Roden Lab - Lab Members and Research

Lab Members and Research

	Bob Abraham, MD Bob was a fellow in the lab (2005-2007) working on computational models of normal and abnormal ion channel behavior and how these predispose to arrhythmias in the whole heart. He then completed his fellowship in cardiology and clinical electrophysiology at Vanderbilt. He joined the faculty in 2008 as Assistant Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) and continues his work on computational modeling.
	Thomas Atack Thomas is a Research Assistant II who assists both in analysis of mouse models and the biology of candidate genes derived from genomic studies.
	Jeff Bennett Jeff is in the MD-PhD program and joined the lab as a graduate student in 2007. He is working on the role of ion channel expression in development using a zebrafish model.
	Dawood Darbar, MD, PhD Dawood is a clinical investigator who works on the genetics of atrial fibrillation and its variable response to drug therapies. He is also interested in mechanisms and management of monogenic arrhythmia syndromes. He is currently Associate Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), and directs the Vanderbilt Arrhythmia Service.
	Jessica Delaney, MD Jessica joined the lab after completing her general cardiology training. She is currently a clinical pharmacology Fellow with research interests that include pharmacogenomics and genetics of arrhythmogenesis.
	Prince Kannankeril, MD, MSCI Prince is a clinical investigator who works on mechanisms underlying variability in response to drug challenge in human subjects. He is also interested in mechanisms and management of monogenic arrhythmia syndromes. He is currently Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Cardiology).
	Lynn Hall Lynn is a Senior Research Specialist who helps with everything and is in charge of managing the mouse colony.
	Brenda Leake Brenda is a senior research specialist with expertise in biochemical techniques. She works on transport molecules, identifying protein-protein interactions and protein localization.
	Jonathan Mosley, MD, PhD Jonathan is a Research Fellow with a background in epidemiology and molecular biology. His current work focuses on using bioinformatics approaches to identify novel genotype-phenotype associations.
	Satomi Nagao, MD Satomi Nagao is a clinical cardiologist from Niigata, Japan who joined the lab in late 2011. Her initial projects involve establishing phenotypes like ECHs and drug responses in mice with variant cardiac sodium channels.
	Justine Stassun, MS Justine is the lab manager. She makes the place run.
	Dina Myers Stroud, PhD Dina’s research questions focus on the genetics of arrhythmias with a particular interest in the sodium channel macromolecular complex. She leads research on a number of projects centering around characterization of mouse model phenotypes and elucidation of the mechanisms underlying those defects.
	Sara Van Driest, MD, PhD Sara is a clinical pharmacology fellow who joined the lab after completing her pediatric residency and chief year at Vanderbilt. Her research interests center on determining genetic predictors of drug response in children. Current projects include validation of opioid-response SNPs in a pediatric cohort and identification of novel genetic associations with Vancomycin levels in adults and children.
	Peter Weeke, MD Peter Weeke is a Research Fellow with an interest in pharmacogenetics and personalized medicine. Ongoing projects aim to delineate the genetic basis of adverse drug events such as drug induced long QT syndrome and Torsades des pointes using next-generation sequencing methods.
	Quinn Wells, MD Quinn joined the lab as a Research Fellow in 2011 following two years of clinical cardiology fellowship. He is interested in the genomics and pharmacogenomics of myocardial disease and has begun studying common variants underlying the predisposition to anthracycline cardiotoxicity and the functional analysis of inherited cardiomyopathies.
	Tao Yang, PhD Tao's PhD is in basic electrophysiology. He joined the lab in 1992 and is currently Research Associate Professor. He works on ion channel structure and function using mutagenesis and patch clamp approaches.
	Wei Zhang Wei is the Research Assistant responsible for much of the mouse work we do, including husbandry, genotyping, and implanting telemetry devices for long-term recordings.

Tanya Stubblefield, Kris Norris, and Gayle Kucera Tanya, Kris, and Gayle are Research Nurses responsible for the identification of patients with arrhythmias for genetic and pharmacogenetic studies, including recruitment, follow-up, and generation of family tree information.

Tanya Stubblefield, Kris Norris, and Gayle Kucera