Meet the Team

            

            

            


Each lab members role and expertise has an integral part in basic science and translational research conducted in our lab. We are focused on effectively treating the debilitating disease termed empty nose syndrome (ENS).


Dawn Bravo

Basic Life Research Scientist

The culmination of Dawn’s research has been based on cystic fibrosis. Her first goal is to make a model system, using mice basal cells, where the stem cells are derived from the nasal cavity. CRISPR (Founder: Matthew Porteus) a genome-editing technology, to discover transformative medicine for major human genetic diseases, such as cystic fibrosis. CRISPR is an approach used for patients suffering with cystic fibrosis. This approach is applied with the model system, which is transplanting corrected cells from humans into rodents, in order to find if the rodents do not form tumors.

            

            

            

Phil Gall

Life Science Technician II

One of the projects that Phil provides support is the Effects of Cigarette Smoke on the Nasal Airway. This project helps with evaluating changes in the nasal airway after firsthand cigarette smoke exposure; This involves the assessment for possible mechanisms contributing to association between smoking and chronic rhinosinusitis.

            

Dayoung Kim

Research Assistant

Dayoung studied Biochemistry and Psychology at CWRU till 2019 and became a member of the Nayak Lab since graduation. She is actively involved in empty nose syndrome and other sinus disorders research and is looking forward to expanding the areas of interest. Ultimately, her aim is to explore mechanisms and treatments associated with chronic inflammatory conditions.

            

Wei Le

Research Associate

Wei and the lab are working on the development of a rapidly acting preventative therapy for influenza. It will demonstrate robust protection against non-lethal and lethal respiratory tract challenges with a spectrum of different influenza strains in relevant preclinical models. It will be tested in human nasal epithelial cells first, then animal study. Final step will enable IND approval for subsequent human clinical trials.

            

Ivan Lee, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

            

Tsuguhisa Nakayama

Visiting Scholar

I am a life science research scientist and have been working with Dr. Jayakar V. Nayak since 2016. Prior to Stanford, I worked as a medical doctor in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Jikei University in Japan. My primary focus is to identify the immunologic molecular mechanisms regarding upper airway biology, injury, and inflammation.

            

Esmond Tsai

Research Assistant

Angela Yang

Research Assistant

I graduated from UC Berkeley in 2018 and joined the Nayak lab as a research assistant. Clinically, through different testing conducted and data collected, I hope to better understand the physiology of the upper airway and different rare conditions of the nose, such as the Empty Nose Syndrome, as well as to develop innovative tools and techniques to diagnose and treat the disease.

            

David Zarabanda

Research Associate

One of the projects that David is involved in is the Cigarette Smoke Exposure Mouse Model project. His work involves exposing mice to cigarette smoke in continuous puffs simulating the usual amount that humans do. The goal in this project is to evaluate the immune responses in the nose while simultaneously exposing to an allergen.

            

Lirit Levi

Visiting Scholar

I am an otolaryngologist currently serving as a visiting scholar at Dr. Nayak's laboratory. I completed my residency in otolaryngology at Rabin Medical Center in Israel in January 2023. Subsequently, I worked as a fellow in rhinology and skull base surgery at Rabin Medical Center. I have made academic contributions through several publications in the fields of clinical and translational studies in otolaryngology.

            

Natalia Castillo-Ramos

Undergraduate Student

Natalia is an undergraduate student at Stanford University studying Bioengineering. She joined the Nayak Lab in the summer of 2022. She worked on a project through Stanford Bio-X looking at the durability of re-transplanted stem cells as a Cystic Fibrosis airway sinus disease therapy during the summer of 2023. She will continue her work on this project and also look at different methods of decalcification for tissue samples. Previously, she was a member of the Pepper Lab where she worked to develop a preliminary computational method of analyzing facial nerve recovery.