People
Principal
Investigators
Marlene
Rabinovitch, M.D.
Dwight and Vera Dunlevie Professor of Pediatrics
Professor (by courtesy) Developmental Biology
Research Director, Vera Moulton Wall Center
for Pulmonary Vascular Disease
email Dr Rabinovitch
Dr. Rabinovitch was recruited to Stanford University
in the summer of 2002 as the Dwight and Vera Dunlevie Professor of Pediatric
Cardiology, and Director of Research of the Vera Moulton Wall Center for
Pulmonary Vascular Disease at Stanford University School of Medicine.
She is also Professor (by courtesy) of Developmental Biology. Dr. Rabinovitch
is a graduate of McGill University Medical School in 1971, and served
on the medical faculty at Harvard, the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto,
and at the University of Toronto where she was the Director of Cardiovascular
Research.
Dr. Rabinovitch has received recognition in her
field with numerous awards, the most recent being the 2004 Canadian Institute
of Circulatory and Respiratory Health (ICRH) Distinguished Lecture and
Prize in Cardiovascular Sciences and the 2004 American Heart Asociation
Basic Research Prize. In 2003, the University of Kentucky awarded Dr Rabinovitch
the Gill Heart Institute Award for Outstanding Contributions to Cardiovascular
Research, and in 2002, she received the American Heart Association Paul
Dudley White International Lectureship Award. Previous awards include
the McGill University Cushing Memorial Award in Pediatrics (1971), a Research
Achievement Award from the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (1994), the
Julius Comroe Lectureship from the American Physiological Society (1996),
an Endowed Research Chair from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario
(1997), the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada Award of Merit (1999),
and the Distinguished Scientist Award of the Canadian Institutes of Health
Research (2000).
Dr Rabinovitch is currently a Member of the
Advisory Board of the Canadian Institute Health Research, Circulatory
and Respiratory Institute; the Translational Research Advisory Committee,
Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the Translation Research Advisory Committee,
Doris Duke Foundation, the Medical Advisory Board of the Gairdner Foundation
of Canada, and the Scientific Advisory Board, Primary Pulmonary Hypertension
Association.
Research
Program
Faculty
Profile
Members of the Rabinovitch Laboratory:
Research Staff
Fellows and Students
Adminstrative
Staff
Recent Alumni
Richard
D. Bland, M.D.
Stanford University School of Medicine
email Dr. Bland
Dr Bland is a graduate of Phillips Academy
Andover (1958), Yale University (BA, 1962) and Boston University School
of Medicine (MD, 1966). He completed an internship and residency in Pediatrics
at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD (1966-69), followed by
a 3-year stint as a US Army staff pediatrician and Chief of Newborn Medicine
at Tripler Army Hospital in Hawaii (1969-1972). During his military service,
Dr Bland did several clinical studies that led to 4 published papers,
one of which was a solo-authored paper in the New England Journal of Medicine.
He twice received the Ogden C Bruton Award for research on the role of
plasma proteins in neonatal respiratory distress syndrome. Dr Bland did
a postdoctoral fellowship in lung vascular biology and newborn medicine
at the Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California San
Francisco (1973-74), where he became Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
in 1975 and advanced to Professor of Pediatrics in 1984. An Established
Investigator of the American Heart Association (1979-84), he was appointed
to the Senior Staff of the Cardiovascular Research Institute at UCSF in
1982. Dr Bland’s research has focused on lung fluid balance during
development and on the pathogenesis and treatment of acute and chronic
neonatal lung injury. He did a 1-year research sabbatical at Oxford University
(1982-3), where in collaboration with Dr Richard Boyd he discovered that
events associated with labor cause an increase in lung epithelial Na+,K+-ATPase
activity, which provides the driving force for clearance of liquid from
the lungs during and after birth. In 1989, Dr Bland moved from UCSF to
the University of Utah School of Medicine, where he was Fields Professor
of Pediatrics and Director of the Division of Lung Biology until 2002,
when he relocated to Stanford University as Professor of Pediatrics in
the Cardiopulmonary Research Program and the Division of Neonatal and
Developmental Medicine. Dr Bland received the Distinguished Alumnus Award
from Boston University School of Medicine (1996) and recently was awarded
an Honorary Doctor of Medicine from Uppsala University in Sweden (2004)
for his research related to lung fluid balance during development and
pulmonary edema in the pathogenesis of newborn lung disease.
Research
Program
Faculty
Profile
Members of the Bland Laboratory:
Students, Fellows and Research Staff
Adminstrative Staff
Recent Alumni
Back to top 
Research Staff/Rabinovitch
Laboratory:
Lingli
Wang, M.D.
Research Associate
email Lingli
Dr. Lingli Wang joined Dr. Rabinovitch’s
group in July 2003 as lab manager. Lingli received her M.D. degree from
the Fourth Army Medical University in Xi’an, China. She completed
her post-doctoral studies in the Stanford’s Department of Pediatrics
in 1997. Lingli brings her 10 years of experience in life science research
to the group. Her main responsibility is the maintenance and genotyping
of the transgenic mouse lines produced and used in the different research
projects.
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Fellows and
Students/Rabinovitch Laboratory:
Cristina
Alvira, M.D.
Pediatric Critical Care Fellow, Stanford University
email Cristina
Dr. Cristina Alvira joined Dr. Rabinovitch/Dr.
Bland's group in 2003. Dr. Alvira graduated from Tufts University School
of Medicine with a degree of Doctor of Medicine. She is a member of the
Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. Cristina and recently completed her Residency
in Pediatrics at Stanford University, and is currently pursuing a Pediatric
Critical Care Fellowship at Stanford University.
Dr. Alvira's research focuses on maturational
differences in nuclear factor kappa B activation in murine lung in response
to systemic lipopolysaccharide.
Vinicio
A. de Jesus Perez, M.D.
Post-doctoral fellow
email Vinicio
Dr. Vinicio A. de Jesus Perez was born and raised
in Puerto Rico where he completed a BS in Biology in 1996 and obtained
his MD at the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences campus in 2000.
He then moved to Boston where he completed a three year residency in Internal
Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. After the end of his residency
in 2003, he continued subspecialty training in Pulmonary and Critical
Care Medicine at the University of Colorado in Denver; it was during this
time that Vinicio developed an interest in pulmonary hypertension and
decided to pursue a career in basic science research. On July 2004 he
transfered to Stanford University where he continues his training in Pulmonary
and Critical Care Medicine. In January 2005, he joined the laboratory
of Dr. Marlene Rabinovitch to pursue his interest in pulmonary hypertension
research.
Vinicio's current research project focuses on
the role of the wnt signaling pathway
in the development of pulmonary
arterial hypertension and the potential role that apolipoprotein E may
have in affecting the activity of this pathway and the course of the
disease. The final goal will be to establish a role for wnt signaling
in the development of pulmonary hypertension and its relationship to
other established disease pathways such as BMP.
Yu-Mee Kim,
Ph.D.
Post-doctoral fellow 
email Yu-Mee
Dr. Yu-Mee Kim graduated
from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Ph.D. in
Environmental Sciences and Engineering (Molecular Toxicology) in 2006.
In 2001, she graduated from the Ewha women’s
University, Seoul, Korea with degrees of BSc and MSc in Environmental
Sciences and Engineering (Environmental Health Science). Dr. Kim was
a recipient of a DAAD scholarship (German Academic Exchange Service,
2000), a Society of Toxicology/Inhalation Specialty Section Student Award
(2006) and a North Carolina Society of Toxicology Student Award (2006).
Currently, Dr. Kim investigating the mechanisms
regulating gamma herpes virus-induced pulmonary hypertension including
the role of T cells, elastin peptide and microRNA in this pathogenesis.
Yu-Mee-cv
Tero-Pekka Alastalo, MD, PhD
Post-doctoral Fellow
email
Tero-Pekka
Dr. Tero-Pekka Alastalo joined the Rabinovitch lab in April 2007. Born
and raised in Finland, he graduated from the University of Turku (http://www.utu.fi/en/)
in 2001, with an MD/PhD degree. His PhD research, conducted with
Prof. Lea Sistonen in the Turku Centre for Biotechnology (http://www.btk.fi/index.php?id=1261),
focussed on the transcriptional regulation of heat shock response. Upon
graduation, Dr Alastalo began his specialization in Pediatrics in the
Turku University Hospital, and plans to sub-specialize in neonatal intensive
care and cardiology. He underwent additional training in Pediatric
Cardiology at the University Hospital of Helsinki and the Sahlgrens University
Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Tero-Pekka-cv
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Hirofumi Sawada, MD, PhD
Post-doctoral
Fellow
email Hirofumi
Dr. Hirofumi Sawada joined Prof. Rabinovitch’s group in
August 2007. Dr. Sawada had graduated from Mie University School
of Medicine, Mie, Japan, in 1993 with an MD degree and began his residency
training in the department of Pediatrics, Mie University Hospital. He
completed three-year training in pediatric cardiology in the National
Cardiovascular Center, Osaka, Japan in 1996. He returned to Mie University
in 2000, and joined the pulmonary hypertension research group. Dr.
Sawada obtained the PhD degree at Mie University Graduate School of
Medicine in 2007 with a thesis titled: “The role of a transcription
factor NF-kB in monocrotaline-induced pulmonary hypertension in rats.“ His
zest for pursuing his research interests on pediatric cardiovascular
disorders and pulmonary circulation brought him to Stanford. Dr.
Sawada’s research focused on hemodynamic and biochemical characterization
of transgenic mice with conditional targeted deletion of transcription
factor AML-1. His post-doctoral training at Stanford is supported
by the department of Pediatrics of Mie University School of Medicine
and the Japanese Society of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery..
Hirofumi-cv
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top
Students,
Fellows and Research Staff/Bland Laboratory:
Robert
Ertsey, M.Sc.
Senior Research Associate
email Bob
Bob Ertsey joined Dr. Bland's group in 2004. He
graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Biochemistry and from UC Santa
Barbara with an M.Sc. in Genetics. From 1983 to 2004 he was a Research
Associate in the Cardiovascular Research Institute at UC San Francisco
where he developed in vitro models of lung maturation and studied
the effects of chemical, mechanical and apoptotic factors on fetal lung
development. More recently, Bob published a study showing that poly(ADP)polymerase-1
[(PARP)-1], previously associated with apoptosis in lung, is maximally
expressed in late gestation, and controls the rate of lung differentiation.
He was the recipient of the Outstanding Performance Award of the Cardiovascular
Research Institute (2000) and University Service Award (2004). Ertsey-cv
Original Publications – Robert Ertsey, M.Sc.
Kakoli
Parai,
PhD.
Post-doctoral fellow,
Bland Lab
email Kakoli
Dr. Kakoli Parai joined the Bland Lab in January
2008. She graduated with a B.S. degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from
Nagpur University, India and a Ph.D. in Cardiovascular Physiology & Pharmacology
from Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada in 2004. During her
first postdoctoral study at Northwestern University she received NIH
postdoctoral grant from NHLBI (2006-2008). She is currently investigating
changes in blood vessel expression following long-term mechanical ventilation
in newborn mice.
Kakoli-cv
.
Anjali
Dixit
Undergraduate Student,
Bland Lab
email Anjali
Anjali Dixit joined Dr. Bland’s group in
September 2004. Currently, Anjali is attending Stanford University as
an undergraduate student, and she plans on double majoring in Biological
Sciences/Linguistics.
Anjali’s research focuses on elastin fiber in lungs of newborn mice,
and she is especially interested in whether the distribution of elastin
in the lungs correlates to ventilation and neonatal chronic lung disease.
When she’s not at the lab, Anjali enjoys yoga, practicing viola
with the Stanford Chamber Music Program, and learning how to play mah-jong
and wei-qi.
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Administrative
Staff:
Michelle Fox
Administrative Associate to Drs. Marlene Rabinovitch and Richard
Bland
(650) 723-8239 - Office Phone
(650) 723-6700 - Facsimile
email Michelle
Michelle joined the Dr Rabinovitch/Bland group
as an Administrative Associate in September 2004. She received a BA in
Biology from the University of North Carolina at Asheville in 1995. Immediately
after graduating, Michelle entered the Veterinary field as an Assistant
and continued to learn and received her Registered Veterinary Technician
license in 2001. Prior to working at Stanford, she was the head nurse
at Peninsula Equine Medical Center in Menlo Park where her duties included
everything from front office work to running anesthesia on 1000+ lb horses.
She continues to be a part of their surgery team one day a week and also
works one Saturday a month at a small animal hospital in Menlo Park.
In addition to her love and career with animals, Michelle also enjoys
being part of a team. Her nine years in the veterinary field has made
her proficient at working with doctors, students and staff members. Her
degree and background in the medical field are useful tools to bring to
the table. She prides herself on being proactive, organized and having
a positive attitude. When Michelle is not at work, she is either playing
with her dogs, riding her horse, scrapbooking or sailing into the sunset
with her husband on their 27 foot Catalina.
Michal
Bental Roof, Ph.D.
Academic and Research Program Officer
(650) 724-9589 - Office Phone
(650) 723-6700 – Facsimile
email Michal
Dr. Michal Bental Roof joined Dr Rabinovitch/Bland
group as Academic and Research Program Officer in September 2002. Michal
holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry (with distinction) from the Hebrew University
of Jerusalem, Israel, and M.Sc. and Ph.D. Degrees in the Life Sciences
from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. She received
a Weizmann Institute’s Special Distinction Award for M.Sc. students,
and was a recipient of a Chaim Weizmann Post-Doctoral Fellowship.
Michal has worked in a diversity of fields within
biology and basic biomedical research, as well as in chemistry. She brings
to the group her experience from her previous position at the University
of Pennsylvania, where she was Scientific Development Administrator of
the Institute for Medicine and Engineering (IME). In that capacity, she
worked with the Director on Institute initiatives and interdisciplinary
special projects, including development of strategies to create proposals
for unique funding opportunities from public and private sources, and
the design and implementation of IME seminars, conferences and symposia
to facilitate the integration of medical sciences and engineering.
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Recent
Alumni:
Lucia
M. Mokres, D.V.M., Post-doctoral fellow, Bland Lab, 2006-2008.
Current position: Product Consultant, Hantel, Freemont, CA
Dr. Lucia Mokres joined Dr. Bland's group in June
of 2005. She graduated from the University of California at San Diego
in 1999 with a BS in Physiology and Neuroscience. In 2003,shegraduated
cum laude from the Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine
and Biomedical Sciences with a degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.
She completed an internship in equine medicine and surgery at Alamo Pintado
Equine Medical Center (Los Olivos, CA) in 2004, followed by a yearlong
position as lead intern at Peninsula Equine Medical and Surgical Group
Practice in Menlo Park, CA. She is a member of the Society of Phi Zeta,
the veterinary honor society. Her past research has included studies
on oxidative stress in horses with large colon volvulus and colitis,
and oxidative stress in critically ill equine neonates. Dr. Mokresi
investigated changes in gene expression and lung morphology following
long-term mechanical ventilation in newborn mice.
Nesrine
El-Bizri, Ph.D. , Post-doctoral Fellow, Rabinovitch
Lab, 2000-2007
Current position: Scientist, CV Therapeutics, Palo Alto, California
Dr.
Nesrine El-Bizri joined Dr. Rabinovitch’s
group in Toronto in 2001, and relocated with her to Stanford in 2002.
Dr. El-Bizri graduated with a B.S. in Biology and M.Sc. in Physiology
from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, and a Ph.D. in Cell
Biology from the University of Sherbrooke in Canada. She won the first
prize Evelyn MacGlowyn Award from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of
Ontario (2001), and is supported by an American Heart Association (Pulmonary
Hypertension Association) Post-doctoral fellowship (2001-2003). Dr.
El-Bizri's research focused on the roles of Mts-1 and the BMP type II
receptor in the pathobiology of pulmonary vascular disease.
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Christophe Guignabert, Ph.D. ,Post-doctoral
fellow, Rabinovitch Lab, 2007
Current position: Post-doctoral fellow, INSERM Unit 841, Creteil, France
Dr. Christophe Guignabert joined Dr. Rabinovitch's
group in 2006, after graduating from the University of Paris XII-Val
de Marne, France. Dr. Guignabert's research focuses on the role the microtubule
associated protein, light chain 3 (LC3) in pulmonary vascular disease.
By interaction
with the adenylate uridylate-rich element (ARE) sequences, LC3 regulates
ARE-mRNAs translation of a wide variety of proteins that regulate cellular
growth, migration, and differentiation. In addition, Christophe studied
transgenic mice with conditional targeted deletion of bone
morphogenetic protein (BMP) receptor type 1A and Peroxisome Proliferation-Activated
Receptor (PPAR)-gamma, to assess the respective roles of these factors
in the pathobiology of pulmonary arterial hypertension.
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Laura H. Rubinos, Visiting Student (Sarnoff Fellowship), Rabinovitch Lab, 2006-2007
Current position: Medical Student, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston,
TX
Laura
Rubinos joined Dr. Rabinovitch's group in August 2006 as a Sarnoff
Cardiovascular Foundation Research Fellow. Laura was awarded the fellowship
so that she could spend a year learning about research and developing
her own project in the basic sciences. Laura's project focused on the
interaction of PPAR-gamma with signaling pathways in the vasculature,
and how its deletion specifically in smooth muscle cells influences
the development of pulmonary hypertension. Laura used a mouse
model do examine these effects and supplemented this data with
in vitro studies from cells harvested from this model. This experience,
coupled with her previous Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellowship,
has definitely opened up an interest in research that Laura hopes to
continue throughout her career.
Edda
Spiekerkoetter, M.D.,
Post-doctoral fellow, Rabinovitch Lab, 2002-2007.
Current position: Fellow, Department of Medicine/Pulmonary
Medicine, and the Wall Center for Pulmonary vascular Disease, Stanford
University 
Dr. Edda Spiekerkoetter joined Dr. Rabinovitch’s
group in September 2002. Edda graduated from the University of Tuebingen,
Germany, in 1988 with B.Sc. in Biology. She obtained her M.D. degree
from Freiburg University Medical School 1995, and completed her Specialty
as Internist at Hannover Medical School in 2002. Edda was a recipient
of a Pulmonary Hypertension Association Postdoctoral Fellowship (2003-2005).
Edda's research included three projects:
1. A cell biology project on the function and signaling pathways of Mts1
in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells.
2. Animal studies, to produce a more severe phenotype of pulmonary hypertension
in transgenic mice overexpressing Mts1, that are prone to pulmonary hypertension
in that they develop plexiform lesions with age (eg, by an inflammatory
stimulus).
3. Elucidating the role of stromal derived factor-1, shown to be elevated
in hypoxia induced pulmonary hypertension, in respect to stem cell homing,
differentiation, and repair after vascular injury.
Janine
M Bekker-Powers, Ph.D., Post-doctoral fellow, Rabinovitch
lab, 2006-2007
Current
position: Scientist, FivePrime, South San Francisco, CA
Dr. Janine
Powers joined Dr. Rabinovitchâs
group in 2006. She graduated from UC San Diego with a BS in Biology,
and from UC Los Angeles with a Ph.D. from the Molecular Biology Institute
where she was a recipient of the Cellular and Molecular Biology training
grant. Dr. Powers research is focused on the microtubule associated protein,
light chain 3 and its role in pulmonary vascular disease.
Yuri Knauer,
M.D., Post-doctoral
fellow, Bland lab, 2006-2007
Courrent position: Fellow, Pulmonary
and Critical Care Medicine
Dr. Knauer is a fellow in the department of Medicine,
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. He joined Dr. Bland's
group in the summer of 2006, following a a pediatric residency at Kaiser
in Southern California. 
Feijie
Zhang, M.D.,
Research Assistant, Bland Lab, 2005-2007
Dr. Feijie Zhang joined Dr. Bland’s group
in September 2005 as a research assistant. Feijie received her M.D. degree
from China. She studied in the field of pulmonary surfactant, lung injury
and development at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center from
1997 to 2003. Prior to joining Dr. Bland’s group, she spent
two years at the New York University School of Medicine where she studied
the effects of air pollution on airway epithelial cells. Currently,
Feijie is investigating the effects of mechanical ventilation on the
lungs of newborn mice at the molecular and cellular levels.
Liwen
Xu, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate, Bland lab, 2003-2006.
Current position: Research
Associate, Dr.
Felsher's lab, Divison of Oncology, Dept. of Medicine/Oncology, Stanford
University School of Medicine.Dr. Liwen Xu joined Dr. Bland’s
group in 2003. Liwen received her Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry from
the Biochemistry Dept. in Kansas State University. She was a recipient
of an American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship Award
(1998), and a Merck Graduate Research Award from Kansas State University
(1995). While at the Bland lab, Liwen studied elastin metabolism
and assembly in lungs of newborn sheep. The studies aim to understand
the role of elastin metabolism and assembly during development
of neonatal chronic lung disease, where abnormal abundance and
distribution of elastin are observed.
Mitra
Haddad, Administrative Associate for
Dr. Marlene Rabinovitch, 2004-2006.
Current
position: Administrative Assistant and Fellowship Coordinator, Dept
of Pediatrics - Cardiology Division, Stanford University School of Medicine.
Mitra joined Dr. Rabinovitch’s
group as an Administrative Associate in September 2004. Mitra received
her BA in Business Administration from Kingston University in Kingston,
England where she lived in the 70’s. She brings with her many years
of experience in customer service excellence and successfully operating
a resourceful, productive and positive work environment. Mitra has been
in the educational publishing industry since 1984 working for publishers
such as Silver Burdett Ginn, Mimosa publishing and Scholastic Education
in a variety of positions such as marketing/administrative coordinator,
customer support/project manager and regional office manager. Her respect
for and belief in the education industry brings her to Stanford.
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Gordon
Cann, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate, Rabinovitch Lab,
2002-2006.
Dr. Gordon
Cann joined Dr. Rabinovitch’s
group in 2002. He graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Molecular Biology,
and from UC Santa Barbara with a PhD in Developmental Neurobiology. He
completed his post-doctoral studies at Stanford University. Dr. Cann’s
research focuses on the role microtubule associated protein, light chain
3, plays during mouse development. Currently, null allels of light chain
3 are being constructed to test the hypothesis that light chain 3 regulates
neural crest cell migration. Neural crest cell and explant culture models
are also being used to address the role of light chain 3 in neural crest
cell migration.
Nirupama
Deshpande , Ph.D., Post-doctoral Fellow, Rabinovitch Lab 2004-2006.
Dr. Nirupama Deshpande
joined Dr. Rabinovitch’s
group in 2004. She graduated from the National Centre for Biological
Research, TIFR Bangalore, India with a MS in Molecular Biology, and obtained
her PhD in Drosophila Neurobiology from the University of Mainz, Germany.
In her present position, Dr. Deshpande is working on the role of microtubule
associated protein, light chain 3 (LC3), in mouse development. It has
been hypothesized that LC3 plays a role in neural crest cell migration/differentiation.
To test this hypothesis, she worked on developing a system for stable
siRNA transfections in cell culture.
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top
Shu
Jiang, M.D., Ph.D., Research Assistant, Bland Lab, 2005-2006
Current position: Dept of Surgery
- Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Stanford
Dr. Shu Jiang joined Dr. Bland's group in September
2005. Dr. Jiang graduated from Mongolia Medical College in China with
a medical degree and completed residency training in ENT followed by
2 years as a physician in charge. In 2002, she obtained her Ph.D from
Jilin University in China, and completed her postdoctoral training in
Cell Biology with Dr. Brian Storrie at Virginia Tech and the University
of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in 2002-2005. Dr. Jiang
worked on the mechanical ventilation model in newborn mice and studies
the changes in lung pathology of newborn mice following the ventilation.
Lihua
Ying, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Research
Associate, Rabinovitch Lab, 2002-2006
Current position: Department of Pediatrics - Nephrology,
Stanford
Dr.
Lihua Ying graduated from The University of Sydney with a Ph.D. in Molecular 
iology
in 1996. She had her postdoctoral training in Molecular Genetics with
Dr Val Sheffield at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in The University
of Iowa in 1997-2000. Dr. Ying was a recipient
of an Australia National Heart Foundation Award (1993-1995) anda Young
Investigator Award from the Council for High Blood Pressure Research of
Australia (1996). T the University of Iowa, she was a Winner of Excellent
Graduate Student Research (1996) and Excellent Postdoctoral Research (1999). In
the Rabinovitch lab, Dr. Ying studied the mechanisms regulating interaction
between LC3 and fibronectin mRNA, as well as other mRNAs which may influence
tumor growth and invasion. Specifically, she investigates the involvement
of LC3, a microtubule-associated protein, in the regulation of fibronectin
translation. LC3 regulates mRNA transcription through interaction between
an arginine-rich element (ARE) in LC3 and a sequence (UUAUUUAU) in the
3’UTR of Fibronectin mRNA.
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Georg
Hansmann, M.D., Post-doctoral
Fellow, Rabinovitch lab, 2004-06
Current position: Clinical Fellow, UCSF School of Medicine.
Georg joined Dr. Rabinovitch's group
in April 2004. He graduated from Albert-Ludwigs-University,
Freiburg, Germany, in 1999 with a M.D. degree, and completed the United
States Medical Licensing Examination in 2001. 
From 2000-2004 he has pursued clinical training, with emphasis on Neonatology,
Pediatric Cardiology and Critical Care Medicine, at the Charit é University
Hospital, Berlin, at the German Heart Center and at the Technical University,
both in Munich. Georg performed cardiovascular research in the Department
of Pharmacology in Freiburg (1995-1997), and at the Max Delbrueck Center
for Molecular Medicine in Berlin (2000-2001). His M.D. thesis was rated “summa
cum laude” and awarded him the Fleckenstein Prize for Junior Researchers
in 1999. He is a recipient of an American Heart Association/Pulmonary
Hypertension Association Postdoctoral Fellowship Award (2004-2006), Dr.
Hansmann was awarded the 2006 AHA Cournand & Comroe Young Investigator
Prize in Cardiopulmonary and Critical Care for studies performed while
in the Rabinovitch lab.
Georg’s research focused on three projects:
1. Clinically relevant links between insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and
pulmonary arterial hypertension, i.e. BMP-Receptor II, PPAR-gamma and Apolipoprotein
E (Apo E) pathways, and their crosstalks with PDGF-BB and Wnt signaling, in human
pulmonary artery cells and related transgenic mouse models.
2. Hemodynamic and biochemical characterization of transgenic mice under certain
stimuli: Potential models for pulmonary arterial hypertension (e.g. Apo E knock
out mice).
3. Intranuclear shuttling and activation of transcription factors (e.g. AML1),
related cell signaling and transactivation of growth-regulating genes in human
pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells in which expression of BMP-Receptor II is
suppressed (shRNAi pLenti 6).
Lisa Chyi , M.D., Post-doctoral fellow, Rabinovitch Lab,
2005
Current position: NeonatologyFellow,
Stanford University.
Dr. Lisa Chyi joined Dr. Rabinovitch's group in
2005. She graduated from Ohio State University with a B.S. in Molecular
Genetics and a Doctor of Medicine degree. She is a member of Alpha Omega
Alpha honor society. Lisa completed her residency in Pediatrics at Northwestern
University Children's Memorial Hospital. Her residency project regarding
school-age outcomes of mildly premature infants was selected as a platform
presentation at both the Society for Developmental Pediatrics and Pediatric
Academic Society's
national meetings.
Stefan Schellong, Visiting
Researcher, Rabinovitch Lab,
2005 
Current position: Medical Student, Heidelberg
Medical School, Germany
Stefan joined our lab in September 2005 as a visiting
researcher. After having studied business administration in Mannheim,
Germany, including semesters in Cambridge and Shanghai, he received a
diploma in business administration in 2002. He then enrolled as a medical
student in Heidelberg Medical School, Germany. During his time in our
lab, Stefan is workng on his doctoral thesis concerning the role of the
transcription factor PPARgamma in endothelial and smooth muscle cells
and its impact on pulmonary vascular disease. His doctoral thesis is
supported by Boehringer Ingelheim Funds, Germany.
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Roham
Zamanian, M.D., Post-doctoral fellow,
Rabinovitch Group, 2005
Current position: Instructor, Department of Medicine - Pulmonary and
Critical Care Medicine, Stanford
Roham graduated from the University
of California, Irvine (UCI) in 1994 with aB.S.
(honors) in biological Sciences. Before entering medical school in
1995, Roham concluded his research in cellular and developmental biology
on neural crest migration with Dr. Marianne Bronner-Fraser. After
receiving his M.D. degree in 1999 from UCI College of Medicine, Roham
completed a succesful residency and board
certification in internal medicine at UCI Medical Center. During his
senior resident year and through his first year offellowship in Pulmonary & Critical
Care Medicine at UCI Medical Center, Roham's research project focused
on measurement of real time continuous airways resistance in intubated
patients in the intensive care unit. After transferring to Stanford
University Medical Center in 2004, Roham continued his fellowship
in Pulmonary & Critical Care
with a focus on pulmonary hypertension. He is currently the E-Bay pulmonary
vascular fellow at Stanford through the Vera Moulton Wall Center.
Roham's current research project focuses on evaluating the role and expression
of the Mts1 in patients with severe pulmonary hypertension. Zamanian-cv
Berit
Jacobson, Research Assistant, Bland Lab, 2003-2005
Cureently Graduate Student, University of Washington, Seattle
Berit Jacobson joined Dr. Bland's group as a research
assistant in 2003. Berit graduated in 2002 from The University of Michigan
with a Bachelor of Science in Biopsychology and Cognitive Science. Berit
investigated changes in gene expression due to prolonged
lung stretch in newborn mice, and set up the systems used in the lab for ventilating newborn mice.
Mychi
Nguyen, Visiting Researcher, Dr. Rabinovitch's group,
Summer 2005
Currently Medical
Student, Drexel University College of Medicine.
Mychi joined our lab in September 2005 as a
visiting researcher. Her research at Stanford is supported by the American
Pediatric Society & Society for Pediatric Research and a grant from
the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. 
She has a prior research
background at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research as a neuroscience
researcher studying the safety and efficacy of nicotinamide in traumatic
brain injury. In addition, she has done research on thymosin beta 4 at
the National Institutes of Health. She graduated with honors from the
Pennsylvania State University in 2002 and is currently a 4th year medical
student at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA.
During her time in our lab, Mychi is working on developing a pulmonary
artery organ culture model of pulmonary vascular occlusive disease triggered
by an infection with gamma murine Herpes Virus-68 in mice that overexpress
Mts1/S100A4.
Eliana
Martinez, M.D., Post-doctoral Fellow, Rabinovitch Lab, 2004-05
Currently in a research position in Germany.
Dr. Eliana Martinez joined Dr. Rabinovitch’s group in February
2004. Eliana graduated from the University of Antioquia, Colombia, in
1999 with a degree of Doctor in Medicine and Surgery. Eliana’s research
focused on the role of bone morphogenetic protein receptor II (BMP-RII)
mutations in the pathobiology ofpulmonary vascular disease. Specifically,
she is investigating how the knock down of BMP-RII influences endothelial
and smooth muscle cell differentiation from embryonic stem cells, and genomic
and functional profile with respect to proliferation, migration and susceptibility
to apoptosis. Eliana was also involved in a Translational Medicine project
in which she is performing confocal microscopy to elucidate the role of
endothelial cell precursors in reestablishing the tumor vasculature following
radiation.
Sandra
Merklinger, C.N.S./N.P., M.N., Ph.D.,
Ph.D. Candidate,
Rabinovitch Lab, 2000-2004
Current position: Cardiovascular Research, Hospital
for Sick Children, and the University of Toronto. 
Sandra Merklinger graduated with a Ph.D. from the
University of Toronto, conducting her research at Stanford University.
Sandra joined Dr. Rabinovitch’s group in Toronto in 2000 and came
to Stanford in the summer of 2002. Sandra received a Honours B.Sc. in
Nursing and a Master of Nursing (Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program)
from the University of Toronto in Canada. Prior to her arrival at Stanford,
Sandra was a Clinical Nurse Specialist/Nurse Practitioner in the Cardiac
Program at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Sandra received
numerous Graduate student awards, including
University of Toronto Fellowships (1998, 2002), Ontario Graduate Studentship
in Science and Technology (2000, 2001), Hospital for Sick Children’s
Alma Rae Fellowes Scholarships (1999, 2000), Heart and Stroke Foundation
Fellowship (1999), Lorne Phoenix Graduate Award of the Heart and Stroke/Richard
Lewar Centre of Excellence in Toronto (2000), and an Institute of Medical
Science/University of Toronto Merit Award (2000). She is a Member of
Sigma Theta Tau, the International Nursing Honour Society. Sandra’s
research focused on the Role of avb3 Integrin and Matrix Metalloproteinase
Antagonists in the Regression of Pulmonary Vascular Disease.
Allan
Lawrie, Ph.D., Post-Doctoral Fellow, Rabinovitch Lab, 2002-2004
Current Position: Russell Fellow, Cardiovascular
Research Unit , University of Sheffield, UK
Dr. Allan Lawrie joined Dr. Rabinovitch’s
group in 2002. Allan graduated from Napier University (Edinburgh, Scotland)
in 1996 with a BSc (Hon) and The University of Sheffield (Sheffield,
England) in 2001 with a PhD. He is a recipient
of Stanford University School of Medicine Deans Fellowship award for
post-doctoral scientists (2003-2004). Allan’s research focuses
on the investigation into the role of serotonin in the production and
release of Mts1 from pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells. Mts1 is a
member of the S100 family of proteins and was originally found to be
important in metastasis of breast cancer.
Eric
Shinwell, M.D., Visiting Researcher, Bland Lab, summer 2004
Dr. Eric Shinwell is this
year's recipient of the Stanford Israeli Visiting Professorship. He
is Director of Neonatology at Kaplan Medical Center, Rehovot and the
Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. He joined Dr. Bland's laboratory
in May, 2004. Dr.
Shinwell has conducted randomized clinical trials of therapeutic
interventions in neonatal lung disease and has recently identified
the relationship between postnatal steroid therapy and cerebral palsy.
He is currently working on the relationship between various forms of
ventilation in a neonatal mouse model on the expression of genes controlling
angiogenesis and alveolarization.
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