Our Team

Principle Investigator

Jeremy Katzen, MD

I grew up in Rhode Island, got my BA at Bowdoin College in Maine, and then my MD at the University of Rochester in upstate New York. After a residency at Northwestern in Chicago, we decided we had enough of brutal winters with lake effect snow, and moved to balmy Philadelphia for fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Penn and a postdoc in Michael Beers lab. I see patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) clinically and our lab studies the basic biology of ILD.

When I’m not in lab, I like to rock climb and listen to phish with my wife Sara and my two children.

Senior Scientist

Swarna Bale, PhD

I was raised in a small town of Telangana state, a part of Southern India renowned for its culture. My passion for research sparked during my Master's while working on identifying small molecules as therapeutic targets in cancer. This experience fueled my curiosity and led me to pursue a PhD in Pharmacology from NIPER Hyderabad, where I focused on therapeutic interventions for lung and skin fibrosis. Following my PhD, I moved to the United States for postdoctoral training. My first postdoctoral position concentrated on multi-organ fibrosis, while my second focused on myelofibrosis. Throughout my research journey, I have developed expertise in fibrosis models spanning in-vitro, in vivo, and ex vivo studies within the context of drug discovery. My work has primarily involved investigating therapeutic effects and unraveling novel mechanisms that serve as targets in fibrosis.

In August 2024, I joined Dr. Katzen’s lab to further explore lung biology particularly interested in epithelial cell dysfunction mediated altered cellular signaling that contributes to the progression of pulmonary fibrosis.

Outside the lab, I enjoy hiking, cooking, and listening to classic Indian music.

Postdoctoral Fellows

Anit Shah, PhD

I am from a land of Himalayas squeezed by the two giants of Asia, Nepal. After receiving my BS, I pursued my MS in Molecular Biology from Eastern Illinois University, IL. Subsequently, I received my Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences (Cell Biology) from the University of Iowa, IA. My graduate work connects the missing link between unfolded protein response (UPR), hepatic cell fate, and its contribution to hepatic (hepatocytes) injury. I joined Katzen Lab to explore the UPR in lung epithelial cell dysfunction and its contribution to the development and progression of lung diseases, pulmonary fibrosis. I am exploiting bioinformatics, in-vivo, and ex-vivo genetic models (mice/organoids) and molecular tools to understand lung biology disease phenomena.

Outside the lab, I enjoy soccer, cooking, and exploring nature.

Evan Hoffman, PhD

Like Jeremy, I am also from Rhode Island (although that is not a requirement to working in his lab!). I began my career in scientific research while receiving my B.S. at the University of Rhode Island and subsequently receiving my Ph.D. in Cellular, Molecular, and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Vermont. My graduate thesis work built upon concepts from both lung regenerative medicine and tissue engineering wherein I developed ex vivo human lung hydrogels for the culture of iPSC-derived human lung progenitor cells. I joined the Katzen Lab in October 2022 to further explore the role of epithelial cell dysfunction, and aberrant epithelial-mesenchymal crosstalk, in the development and progression of pulmonary fibrosis. Here, I have been able to address my scientific questions through a variety of avenues including murine modeling, bioinformatics, organoid modeling, and other ex vivo model systems.

Outside of the lab, I enjoy playing hockey, cooking, and exploring all of Philadelphia's restaurants and breweries.

Research Specialists

Rachna Dherwani, BS

Born and raised in a small town in Sindh Pakistan, I started my research journey 7000 miles away from home at the Rutgers University NJ to pursue Bachelor of Sciences in Biology. I love to travel, and for one semester I traveled with Euroscholar Research Fellows where I worked on xenotransplantation with Dr Pascal Borry at the Center of Biomedical Ethics and Law in KU Leuven Belgium. My bachelors thesis was also based on interspecies chimerism with mammalian pluripotent stem cells. Soon after my graduation, I found my way into the lung biology world at the Katzen Lab where I specialize in cellular and molecular biological techniques as well as formally dedicate time to maintain the Katzen Lab mouse colony!

Outside of the lab, I enjoy hiking, cooking and spend a lot of my time finishing tv shows before I find spoilers on the internet.

Yaniv Tomer, BS

Technically Yaniv is a member of the Beers Lab, but he regularly offers us his expertise on mouse modeling.

Students

Adam Bennett

I grew up in Tampa, Florida along side my two older brothers and golden retriever. We often found ourselves outside or on the water. When the time came, I moved to Philadelphia for my undergrad at Penn. I joined the Katzen Lab my first month of college, and I have never looked back. My goal is to attend medical school in the hopes of becoming a surgeon.

When I’m not concerning myself with the academic requisites of a pre-med, I am hanging out with friends, exploring Philly, and listening to Bad Bunny and/or Billy Joel.