Tracie DeVries-Seimon
tad2105@columbia.edu

Tracie is currently working as a postdoctoral research investigator in the Tabas laboratory studying the link
between the initiation of the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) mediated by free cholesterol loading in macrophages ultimately resulting in the induction of apoptosis. Her studies focus on dissecting out signaling pathways which are activated during the UPR, and deciphering whether these pathways play a role in the induction of the mitochondrial dependent apoptotic pathway. In 1997 she received her B.A. in biology from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs campus. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in May of 2003 for her contributions in identifying a nuclear role for PKCdelta during induction of apoptosis by DNA damaging agents.

Daniel Goldstein

Dr. Goldstein is an Associate Professor from Yale University who is in the Tabas Laboratory during a sabbatical year. He has a background in aging and immune function, especially in regards to host defense to viral infection. His other areas of interest including the role of innate immunity in organ transplantation. He is embarking on a new research endeavor, funded by the NIA and AHA, to examine how aging impacts the development of atherosclerosis and macrophage efferocytosis. His goal is to synergize his interests in aging with the expertise of The Tabas Laboratory in atherosclerosis and macrophage cell biology.

George Kuriakose
gk41@columbia.edu

George is from Kerala, India. He received his B.Sc. in Biology from Kerala University and M.Sc. in Biology from Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala. He came to U.S.A. in 1992 and started working in the Department of Ophthalmology, Columbia University as a Research Staff Associate. In 1997 he moved to the Tabas Lab as a Senior Research Worker. His primary responsibilities include (a) maintaining and breeding various transgenic and knockout mouse lines; (b) sectioning of OCT embedded and paraffin mouse tissue samples; (c) histological staining and immunohistochemical analysis; (d) quantitation and qualitative analysis of atherosclerotic lesions in aortic arch with computer-aided imaging systems; (e) isolating primary human and murine cells, and maintaining a wide variety of immortal cell lines; (f) PCR, Southern and Western analysis; (g) standard molecular biology techniques; (h) bone marrow transplantation in mouse; (i) extracting and purifying human, rabbit and mouse plasma lipoprotein (VLDL, LDL and HDL) by preparative ultra centrifugation; (j) isotopic labeling (14C, 3H, 125I) of various cholesterol and protein components of lipoproteins for studying lipoprotein trafficking via endocytic and selective uptake pathways; (k) TLC and FPLC; and (l) Protein purification by column chromatography.

Gang received his BS and MS in Molecular Biology from Nankai University, China in 1999 and Ph.D in Pathology from Wayne State University School of Medicine, MI. His Ph.D research focused on molecular analysis of human PPAR gamma mutations associated with diabetes and lipodystrophy. He joined Dr. Tabas’ lab in January, 2007 and his research is focusing on the identification of novel lipoprotein/cholesterol trafficking pathway in macrophage leading to atherosclerosis.

Xianghai Liao
xl2197@columbia.edu

Xianghai received his B.S. and M.S. in biochemistry and molecular biology from East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai, China and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. After three years postdoctoral research working on the developmental biology of cardiovascular system in zebrafish and medaka fish, Xianghai came to the Tabas lab as a research scientist to conduct diverse experiments in areas of cellular, molecular, lipoprotein biology and histology.

Marissa Nadolski

Marissa Nadolski received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Iowa in 2002. She then pursued graduate work in the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. She received her PhD in December of 2008 for her research on the enzymology of protein palmitoylation by DHHC protein acyltransferases. Marissa joined Dr. Tabas' lab in May 2009 with an interest in the role of smooth muscle cells in atherosclerosis.

Lale Ozcan
lo2192@columbia.edu

Lale Ozcan received her M.D. degree in 2004 from Istanbul University Cerrahpasa School of Medicine. She then worked in Harvard University from 2004-2008 as a research fellow and the focus of research was to explore the role of Unfolded Protein Response in the regulation of insulin signaling. She joined the laboratory of Dr. Tabas in June 2008 with a great interest in identifying the molecular mechanisms linking Unfolded Protein Response and development of atherosclerosis. She will be mainly focusing on the role of calcium in ER stress-induced apoptosis in macrophages.

Lale Ozcan

Edward Thorp
ebt2103@columbia.edu

Ed Thorp will begin as a postdoctoral research scientist in the lab of Dr. Ira Tabas in 2005. Ed received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Delaware. Afterwards, he spent a year assessing the coagulation status and cellular morphologies of patient blood samples in a clinical hematology lab. Subsequently, he began graduate studies in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Loyola University Chicago. His dissertation focused on the molecular aspects of virus-cell interactions, particularly during entry of viruses into cells. Ed's basic interests include the elucidation of mechanisms behind basic biological processes.

Connie Woo
ww2214@columbia.edu

Connie Woo received her B.S. in Pharmacy from the Ohio State University in 1996. She worked as a pharmacist for several years in Canada and then pursued graduate work in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Hong Kong. She relocated with her supervisor to Winnipeg, Canada and received her PhD in physiology in October of 2007 for her research on hyperhomocysteinemia at University of Manitoba. Connie joined Dr. Tabas' lab in Dec 2007 with an interest in the role of toll-like receptor signaling in the unfolded protein response in macrophages. Her first study in this area was published in Nature Cell Biology at the end of 2009.