People
Our research runs from bedside cohorts to bench mechanism, so the team includes physicians, scientists, statisticians, and trainees.
Principal Investigator
Salim S. Hayek, MD
Chair and Professor, Department of Internal Medicine
Salim Hayek is a cardiologist and NIH-funded physician-scientist who turns biomarker biology into risk prediction clinicians can act on. His work identified suPAR, the soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor, as a causal and modifiable contributor to disease of the kidney, heart, and vasculature. The findings appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Medicine, and the Journal of Clinical Investigation. His group is working to turn it from a biomarker into a therapeutic target through human genetics, mechanistic models, and two patented anti-suPAR approaches.
A specialist in cardio-oncology, he created the CARE-BMT registry and used it to derive a cardiovascular risk score for patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. He also created an immune checkpoint inhibitor myocarditis registry that contributes to the international immune checkpoint inhibitor myocarditis consortium. He is a former Chair of the American Heart Association's Cardio-Oncology Committee.
He was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2026. He has received the American College of Cardiology's Douglas P. Zipes Distinguished Young Scientist Award, the American Heart Association's Samuel A. Levine Early Career Investigator Award, and the Jerome W. Conn Award for Excellence in Research. He chairs the Department of Internal Medicine at UTMB and holds an adjunct appointment in the Division of Cardiology at the University of Michigan. He was previously at the American University of Beirut, the University of Ottawa, and Emory University.
The team
Faculty Collaborators
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Mete Altintas, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Podocyte biology and suPAR in kidney disease, including focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, diabetic kidney disease, and the intersection of kidney and cardiovascular disease.
Background
Dr. Altintas earned a BS, MS, and PhD in chemical engineering at Bogazici University in Istanbul, then did postdoctoral work at the University of Colorado and in nephrology at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Altintas held faculty appointments at Harvard, the University of Miami, and Rush University before moving to UTMB in 2023.
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Anand Singh, PhD
Assistant Professor
Basic science research in cardio-oncology, cardio-immunology, and the suPAR program, including how targeted cancer therapies injure the heart.
Background
Dr. Singh earned a PhD in molecular medicine from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, then completed postdoctoral fellowships in cardiovascular medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Massachusetts General Hospital. Before joining UTMB, Dr. Singh was a Research Investigator in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at Michigan Medicine.
Postdoctoral Fellows and Research Staff
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Anis Ismail, MD, MSc
Postdoctoral Fellow
Genetic and molecular mechanisms of suPAR in cardiovascular and kidney disease.
Background
He earned his MSc in biology and medical sciences and his MD from Université Saint-Joseph in Lebanon, and previously studied early cardiac fibrosis and clinical predictors of COVID-19 outcomes.
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Ramya Elangovan, MS
Senior Research Associate
Inflammatory mechanisms in cardiovascular disease, with a focus on suPAR-driven macrophage responses.
Background
She earned her MS in medical biotechnology from the University of Illinois Chicago and worked in the biotechnology industry before joining the lab.
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Grace Erne
Research Associate
Cardiovascular research.
Background
She earned her BS in biomolecular science from the University of Michigan, where she joined the lab as a first-year student through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program and stayed on as a research assistant. She moved with the lab to UTMB and plans to pursue an MD-PhD with a focus on cardiology research.
Medical Students
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Maarya Akmal
Medical Student, c/o 2026
Clinical and cell culture research in cardiovascular disease.
Background
She earned her BS in public health from Texas A&M University and conducted research at the National Institute of Mental Health before medical school.
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Thierry Kochkarian
Medical Student, c/o 2026
Preventive cardiology in electronic health records, including antithrombotic therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists.
Background
He plans a career in cardiology, with a particular interest in bringing nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle change into evidence-based care.
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Bobby Bobby
Medical Student, c/o 2027
Basic and clinical projects on the inflammatory drivers of cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic disease.
Background
He earned his BS in nursing from UTMB and worked as a critical care and perioperative nurse at UTMB and the Texas Medical Center before medical school.
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Niyanshi Gaddam
Medical Student, c/o 2027
The intersection of cardio-oncology and psychiatry.
Background
She earned her BS in biology from Texas A&M University.
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Mckenna De Bever
Medical Student, c/o 2028
How troponin I and troponin T change over time in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Background
She earned her BS in biomedical sciences and her MS in medical sciences from Texas A&M University.
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Sophia Syed
Medical Student
The role of suPAR in cardiac transplantation.
Background
She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and worked with the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium before starting a dual MD/MPH degree at UTMB.
Research Operations
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Pennelope Kunkle
Program Manager
Research operations for the lab and project support for the UTMB Transformation Office.
Background
She earned her BS in biochemistry and chemistry from the University of California, San Diego, and has managed translational research laboratories for more than 15 years at the University of Michigan, Scripps Research Institute, and SUNY Stony Brook.
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Theresa Farhat, PhD
Scientific Writer and Editor
Scientific communications and grant development.
Background
She trained in biochemistry and molecular genetics at the American University of Beirut and earned her PhD in human genetics from McGill University. She has led research and program management work in global health.
Alumni
41 trainees and staff have come through the lab across Michigan and Galveston. Many are now in cardiology fellowships, faculty posts, or graduate training of their own.
Show all 41 alumniHide alumni
- Chris AdamResearch assistant, undergraduate
- Kingsley AmadiMaster's in biotechnology, Georgetown University
- Elizabeth Anderson, MPHResearch associate
- Tariq Azam, MDAttending cardiologist, North Shore University, Chicago
- Alina BardwellProject associate, John Snow, Inc., Boston
- Hanna Berlin, MDObstetrics and gynecology residency, Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak
- Brayden BittermanResearch associate
- Tonimarie CatalanClinical research coordinator
- Jiazi ChenMoved to computer science
- Ryan Paul ClaranceBiostatistics undergraduate
- Kristen Machado DiazClinical research coordinator
- Mohamad FardousResearch, completing a BCN degree
- Rafey Feroze, MDCardiology fellowship, University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve
- Bahjat Ghazzal, MDInternal medicine resident, UMass Chan Medical School
- Maggie Ginter-FrankovichClaesen Lab, Cleveland Clinic
- Bhavna Guduguntla, MDInternal medicine residency, Washington University
- Christopher Hoeger, MDCardiovascular medicine fellowship, Beth Israel Deaconess, Harvard
- Jakob HupeMedical student research fellow
- Christina Hutten, PhD, MSPostdoctoral research fellow
- Christopher LauniusStudy coordinator, Schuler Lab, University of Michigan
- Chelsea Meloche, MDCardiology fellowship, Texas Heart Institute, Houston
- Nathan Meyette, BSN, RNTraveling nurse, preparing for medical school
- Moses NelapudiHonors research thesis student, moved to patient care
- Patrick O'Hayer, MDChief medical resident, internal medicine
- Kishan Padalia, MDCardiology fellowship, Colorado
- Michael Pan, MDCardiology fellowship, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
- Daniel Perry, MDTrinity Health Michigan
- Ian PizzoClinical research coordinator
- Feriel PresswallaResearch laboratory specialist
- Matthew RochlenUndergraduate research program student, headed for medicine
- Husam Shadid, MDCardiology fellowship, UT Houston and MD Anderson Cancer Center
- Easheta ShahPublic health studies, University of Michigan
- Rohan ShahMedical student, UTMB; internal medicine residency
- Iman ShaikhSummer undergraduate research fellow, applying to medical school
- Noor SulaimanResearch assistant
- Annika TekumullaLaboratory assistant, undergraduate
- Caroline TilleyPatient care technician, applying to physician assistant programs
- Medha TripathiResearch assistant, undergraduate
- Alexi Vasbinder, PhD, RNAssistant professor, University of Washington School of Nursing
- Jeffrey Xie, MD, PhDBasic science at Michigan, headed for a cardiology fellowship
- Peiyao ZhaoBiostatistics, University of Michigan School of Public Health
Life in the lab
Symposia, send-offs, holidays, and the occasional river. Photographs span the Michigan years through Galveston.
Welcoming Dr. Anand Singh to the labAdriatic Cafe 
At the welcome dinnerAdriatic Cafe 
After the welcome dinnerAdriatic Cafe 
Summer gatheringAnn Arbor 
On the waterAnn Arbor 
A night outAnn Arbor
More photos (12)
Lab outingAnn Arbor 
A new analyser arrivesAnn Arbor 
Team dinnerAnn Arbor 
Go Red for Women, National Heart MonthAnn Arbor 
Summer partyAnn Arbor 
The group, on the stairsAnn Arbor 
AHA Samuel A. Levine Early Career Clinical Investigator AwardAnn Arbor 
A birthday, marked properlyGalveston 
The groupAnn Arbor 
The Galveston group, out by the waterGalveston 
Holiday partyGalveston 
Presenting at a research symposiumAnn Arbor