People

Principal Investigator

Rachel L. Zemans, MD

Professor

Rachel received her BS in Biological Sciences and MA in Philosophy from Stanford University. She received her MD from Johns Hopkins University, completed a residency in Internal Medicine at UCSF and a fellowship in Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine at the University of Colorado. She was on the faculty at National Jewish Health and the University of Colorado for 10 years before moving to the University of Michigan, where she is currently the Henry Sewall Research Professor in the Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, and a member of the Cellular and Molecular Biology faculty. Her research focuses on mechanisms of regeneration of the alveolar epithelium after lung injury and how regeneration may be impaired in lung disease. Her work has been funded by many NIH and foundation grants and has been published in PNAS, the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, and JCI. She was the recipient of a Parker B. Francis Fellowship and the American Thoracic Society Early Career Achievement Award and is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation. Rachel serves on numerous national and international committees, study sections, and editorial boards.

Junior Faculty/Postdoctoral Fellows

Scott Denstaedt, MD

Assistant Professor

Scott received a BS from the University of Michigan and MD from Wayne State University. He completed a medical residency at Case Western University and fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Michigan. He investigates how sepsis predisposes to future inflammatory injury of the brain and lung.

Tayyab Rehman, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor

Christopher Ting, MD

Clinical Instructor

Chris is a postdoctoral fellow and clinical instructor in the Pulmonary & Critical Care Division. He completed medicine residency at Henry Ford and fellowship at Michigan and holds degrees from University of Vermont (MD) and Williams College (BA). His research focuses on transitional cell states in lung regeneration.

Rachel Genova, MD, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Zie Craig, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Graduate Students

Rachel Benedeck

Graduate Student

Cellular & Molecular Biology

Born and raised in McHenry, Illinois, she pursued her undergraduate degree in Molecular Cellular Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After working as a research technician and lab manager at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, she went on to become a Ph.D. student in Cellular and Molecular Biology. When not conducting research, she enjoys a variety of hobbies, including fine arts, video games, recreational sports, and nature walks. She also has a pet cat that she adores.

Joshua Franzen

Graduate Student

Biological Chemistry

Jessica Liang

Graduate Student

Molecular Integrative Physiology

Jessica received her B.S. in Biology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Following her graduation, Jessica worked as a Medical Assistant/Scribe at a pulmonary practice in her hometown of Orange County, CA. When not in the laboratory, Jessica enjoys going on long walks with her dog Kiki, boxing, and exploring local restaurants/cafés

Undergraduate Students

Ryaan Bhuiyan

Undergraduate Student

Neuroscience/Spanish

From Toledo, Ohio, Ryaan is currently a freshman studying Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience as well as Spanish at the College of LSA at the University of Michigan. He hopes to attend med school after his undergraduate studies or become a cancer researcher.

Cole Weber

Undergraduate Student

Kendall Foster

Undergraduate Student

Research Scientists

Xulun Zhang, PhD

Haichun Pan

Sushovita Mukherjee, MS, MPH

Sushovita is a Research Lab Specialist Intermediate. She received an MBBS from the University of Calcutta, an MS from the University of South Dakota, and an MPH from the New York Medical College. has extensive experience in research in the academic and private sectors. She has expertise in a wide variety of microbiology, immunology, cell biology and molecular biology techniques applied to research in microbiology and inflammation domains.