Mete Civelek, Principal Investigator
- PhD, Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania
- MS, Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University
- BS, Chemical Engineering and Molecular Biology and Genetics, Bogazici University
Mete Civelek, Principal Investigator
Mete joined the University of Virginia after a postdoctoral fellowship in cardiovascular genetics in the laboratory of Jake Lusis at the University of California, Los Angeles. He studied the genetic regulation of gene expression in vascular cells and adipose tissue in human and mouse populations. He identified novel candidate genes that can play causal roles in the development of atherosclerosis, obesity and insulin resistance. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and is also a resident faculty at the Center for Public Health Genomics. He is a member of the Robert M Berne Cardiovascular Research Center and has a secondary appointment in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics.
Rédouane Aherrahrou, Postdoctoral Fellow
Rédouane Aherrahrou completed his PhD in the research group of Prof. Jeanette Erdmann at the University of Lübeck. He joined the Center for Public Health Genomics at the University of Virginia as a postdoctoral fellow in 2016. He is interested in understanding how genetic factors regulate the development of coronary artery disease. His special focus is on genetic factors regulating smooth muscle cell function. Redouane is an American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellow.
Warren Anderson, Postdoctoral Fellow
Warren has worked in neurophysiology and cardiac electrophysiology with a focus on understanding how ion channels regulate synaptic integration and arrhythmogenesis. During his PhD studies, he implemented computational studies that revealed novel insights into the mechanisms of neuroinflammation and the autonomic nervous systems’ integrated contributions to the development of hypertension. He is currently working with Mete Civelek and Michael Guertin to elucidate the genetic influences on pathway dynamics in vascular smooth muscle cells. Warren was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Cardiovascular Training Grant between 2017 and 2018. He is currently an American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellow.
Qianyi Yang, Postdoctoral Fellow
Qianyi Yang is trained as a biochemist and molecular biologist. She completed her PhD with Dr. Jim Forney, studying the function of SUMOylation in Tetrahymena using biochemical and proteomics approaches. Following that she joined the lab of Humaira Gowher at Purdue University where she studied the role of transcription factor Vezf1 during angiogenesis. She then moved to St. Louis and joined Zhou-Feng Chen lab at Washington University in St. Louis. There she focused on understanding the mechanism of circadian-regulated mouse itch behavior. She joined Civelek lab in November 2018 as a postdoctoral research associate. She is interested in investigating the role of transcription factor KLF14 in adipocyte function.
Jordan Reed, PhD Student
Jordan received a BS in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania and did undergraduate research in bacteriology, studying antibiotic resistance at the University of Rochester. Her current focus is understanding the flow of genetic information in adipose tissue gene expression networks using causal inference modeling. Jordan is a Predoctoral Fellow in the Cardiovascular Training Grant.
Noah Perry, PhD Student
Noah received a BS in Biomedical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and did undergraduate research in biomechanics and imaging, creating computational eye models to study the impact of glaucoma conditions on the biomechanics of the eye at Georgia Tech and Emory University. His current focus is understanding the flow of genetic information in vascular smooth muscle cell gene expression networks using causal inference modeling.
Jameson Hinkle, Lab Manager
Jameson received a BS in Biology from Roanoke College. He then worked at US Geological Survey and completed an MS in environmental studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. Now, he is the lab manager of the Civelek Lab. His research focuses on understanding how the transcription factor KLF14 and RNA binding protein CPEB4 regulate obesity and metabolism using cell culture and mouse models.
Joon Yuh Sohl, Bioinformatician
Joon received BS degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Virginia. He was an undergraduate research assistant in the Civelek Lab working on a project that sought to understand the preservation of gene co-expression networks in humans and mice. In his current position, he is helping multiple projects by designing bioinformatics pipelines.
Ngozi Akingbesote, Biology Fourth Year Undergraduate
2017-2020 Undergraduate Student Opportunities in Academic Research (USOAR) Program
2018 Harrison Undergraduate Research Award
2019 Caltech Wave Fellow
2019-2020 Department of Biology Distinguished Majors Program
Rita Anane-Wae, Biomedical Engineering Third Year Undergraduate
2019 Harrison Undergraduate Research Award
Dillon Lue, Biomedical Engineering Second Year Undergraduate
Alfredo LeBron
NIH Summer Research Internship Program Participant
Department of Natural Sciences
University of Puerto Rico, Aguadilla, PR
May – August 2018
May – August 2019
Carolyn Graham
NIH Summer Diabetes Research Internship Program Participant
Department of Biomedical Engineering
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
May – August 2018
Nicholas Garza
NSF REU Multi-Scale Systems Bioengineering Program Participant
Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Computer Science
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
May – August 2018
Anthony Boivin
Department of Physiology and Integrative Biology
Université Pierre et Marie Curie- Sorbonne Universités
April – August 2018
Sonavine Nget Chan
Department of Physiology and Integrative Biology
Université Pierre et Marie Curie- Sorbonne Universités
April – July 2018
Florent Bouchon
M.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology
Agrocampus Ouest, Rennes, France
September 2017 – January 2018
Rebecca Habisch
Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
Biberach University of Applied Sciences, Biberach an der Riss, Germany
March – November 2017
Simon Perrin
Department of Physiology and Integrative Biology
Université Pierre et Marie Curie- Sorbonne Universités
March – June 2017
Shayna Holness
NSF REU Multi-Scale Systems Bioengineering Program Participant
Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Physics
Rider University, Lawrenceville, NJ
May – August 2017
Cameron Raglin
NIH Summer Research Internship Program Participant
Departments of Chemistry and History
Amherst College, Amherst, MA
May – August 2017
Lisa Chen, BME Undergraduate Research Assistant and Capstone Design Project, 2015-2019
2018 Harrison Undergraduate Research Award
Jewel White, Biology Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2017-2019
Aaron Aguhob, BME Undergraduate Research Assistant and Capstone Design Project, 2015-2018
Ryan Cheng, BME Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2015-2017
Nicholas Asby, BME Undergraduate Research Assistant, 2015-2017
