. My responsibilities include manuscript editing and submission, grant preparation, data management, clinical study development, and clinical study coordination.

Mohammad M. Mofleh - Research Assistant II
I have a MD degree from University of Damascus, Syria. I currently work in the Giannone Lab. Our ongoing Research project involves determining the possible role of both inflammatory factors during pregnancy and perinatal hypoxia in inducing neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and identifying the preventive methods by using animal models. I have a big interest in enriching my overall experience in both basic science and clinical research.

Juli Richter – Neonatology Fellow
I received my MD from The Ohio State University of Medicine and Public Health in 2004. I am now a second year Neonatology Fellow doing the research portion of my training in the Bauer Lab. Prior to going to medical school, I received a Pharm.D. from Purdue University in 1994 and worked as a neonatal clinical pharmacist for 6 years. My research interests include examining the effect that the chronic inflammatory state of maternal obesity may have on the outcomes of premature infants.

Irene Snyder – Administration
I have extensive administrative experience and have worked as a Medical Staff Services Specialist in the Hospital, and as a Clinical Administration Specialist and a Project Research Coordinator in Project Services Management with Abbott Laboratories. I support several Principal Investigators and the personnel in their labs in the Center for Cardiovascular & Pulmonary Research. Presently I am coordinating the Center’s Tissue Bank and clinical protocols efforts. I enjoy reading, and am a Master Gardener.

Aaron J. Trask, PhD – Postdoctoral Fellow
I earned my PhD in physiology and pharmacology from Wake Forest University under the tutelage of Dr. Carlos M. Ferrario studying the involvement of new components of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in hypertension and cardiac hypertrophy. I joined Dr. Pamela Lucchesi at Nationwide Children’s Hospital as a postdoctoral fellow to expand my training and interests in the heart by studying the actions of advanced-glycation end products (AGEs), a major problem in diabetic cardiomyopathy, on coronary artery structure and function. A secondary interest of mine is how the actions of AGEs ultimately affect global cardiac function. These studies will utilize both cell/molecular techniques, as well as in vivo experiments to discern the involvement of AGEs and components of the RAS in cardiac dynamics during both the normal and diabetic states.

Qingqing Wang – Postdoctoral Student
I received my Ph.D degree in Pediatric Cardiology in July 2007 from Shandong University College of Medicine in China and my doctoral dissertation was about the immune tolerance to cardiac myosin induced by anti-CD4 monoclonal antibody in experimental autoimmune myocarditis. I had been trained as a postdoctoral fellow for one and a half years in Dr Yusen Liu’s Lab in the center for Perinatal research focusing on the immune function of Dusp5, a negative regulator of MAP Kinases. To further expand my research, I joined Dr John Bauer’s Lab in July 2009 focusing on the immune responses in cardiovascular diseases. I am extremely interested in both basic and translational research studying the immune mechanisms of cardiac diseases.

T. Aaron West – Research Associate
I received my MS thesis in biology from Purdue University in cell biology and physiology. Prior to joining the Lucchesi Lab I worked in clinical research, and I’m excited to use all aspects of my background, both technical and clinical to further the Center’s research.

Jianjing Xue (Shelly) – Research Scientist
I obtained a Master’s Degree in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry and a Medical Doctorate from Harbin Medical University in Heilongjiang, China. I worked for 15 years as a Research Associate in cancer research, using gene expression and gene therapy approaches. I also have over eight years of teaching experience in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at the level of Associate Professor in Shanghai at the Second Medical College before moving to the USA. Prior to joining the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, I worked at The Ohio State University for 13 years as a Research Associate studying mechanosensitive signaling pathways in Gastroenterology.

Dane Youtz – Research Assistant
I recently graduated from Ohio Dominican University with a biology degree and minor in chemistry. I wanted to get involved with my degree and delve into research in order to build a stronger resume for medical school. I am currently applying to get into Ohio University osteopathic medical school for next fall. I am working for Dr. Loren Wold and with Dr. Jian Jiang Xue (Shelly) in the cardiovascular department. My primary field of study is using retrograde perfusion to isolate rat myocytes (heart cells) and then using an Ionoptix video system to stimulate the cells using certain voltages. By recording the length that each cell contracts during a stimulation we can get a better understanding of how having diabetes or being exposed to fine particulate matter in the air can directly have an impact on the controls of the heart. I hope to contribute much to future studies and able myself to obtain several published works. Other than that I enjoy doing anything athletic and active, especially playing baseball and football.

Xiaojin (Jean) Zhang – Research Associate
I received my bachelor's degree in Medical Science from the Beijing Medical University and have over 20 years experience as a research technician/assistant in both basic and clinical research labs. Most recently I have worked as a senior research assistant in Pharmacology at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine in Rootstown, OH. My current responsibilities include assisting Dr. Cismowski and Dr. Lucchesi in developing biomarker assays and assays to analyze G-protein coupled receptor signal regulation.