Past members
Tori's research focuses on understanding the roles of lymphatic and LYVE1-expressing macrophages in regulating mitral valve disease progression. Before arriving in Minnesota, she attended University of Virginia where she earned her doctorate in Experimental Pathology. In addition to imaging mitral valves and learning single cell sequencing analysis approaches, Tori loves to garden, hike, play soccer, and do jigsaw puzzles.
Vanessa Czerniecki
LSSURP Student, 2023
Research: Developing assays for the study of CCL21 and CCR7 in autoimmune valvular carditis
Current position: Undergraduate student, Carlton College
Jess Faragher
Undergraduate student and Research Technician, 2017-2023
Research: Jess investigated different endothelial receptors and macrophage phenotypes that play a role in mitral valve disease. She graduated from the U's College of Biological Sciences in 2019 with a B.S. in biology. Check out her two first-author papers on Our Research page!
Current position: MD/PhD Student at University of South Dakota
Julia Brekke Riedl, PhD
MSTP Student, 2018-2022
Research: Steps towards understanding cellular therapies for Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa
Current position: Medical student, University of Minnesota
Senali Dansou
LSSURP Student, 2022
Research: Evaluating the efficacy of TNFR1 inhibitors to inhibit NFkB activation in macrophages
Current position: MD/PhD Student, University of Minnesota
Tayla Chiang
LSSURP Student, 2021
Research: Evaluating the efficacy of novel TNFR1 inhibitors in cultured macrophages
Current position: Undergraduate student, University of Utah (check out her thoughts on Women in STEM!)
Amritha Yellamilli, MD, PhD
MSTP Student, 2018-2020
Research: Lymphatic growth in inflamed mitral valves
Current Position: Pediatric Resident, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University, ayellam@stanford.edu
Rachel Graham, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2018-2019
Research: Single-cell RNA sequencing including the filtering and mapping of large datasets (Bash), and statistical analysis and visualization (R) in serum transferred arthritis treated with and without ultrasound on the spleen (Zachs, Offutt, Graham, et al 2019).
Current Position: Field Medical Director, Pfizer
Nathan Schuldt, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2012-2018
Research: The role of dual TCR T cells in the setting of autoimmunity (Schuldt, et al 2015; Schuldt, et al 2017).
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, schu1048@umn.edu
Raini Dutta, PhD
Research Associate, 2016-2017
Research: Liaison between Medtronic and UOM (Dept. of Biomedical engineering and CFI) for a DARPA funded project for establishing the therapeutic effectiveness of a proprietary medical device on the peripheral nerve to treat inflammatory conditions (Dutta, et al 2018).
Current Position: Senior Staff Toxicologist (Biocompatibility), Stryker, rainidutta@gmail.com
Lee Meier, MD, PhD
MSTP student, MICaB, 2015-2019
Dissertation: Defining Mechanisms of Inflammation and Fibrosis in Cardiac Valve Disease (Meier, et al 2018; Meier, et al 2022)
Current Position: Resident, Department of Surgery, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Patricia Hobday, MD
Fellow: 2013-2014
Research Emphasis: The roles of Fcγ receptors in autoimmunve valvular carditis (Hobday, et al 2014) and Macrophage scavenger receptor 1 in B cell autoimmunity (Haasken, et al 2013)
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Division of Pediatric Rheumatology, University of Minnesota, hobd0007@umn.edu
Stefanie Haasken, PhD
Doctoral Student, MICaB, 2007-2012
Dissertation: Immunity and Tolerance in the K/BxN Model of Spontaneous Arthritis and Endocarditis (Haasken, et al 2011; Haasken, et al 2013)
Current Position: Proposal Writer, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), shaasken@sitcancer.org
Sindhuja Rao, PhD
Research Technician, 2007-2009
Research Emphasis: The role of neuropeptide neuromedin U in promoting autoantibody-mediated arthritis (Rao, et al 2012)
Current Position: Principal Scientist, Pharmaceutical Sciences Team Lead at Pfizer