Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Kahn Lab

Current Kahn Lab Members

We are currently accepting rotation students and applications for Postdoctoral Research Fellows!


Faculty

Mark L. Kahn, MD

Mark L. Kahn, MD
Edward S. Cooper, M.D./Norman Roosevelt and Elizabeth Meriwether McLure Professor of Medicine Director of Molecular Cardiology
 markkahn@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
 215-898-9007

Mark is an avid runner and biker. Best of all, he lets us buy whatever lab supplies we want!



Administration

Christine Maschak

Christine Maschak
Administrative Assistant to Mark L. Kahn, MD
 maschak@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
 215-573-8002



Staff

Patricia Mericko-Ishizuka

Patricia Mericko-Ishizuka
Lab Manager
 pmericko@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
 215-573-7069

Patty is the cog that keeps the Kahn lab running and has won "Kahn lab MVP" every year she has been in the lab.


Mei Chen

Mei Chen
Research Specialist
 chenmei@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
 215-573-7231

Mei is the Kahn lab matriarch and runs the best Western blots within a 1000 mile radius.


Jisheng Yang

Jisheng Yang
Research Specialist
 jisheng@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Jisheng is a histology master extraodinaire and is responsible for processing all of the Kahn lab's tissue samples.


Min Wang, PhD

Min Wang, PhD
Research Specialist
 wangmin1@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Min is a microscopy and imaging expert who works on the CCM project.


Lun Li, MD, PhD

Lun Li, MD, PhD
Senior Research Investigator
 Lun.Li@Pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Lun received his MD from China and his PhD from Rutgers University. He works on the CCM project as a part of both the Kahn and Jan Labs focusing on translational and pre-clinical studies using mouse surgery models.


Xiaowen Chen, PhD

Xiaowen Chen, PhD
Research Associate
 xiaowen.chen@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Xiaowen received his PhD from the University of Leuven in Belgium. He is a recipient of the American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship and is currently working on many projects in the lab, including coagulation signaling in lymphatic and vascular biology (new tricks for an old pathway!), hematopoiesis, and placental vasculature development. 


Alan Tang, MD, PhD

Alan Tang, MD, PhD
Cardiology Fellow
 tangalan@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
 215-573-7142

Alan is a graduate of Penn's MD/PhD program and completed his thesis work in the Kahn lab. He is currently an internal medicine resident on the cardiology track in Penn's Physician Scientist Training Program.


Jenna Bockman

Jenna Bockman
Research Technician
 Jenna.Bockman@Pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Jenna graduated from Temple University with a BS in Bioengineering. Her plan is to gain some much needed research experience here at the Kahn lab before applying to grad school. In quite the contrast to her science-filled life, she enjoys dancing, reading, and cooking up her favorite vegan recipes. She is the Kahn lab webmaster!


Jian Ren

Jian Ren
Visiting Scholar
 jian.ren@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Jian is a successful neurosurgeon from China and is visiting the lab for the next year to work closely with the ongoing CCM project.



Postdoctoral Research Fellows

Martin Dominguez, MD, PhD

Martin Dominguez, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
 martin.dominguez@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Martin completed his undergraduate and MD/PhD at Yale, internal medicine residency at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia, and cardiology fellowship and postdoctoral work at UCSF/Gladstone. He is now a postdoc in the Kahn lab and supported by the Cardiology T32 training grant. He rides a motorized scooter to lab.


Siqi Gao, PhD

Siqi Gao, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
 siqi.gao@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Siqi completed her PhD at the University of Oklahoma with Courtney Griffin and is the latest Kahn lab member to catch the placenta bug... Currently, she is supported by the AHA postdoctoral fellowship.



Graduate Students

Maxwell Frankfurter

Maxwell Frankfurter
MD/PhD Student
 maxwell.frankfurter@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Max completed undergrad at the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently in the Cell and Molecular Biology program and in the Kahn lab works on the CCM project. He is an aficionado of craft beers.


Sweta Narayan

Sweta Narayan
MD/PhD Student
 sweta.narayan@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Sweta completed undergrad at the University of Chicago. She is currently in the Cell and Molecular Biology program and works on the placenta vascular development project in the Kahn lab.


Jesse Pace

Jesse Pace
MD/PhD Student
 jesse.pace@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Jesse completed his undergrad at Stony Brook University. He is currently an MD/PhD student in the Cell and Molecular Biology Program and is studying myxomatous valve disease. He loves coffee and scuba diving!



Undergraduate Students

Hana Ahanger

Hana Ahanger
Undergraduate Student
 hahanger@sas.upenn.edu

Hana is an undergrad at the University of Pennsylvania. She's great at explaining NFTs using Tik Toks and is a Wordle aficionado.


Hope Xu

Hope Xu
Summer Undergraduate Student
 yitianhope.xu@gmail.com

Hope is a Pre-Health undergraduate student at Brown University. She has been a regular in the Kahn lab for the past three summers. This summer, she is working with Jesse's project on investigating heart valves. She is the smartest person in the Kahn lab!


Triloshan Thillaikumaran

Triloshan Thillaikumaran
Undergraduate Student
 triloshan.thillaikumaran@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Triloshan is a Pre-Health undergraduate student here at UPenn. In the lab, he works mainly with Siqi on investigating placental development. He loves playing trumpet and is a self-proclaimed connoisseur of diverse genres.



MD/PhD Limbo

Derek Sung (he/him)

Derek Sung (he/him)
MD/PhD Student
 derek.sung@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Currently: MS4 (7th year MD/PhD), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Derek completed undergrad at Cornell University and did a post-bac fellowship at the NIH. He is currently in the Cell and Molecular Biology program studying vascular development in the placenta and bone marrow and is supported by an NHLBI F30 grant. In his spare time, he co-hosts "Beyond the Abstract" podcast and posts science images to his Instagram, @Immunofluorescence. He also is a big fan of Rupaul's Drag Race, skin care, indoor gardening, and Ariana Grande. Derek received his PhD with the Kahn lab in August 2022. He is the former Kahn Lab webmaster.


Yiqing Yang, PhD

Yiqing Yang, PhD
Senior Research Investigator
 yiqingy@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
 215-573-7311

Currently: Senior Scientist, Tavotek Biotherapeutics

Yiqing's work was previously support by the Lymphatic Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship Award (2012-2014).



Alumni

Aileen Ren (she/her)

Aileen Ren (she/her)
MD/PhD Student
 aileen.ren@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Currently: Internal Medicine Resident, Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania

Aileen completed undergrad at Washington University in St. Louis and is currently in the Cell and Molecular Biology program. She studies synergistic mechanisms of cerebral cavernous malformation pathogenesis. Currently, she is supported by the Hemostasis and Thrombosis T32 training grant. She also has a big fluffy dog who is afraid of heights. Aileen received her PhD with the Kahn lab in July 2021.


Kevin Hayes

Kevin Hayes
Research Technician
 kevin.hayes@Pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Currently: medical student, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School


Danielle Jathan

Danielle Jathan
AHA Summer Undergraduate Student
 djathan240@loc.edu

Danielle is an undergraduate student at LeMoyne-Owen College and joined the Kahn Lab as part of the AHA Undergraduate Summer Internship program. She was just elected as SGA President at her school and has a remarkable history of community involvement and volunteering. She hopes to also extend her passions and impact as a pediatrician. 


Apoorva Babu

Apoorva Babu
Bioinformatician
 bapoorva@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Apoorva is the Kahn lab coding wiz and bioinformatician. She completed undergrad at Sastra University and a masters in biomedical engineering from Drexel prior to coming to Penn.


Morgan McGrath

Morgan McGrath
PhD Student (Rotation Student)
 morgan.mcgrath@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Morgan is a first year PhD student in the Cell and Molecular Biology program.


Lauren Goddard, PhD

Lauren Goddard, PhD
Research Associate
 lgoddard@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
 215-573-7630

Lauren completed her PhD at UCLA and was previously supported by the NIH Interdisciplinary Cardiovascular Biology Training Grant (July 2014 — June 2016).


Steven (Thomas) Keller, PhD (he/him)

Steven (Thomas) Keller, PhD (he/him)
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
 thomas.keller@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Currently: Investigator, Scribe Therapeutics

Steven completed undergrad at Davidson College and his PhD at the University of Virginia. He studies the role of lymphatics in the heart in response to injury. Currently, he is supported by the AHA postdoctoral fellowship. He actually has like four first names and a cat named Frida.


Kate Szigety, PhD

Kate Szigety, PhD
MD/PhD Student
 kszigety@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Currently: Pediatrics resident at CHOP

Kate completed undergrad at Yale and is currently a student in Penn's MD/PhD program. She completed her thesis work in Sarah Millar's lab in the Department of Dermatology and is now doing additional research in the Kahn lab.


Courtney Hong

Courtney Hong
PhD Candidate
 cohong@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
 215-573-7142

Currently: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Courtney graduated undergrad from University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and went on to do a post-bac at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Courtney received an F31 from NINDS to support her work in studying CCM disease. She is currently in the Pharmacology PhD program.


Katie Rose Sullivan

Katie Rose Sullivan
Research Technician
 katie.sullivan@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Currently: Masters Program in Genetic Counseling at Penn

Katie Rose is a lab technician that works on the role of CCM in the gut microbiome-brain signaling axis. Outside of lab, she enjoys cross-country running and completing marathons.


Sophie Su, MD

Sophie Su, MD
Neurosurgery Resident
 sophie.su@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Currently: neurosurgery resident at the Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania

Sophie is a neurosurgery resident with an interest in vascular neurosurgery. She completed her undergrad at Johns Hopkins and medical school at Stanford. In the lab, she works on in vivo imaging of the mouse brain and evaluating the development and progression of cavernous malformations. Outside of lab, she enjoys gardening and cycling.


Raiyah Patton

Raiyah Patton
APSA Summer Student
 rpatton2017@fau.edu
 215-573-7630

Currently: Senior undergraduate student at Florida Atlantic University


Lillian Lim

Lillian Lim
PhD Candidate
 lillianl@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
 215-573-7311

A STAR SingaporeNational Science PhD Scholarship 


John Welsh, PhD

John Welsh, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
 jwels@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
 215-573-7630

Currently: CEO, OsciFlex


Hasina Outtz Reed, MD, PhD

Hasina Outtz Reed, MD, PhD
Pulmonary and Critical Care Postdoctoral Fellow

Currently: Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College

Hasina completed undergrad at Princeton and her MD/PhD at Columbia. She completed internal medicine residency and pulmonary and critical care fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania.

Pulmonary and Critical Care Postdoctoral Fellowship (January 2016 — January 2018)


Aparna Mahadevan, PhD

Aparna Mahadevan, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Currently: Research Associate at Brigham & Women's Hospital


Andrea Guerrero

Andrea Guerrero
Undergraduate Research Assistant, Research Specialist

Currently: Neuroscience PhD student at Brandeis University


Sharika Bamezai

Sharika Bamezai
Undergraduate Research Assistant

Currently: medical student at the University of Michigan Medical School


Beth Lubeck, PhD

Beth Lubeck, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow


Zinan Zhou, PhD

Zinan Zhou, PhD
PhD Candidate

Currently: Postdoctoral research fellow, Harvard University


Hung Manh Bui, PhD

Hung Manh Bui, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow


Daniel Sweet, PhD

Daniel Sweet, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Currently: Biology Investigator, GlaxoSmithKline


David Rawnsley, MD PhD

David Rawnsley, MD PhD
MD/PhD Student

Currently: Cardiology Fellow, Washington University School of Medicine

Internal Medicine Resident, Washington University School of Medicine


Benjamin Kleaveland, MD, PhD

Benjamin Kleaveland, MD, PhD
MD/PhD Student
 benkleaveland@gmail.com

Currently: Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine , Weill Cornell Medical College

Clinical Pathology Resident, Massachusetts General Hospital

Postdoctoral Fellow, David Bartel Laboratory, Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research, MIT, HHMI


Alec Schmaier, MD, PhD

Alec Schmaier, MD, PhD
MD/PhD Student

Currently: Clinical Fellow in Medicine Institution, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center


Farhad Abtahian, MD, PhD

Farhad Abtahian, MD, PhD
MD/PhD Student
  FABTAHIAN@PARTNERS.ORG

Currently: Cardiologist, Sands-Constellation Heart Institute, Rochester Regional Health Center


Chiu-Yu Chen, MD, PhD

Chiu-Yu Chen, MD, PhD
MD/PhD Student

Currently: Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics-Cardiology, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital (Stanford)


Eric Sebzda, PhD

Eric Sebzda, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Currently: Associate Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center


Xiangjian Zheng, PhD

Xiangjian Zheng, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Currently: Associate Faculty, Centenary Institute Conjoint Senior Lecturer, Sydney Medical School, Australia


Zoltan Jakus, MD, PhD

Zoltan Jakus, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Currently: Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary


We are currently accepting graduate students and applications for postdoctoral research fellows!