Our Team

Max B. Kelz, MD, PhD
Lee A. Fleisher, MD, Professor and Vice Chair for Research, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care
Email Max B. Kelz, MD, PhD
215.573.8208
Faculty webpage

Read More about Max B. Kelz, MD, PhD

Max B. Kelz, MD, PhD
Lee A. Fleisher, MD, Professor and Vice Chair for Research, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care
Max.Kelz@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
215.573.8208
Faculty webpage

3620 Hamilton Walk
339 John Morgan Building
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Member, Penn Genomics Institute
Member, Mahoney Institute of Neurological Sciences
Member, Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology
Member, Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics
Chair of Admissions, Department of Neuroscience MD PhD program
Advisor, MSTP Program
Director for Research Education, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care
Member, Committee on Appointments and Promotions, Department of Anesthesiology
Member, Neuroscience Graduate Group
Member, Pharmacology Graduate Group

Current Lab Members

Toshihiro Imamura, MD
Instructor, Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine

Read More about Toshihiro Imamura, MD

Toshihiro Imamura, MD
Instructor, Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine

Toshi was a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Allan Pack’s lab and co-mentored by Dr. Kelz. He is currently an Instructor in the Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine at Penn and collaborates with the Kelz lab.
Aaron Krom, BM, BCh, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow on the NIH T32 Training Grant

Read More about Aaron Krom, BM, BCh, PhD

Aaron Krom, BM, BCh, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow on the NIH T32 Training Grant

Aaron completed an anesthesia residency at Hadassah Hospital, Jerusalem, and an ICU fellowship at Penn. He is currently a postdoctoral research fellow on the department's NIH T32 training grant.
Kimberly Liu
Penn undergraduate student

Kimberly Liu
Penn undergraduate student
Martha Stone
Penn VMD, PhD graduate student

Martha Stone
Penn VMD, PhD graduate student
Daiki Takekawa, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow

Daiki Takekawa, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Ashley Uppani
Penn undergraduate Chemistry Vagelos Scholar

Ashley Uppani
Penn undergraduate Chemistry Vagelos Scholar
Andi Wasilczuk, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow on the NIH T32 training grant

Read More about Andi Wasilczuk, PhD

Andi Wasilczuk, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow on the NIH T32 training grant

Andi was a former Biomedical Engineering graduate student at Penn and did his PhD thesis research in the Kelz lab.
Xiaoyan Zhang, MD
Research Specialist

Xiaoyan Zhang, MD
Research Specialist

Previous Lab Members

Adeeti Aggarwal, PhD
Former MD/PhD Student, Neuroscience Graduate Group

Read More about Adeeti Aggarwal, PhD

Adeeti Aggarwal, PhD
Former MD/PhD Student, Neuroscience Graduate Group

In September 2021, Adeeti successfully defended her thesis entitled, Visual evoked feedforward-feedback traveling waves organize neural activity across the cortex in mice. Adeeti will resume the clinical rotations as part of the MD, PhD program.
C. William Carspecken, MD, MS, MBA
Instructor and T32 postdoctoral fellow in Anesthesiology and Critical Care

C. William Carspecken, MD, MS, MBA
Instructor and T32 postdoctoral fellow in Anesthesiology and Critical Care
Michael Chalifoux, MD
Research Specialist
Michael's publications

Read More about Michael Chalifoux, MD

Michael Chalifoux, MD
Research Specialist
Michael's publications

Michael spent a year with us after medical school prior to his anesthesiology residency at the University of Wisconsin.
Jingqiu Chen
Research Specialist

Read More about Jingqiu Chen

Jingqiu Chen
Research Specialist

Jingqiu was Max's first, and very productive, research specialist.
Yihan Chen
Penn undergraduate student

Read More about Yihan Chen

Yihan Chen
Penn undergraduate student

Yihan worked in the Kelz lab while an undergraduate at Penn.
Joseph Cichon, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, UPenn Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care and former Penn anesthesia resident Dripps Fellow
Email Joseph Cichon, MD, PhD

Read More about Joseph Cichon, MD, PhD

Joseph Cichon, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, UPenn Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care and former Penn anesthesia resident Dripps Fellow
Joseph.Cichon@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Joe carried on his research in the Kelz lab as a Dripps Fellow during his anesthesia residency at Penn. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care at Penn, is NIH funded, and continues to collaborate with the Kelz lab.
Eliot Friedman, MD
Instructor, Dept of Medicine, UPENN

Read More about Eliot Friedman, MD

Eliot Friedman, MD
Instructor, Dept of Medicine, UPENN

Eliot was working with the Klez lab while an instructor in the Department of Medicine. He is currently an intensivist at Lankenau Medical Center.
Bo Han, MD
Research Specialist

Read More about Bo Han, MD

Bo Han, MD
Research Specialist

Bo was an integral part of the Kelz lab and is currently working in industry.
Francis Hu
Penn undergraduate student

Read More about Francis Hu

Francis Hu
Penn undergraduate student

Francis worked in the Kelz lab while an undergraduate student at Penn.
Michael Kitchens, MD
4th year PENN medical student, completed scholarly pursuit

Michael Kitchens, MD
4th year PENN medical student, completed scholarly pursuit
Kaitlyn Maier
Pharmacology graduate student
Kaitlyn publications

Read More about Kaitlyn Maier

Kaitlyn Maier
Pharmacology graduate student
Kaitlyn publications

Kaitlyn completed a master's degree and is currently pursuing a career as a science consultant.
Hilary McCarren
Pharmacology graduate student
Publications

Read More about Hilary McCarren

Hilary McCarren
Pharmacology graduate student
Publications

Hilary did her PhD thesis in the lab and accepted a postdoctoral fellowship with the DOD in Annapolis, MD.
Andrew McKinstry-Wu, MD
Dripps Resident Scholar and T32 postdoctoral fellow
Andrew's publications

Read More about Andrew McKinstry-Wu, MD

Andrew McKinstry-Wu, MD
Dripps Resident Scholar and T32 postdoctoral fellow
Andrew's publications

Andrew was a Dripps Resident Scholar at PENN Anesthesiology and Critical Care and a T32 postdoctoral fellow in the Kelz Lab, where he helped pioneer OptoAnesthesia. He is currently an assistant professor in the department, a K08 and MIRA grant recipient, and a member of the Penn Neuroscience of Unconsciousness and Reanimation Research Association (Neurra).
Jason Moore, PhD
Neuroscience Graduate Student
Jason's publications

Read More about Jason Moore, PhD

Jason Moore, PhD
Neuroscience Graduate Student
Jason's publications

Jason did his PhD thesis work in our lab, and is currently the founder and president of Gaiden Labs, a company that custom designs software to help with scientific problems.
Sarah Reitz, PhD
Neuroscience graduate student and postdoctoral fellow
Sarah's publications

Read More about Sarah Reitz, PhD

Sarah Reitz, PhD
Neuroscience graduate student and postdoctoral fellow
Sarah's publications

As a neuroscience graduate student, Sarah completed her PhD thesis work in our lab. She did a brief postdoctoral fellowship before beginning her career in science writing.
Cole Rinehart, MD
Penn Anesthesia resident

Read More about Cole Rinehart, MD

Cole Rinehart, MD
Penn Anesthesia resident

Cole was in the Kelz lab during his anesthesia residency at Penn.
Marlon Schwarz, MD
Resident in Anesthesiology and Critical Care
Email Marlon Schwarz, MD

Marlon Schwarz, MD
Resident in Anesthesiology and Critical Care
Marlon.Schwarz@uphs.upenn.edu
Brenna Shortal
Research Specialist
Email Brenna Shortal

Read More about Brenna Shortal

Brenna Shortal
Research Specialist
Brenna.Shortal@uphs.upenn.edu

Brenna was a research specialist working with Maz Kelz, as well as with Alex Proekt and Andrew McKinstry-Wu. She is currently in a PhD program in Penn's Neuroscience Graduate Group.
Albert Tsai, MD
Penn medical student and resident in Anesthesiology and Critical Care

Read More about Albert Tsai, MD

Albert Tsai, MD
Penn medical student and resident in Anesthesiology and Critical Care

Albert worked in the Kelz lab while both a medical student and a resident at Penn. He is currently a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Stanford University.
Derrick Yee
Penn undergraduate student

Derrick Yee
Penn undergraduate student

Our Team

Max B. Kelz, MD, PhD

Current Lab Members

Toshihiro Imamura, MD

Aaron Krom, BM, BCh, PhD

Kimberly Liu

Martha Stone

Daiki Takekawa, PhD

Ashley Uppani

Andi Wasilczuk, PhD

Xiaoyan Zhang, MD

Previous Lab Members

Adeeti Aggarwal, PhD

C. William Carspecken, MD, MS, MBA

Michael Chalifoux, MD

Jingqiu Chen

Yihan Chen

Joseph Cichon, MD, PhD

Eliot Friedman, MD

Bo Han, MD

Francis Hu

Michael Kitchens, MD

Kaitlyn Maier

Hilary McCarren

Andrew McKinstry-Wu, MD

Jason Moore, PhD

Sarah Reitz, PhD

Cole Rinehart, MD

Marlon Schwarz, MD

Brenna Shortal

Albert Tsai, MD

Derrick Yee