Alumni

Sylvain Richard was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Nerbonne lab 1985 – 1986 studying the “Regulation of Voltage-Gated Cardiac Ca²⁺ Channel Gating”.

Sylvain is presently the Deputy Director of PhyMedExp (Physiology and Experimental Medicine – Heart and Muscle) at the University of Montpellier, CNRS, INSERM, Montpellier, France.

Walter Boyle was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Nerbonne lab 1989 – 1991, where he explored the “Functional Diversity of Voltage-Gated K⁺ Channels in Mammalian Atria”.

After spending many years as a faculty member in the the Department of Anesthesiology at Washington University School of Medicine, Walter retired as a Full Professor in 2022.

Francois Tiaho was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Nerbonne lab 1997 – 2000 studying “Neuropeptide Modulation of Cardiac Ion Channels and Excitability”.

Francois is currently an Associate Professor at  University of Rennes, Research Institute for Environmental and Occupational Health, specializing in Dynamics of Microenvironment and Cancer,  in Rennes, France.

Amber Pond was Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Nerbonne lab 1996 – 1998, where she identified “Distinct Isoforms of ERG1 in Mammalian Heart”.

Amber is presently an Associate Professor in the Department of Anatomy at  Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL.

Haodong Xu was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Nerbonne lab 1996 – 2000 and again 2003 – 2004. During this time, he focused his efforts on defining the “Molecular Diversity of Voltage-Gated K⁺ Channels in the Mammalian Heart”.

Haodong is currently a Professor of Pathology and Cardiology, and the Director of Anatomic Pathology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, in Winston-Salem, NC.

Elias Bou-Abboud was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Nerbonne lab 1997 – 2001 studying the “Molecular Correlates of Voltage-Gated Atrial K⁺ Currents”.

Elias is currently a Senior Scientist at  SNBL, Safety Pharmacology Department at SNBL, in Everett, WA.

Sylvain Brunet was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Nerbonne lab 1998 – 2000 where he focused on “Electrical Remodeling in Cardiac Hypertrophy”.

After additional training at the University of Washington, Sylvain was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland, OH, until his premature death in 2018.

Weinong Guo was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Nerbonne lab 1998 – 2001 investigating the “Molecular Correlates of Functionally Diverse Myocardial Kv Channels”.

Weinong is currently Senior Vice-President of Clinical Research Development at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals in Warren, NJ.

Huilin Li was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Nerbonne lab 1998 – 2002 analyzing the “Molecular Dissection of Cardiac Delayed Rectifier K⁺ Currents”.

Huilin is presently a Hospitalist at St. Luke’s Hospital in St. Louis, MO.

Bin Ye was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Nerbonne lab 2002 – 2004 exploring the “Molecular Determinants of Cardiac Pacemaker Channels”.

Bin is currently the Chief Scientific Officer in Translational Sciences at Huahui Health in Boston, MA.

Franck Aimond was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Nerbonne lab 2000 – 2004 studying the “Role of Accessory Subunits in the Generation of Cardiac Kv Channels”.

Franck is currently a Senior Scientist at PhyMedExp (Physiology and Experimental Medicine – Heart and Muscles) at the University of Montpellier, CNRS, INSERM in Montpellier, France

Weilong Yuan was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Nerbonne lab 2000 – 2004 where he concentrated on the “Molecular Dissection of Kv Channel Function in Cortical Neurons”.

Weilong is currently living and working in Boston, MA.

Fernanda Laezza was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Nerbonne and Ornitz labs 2005 – 2008 where she focused on the role of “FGF14 in the Regulation of Neuronal Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels”.

Fernanda is presently a Professor and Director of the Graduate Program in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX.

Céline Marionneau was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Nerbonne lab 2005 – 2008 examining the “Molecular Mechanisms Controlling Myocardial Kv Channel Remodeling”.

Céline is presently Chargè de Recherchè II, specializing in Cardiac Electrophysiology and Proteomics, at the CNRS, INSERM, Université de Nantes, France.

Noriko Niwa was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Nerbonne lab 2005 – 2009 studying the “Role of Two Pore Domain K⁺ Channels in the Mammalian Myocardium”.

Noriko is now a staff Physician in Cardiology at Nagoya University First Red Cross Hospital in Nagoya, Japan.

Yarimar Carrasquillo was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Nerbonne lab 2007 – 2013 analyzing the  “Dynamic Regulation of Neuronal Membrane Excitability”.

Yari is presently an Investigator in the Pain and Integrative Neuroscience Branch of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD.

Scott Marrus was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Nerbonne lab 2009 – 2015 studying the “Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Cardiac Remodeling”.

Scott is presently a Cardiovascular Disease specialist at Prairie Cardiovascular Consultants, Ltd. in Belleville, IL.

Steven Springer was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Nerbonne lab 2012 – 2017 investigating the “Molecular Determinants of Functional Myocardial Voltage-Gated K⁺ Channels”.

Steven is currently a Senior Scientist at Nuvasive in New Orleans, LA.

Tracey Hermanstyne was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Nerbonne lab 2013 – 2017 exploring “Voltage-Gated K⁺ Channels in the Regulation of Circadian Rhythms”.

Tracey is presently Assistant Dean, Academic Pathway Programs at Washington University in St. Louis. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of of Developmental Biology at Washington University Medical School, where she is continuing her studies of circadian rhythms.

Eric Johnson was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Nerbonne lab 2013 – 2018 focused on the “Molecular Determinants of Native Repolarizing K⁺ Currents in Human Ventricular Myocardium”.

Eric is currently a Genomics Field Application Scientist (FAS) at Bio-Rad Laboratories in Raleigh-Durham, NC.

Joey Ransdell was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Nerbonne lab from Aug 2013 to Aug 2018 and was an Instructor in the Department of Medicine from September 2018 to August 2020.

Joey is currently an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Michael Apkon completed his Ph.D. thesis titled “Properties of Voltage-Activated Outward K⁺ Currents and their Modulation by Alpha-Adrenergic Agonists in Isolated Rat Ventricular Myocytes”, in the Nerbonne lab in 1989, and was awarded the M.D.,Ph.D. in 1991.

Mike is currently the President of Sand Street Advisors, a healthcare management and strategy consultancy.  He also serves on the Board of Directors at Coverys.

Joel S. Solomon completed his Ph.D. thesis, titled “Hyperpolarization-Activated Currents in Identified Neurons from Rat Primary Visual Cortex”, in the Nerbonne lab in 1993, and was awarded the M.D.,Ph.D. in 1995.

Joel is currently a Professor in the Department of Surgery, the Chief of Hand Surgery, and the Program Director of the Hand Fellowship at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, OR.

Rachel Locke completed her Ph.D. thesis, titled “Depolarization-Activated Potassium Channels in the Functioning of Callosal-Projecting Visual Cortical Neurons”, in the Nerbonne lab and was awarded a Ph.D. in Neuroscience in 1996.

Following several years with the Neuroscience Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, Rachel founded and currently manages a biomedical research grant writing and coaching service in Philadelphia, PA.

Dianne Barry completed her Ph.D. thesis, titled “Molecular Structure of the Cardiac Transient Outward Potassium Channel”, in the Nerbonne lab and was awarded a Ph.D. in Neuroscience in 1997.

Dianne is currently a freelance science writer in Worcester, MA.

Sacha Malin completed her Ph.D. thesis, titled “Molecular Basis of Functional Potassium Channel Diversity in the Mammalian Central Nervous System”, in the Nerbonne lab and was awarded a Ph.D. in Neuroscience in 2001.

Following several years as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Cal Tech and  at the University of Pittsburgh, Sacha relocated permanently to the West Coast.

Aaron Norris completed his Ph.D. thesis, titled “Molecular Dissection of I_A Channels in Cortical Pyramidal Neurons”, in the Nerbonne lab in 2012, and was awarded the M.D.,Ph.D. in 2014.

Aaron is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at Washington University School of Medicine.

Kai-Chien (KC) Yang completed his Ph.D. thesis, titled “Electrical and Functional Remodeling in Physiological and Pathological Hypertrophy”, in the Nerbonne lab and was awarded a Ph.D. in Genetics in 2012.

KC is currently a Professor in the Department of Pharmacology, and an Attending Physician in Department of Internal Medicine at the National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan

Nicholas Foeger completed his Ph.D. thesis, titled “Molecular Mechanisms Controlling the Expression and Functioning of Kv4-Encoded Cardiac I_to,f Channels”, in the Nerbonne lab in 2013, and was awarded the M.D.,Ph.D. in 2015.

Nick is currently a Fellowship Trained Hand Specialist at the Louisville Orthopaedic Clinic in Louisville, KY.