Current Resident Investigators
Ashay Chandra, MD
Residency Department: Department of Pediatrics
Medical School: Rutgers University
Mentors: Juan Celedón, MD, DrPH, and Franziska Rosser, MD
Research Area: Biologic therapy selection and outcomes in children with severe persistent asthma
Jane Wei, MD
Residency Department: Department of Medicine
Medical School: Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Mentors: Flordeliza Villanueva, MD, and Malamo Countouris, MD, MS
Research Area: Evaluating the effects of preeclampsia and hypertension on cardiac structure and function 10-15 years after delivery
Previous Resident Investigators
Jillian Bonaroti, MD
Residency Department: Department of Surgery
Medical School: Thomas Jefferson University
Mentors: Timothy Billiar, MD, and Matthew Neal, MD
Research Summary:
Dr. Bonaroti’s research seeks to characterize the transcriptome of megakaryocytes isolated from bone marrow of trauma patients. She hypothesizes that trauma will induce transcriptional changes in the megakaryocyte and may induce previously unidentified subpopulations of megakaryocytes. Additionally, she suggests that these transcriptional changes lead to alteration in the transcriptome of the platelet, causing the known alterations in platelet function following trauma. Her project will be part of larger collaboration to study human samples from deceased trauma patients for which she will gather blood, bone marrow, and tissue samples from these patients from the CORE facility. After processing BM samples and performing flow cytometry to sort out megakaryocytes, Dr. Bonaroti will use bulk RNA-seq and single cell RNA sequencing to characterize the megakaryocyte transcriptome.
Publications:
Wu J, Moheimani H, Li S, Kar UK, Bonaroti J, Miller RS, Daley BJ, Harbrecht BG, Claridge JA, Gruen DS, Phelan HA, Guyette FX, Neal MD, Das J, Sperry JL, Billiar TR. High Dimensional Multi-omics Reveals Unique Characteristics of Early Plasma Administration in Polytrauma Patients with TBI. Ann Surg. 2022 Jul 21. PMID: 35861072.
Bonaroti J, Abdelhamid S, Kar U, Sperry J, Zamora R, Namas RA, McKinley T, Vodovotz Y, Billiar T. The Use of Multiplexing to Identify Cytokine and Chemokine Networks in the Immune-Inflammatory Response to Trauma. Antioxid Redox Signal. 2021 Dec;35(16):1393-1406. PMID: 33860683; PMCID: PMC8905234.
Fu G, Chen T, Wu J, Jiang T, Tang D, Bonaroti J, Conroy J, Scott MJ, Deng M, Billiar TR. Single-Cell Transcriptomics Reveals Compartment-Specific Differences in Immune Responses and Contributions for Complement Factor 3 in Hemorrhagic Shock Plus Tissue Trauma. Shock. 2021 Dec 1;56(6):994-1008. PMID: 33710107; PMCID: PMC8429528.
Bonaroti JW, Zenati MS, Al-Abbas AI, Rieser CJ, Zureikat AH, Hogg ME, Zeh HJ, Boone BA. Impact of postoperative pancreatic fistula on long-term oncologic outcomes after pancreatic resection. HPB (Oxford). 2021 Aug;23(8):1269-1276. PMID: 33526357; PMCID: PMC8282784.
Current Position:
Resident, Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh
Tiffany Brazile, MD
Residency Department: Department of Medicine
Medical School: Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College
Mentors: Samir Saba, MD, and Suresh Mulukutla, MD
Research Summary:
Dr. Brazile conducted a retrospective cohort study to evaluate the presence of an “obesity paradox” in cardiomyopathy patients with respect to all-cause mortality, hospitalizations, and specifically cardiac hospitalizations. Results were stratified by ejection fraction to determine whether the protective effect of having an elevated BMI is present regardless of degree of left ventricular dysfunction. This study also evaluated the effect of ICD implantation on patient mortality as stratified by BMI and ejection fraction. Dr. Brazile also engaged in a retrospective study of patients from the UPMC multi-site dataset to evaluate high-risk patients with diagnosis of STEMI based on diagnostic codes who underwent primary PCI.
Publications:
Brazile T, Barakat AF, Bukhari S, Schelbert EB, Soman P. A 25-Year-Old Man with Refractory Schizophrenia and Clozapine-Induced Myocarditis Diagnosed by Non-Invasive Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance. Am J Case Rep. 2021 May 15;22:e930103. PMID: 33990535; PMCID: PMC8130977.
Brazile T, Mulukutla S, Thoma F, Estes NAM 3rd, Jain S, Saba S. Inverse association of mortality and body mass index in patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction of both ischemic and non-ischemic etiologies. Clin Cardiol. 2021 Apr;44(4):495-500. PMID: 33675050; PMCID: PMC8027570.
Brazile TL, Saul M, Nouraie SM, Gibson K. Characteristics and survival of patients diagnosed with cardiac sarcoidosis: A case series. Front Med (Lausanne). 2022 Dec 13;9:1051412. PMCID: PMC9792839.
Current Position:
Cardiology Fellow and T32 Scholar, Department of Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern
Christopher Flores, MD, MS
Residency Department: Department of Medicine
Medical School: Tufts University School of Medicine
Mentors: Stephen Chan, MD, PhD, and Corrine Kliment, MD, PhD
Research Summary: Dr. Flores investigated the role of NCOA7 in chronic lung allograft rejection, with a focus on understanding its involvement in inflammatory pathways. Additionally, he explored the impact of the kynurenine pathway metabolite 3-HAA on NCOA7 expression in pulmonary hypertension. Dr. Flores’s future research will assess the therapeutic potential of 3-HAA in pulmonary hypertension by examining its efficacy in reducing oxysterol accumulation, which may help mitigate disease progression.
Publications:
Flores CV, Chan SY. Therapeutic targets for pulmonary arterial hypertension: insights into the emerging landscape. Expert Opin Ther Targets. 2025 May 21:1-17. PMID: 40368635.
Current Position:
Resident, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh
Katherine Killian, DO
Residency Department: Department of Pathology
Medical School: Lincoln Memorial University-DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine
Mentor: Tim Oury, MD, PhD
Research Summary:
Dr. Killian investigated the role of the receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE) in lung disease. Based on previous experiments, Dr. Killian determined that RAGE does not affect humoral immunity by measuring levels of non-specific and antigen-specific IgG and IgE in both type-2 high and low mouse models of allergic airway disease. Additionally, Dr. Killian gathered data on bone-derived macrophages to expand on the RAGE and IL-33 signaling pathway. Previous data have shown that RAGE -/- mice are not responsive to recombinant IL-33 in vivo. As isolating ILC2s proved to be difficult, Dr. Killian investigated other cells to explore this mechanism. Lastly, during the necessary interlude between mice colony maturation, Dr. Killian worked on a project with her mentor, Dr. Timothy Oury, and the National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank (NMVB). Building on a collection of 106 professed asbestos exposure cases with asbestos body and fiber analysis, she worked with the NMVB to collaborate their data with their tissue bank to determine a molecular profile for mesotheliomas that arise due to asbestos exposure versus spontaneous/idiopathic mesotheliomas.
Publications:
Killian KN, Kosanovich JL, Lipp MA, Empey KM, Oury TD, Perkins TN. RAGE contributes to allergen driven severe neutrophilic airway inflammation via NLRP3 inflammasome activation in mice. Front Immunol. 2023 Jan 26;14:1039997. PMID: 36776857; PMCID: PMC9910358.
Current Position:
Resident, Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh
Yu Li, MD, MS
Residency Department: Department of Pediatrics
Medical School: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Mentor: Tarek Alsaied, MD, MS
Research Summary: Dr. Li’s research focuses on improving outcomes and healthcare utilization for children and young adults with congenital heart disease. Using the multi-center FORCE registry, she has led several studies in patients who underwent the Fontan procedure, including an analysis of fenestration status and long-term outcomes and a project using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) data and machine learning models to assess atrioventricular valve regurgitation. She additionally contributed to two studies of pediatric heart transplant recipients examining diagnostic discrepancies among molecular microscopy, histopathology, and donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) assays, and early dd-cfDNA trends in relation to rejection.
Publications:
Li Y, Schiff M, Olivieri LJ, Christopher AB, Morell V, Seese L, Rathod RH, Kreutzer J, Alsaied T; FORCE Investigators. The long-term effect of the Fontan fenestration on clinical outcomes: A FORCE registry study. Am Heart J. 2025 Dec;290:105-114. PMID: 40523442.
Alsaied T, Li R, Grant H, Schiff MD, Li Y, Christopher AB, Kreutzer J, Goldstein BH, Soslow JH, Loke YH, Fogel MA, Slesnick TC, Krishnamurthy R, Muthurangu V, Dorfman AL, Lam C, Weigand JD, Robinson JD, Olivieri LJ, Rathod RH; FORCE Investigators. Defining diastolic dysfunction post-Fontan: Threshold, risk factors, and associations with outcomes. Am Heart J. 2025 Dec;290:288-296. PMID: 40651647.
Current Position:
Resident, Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh
Harnoor Mann, MD
Residency Department: Department of Medicine
Medical School: Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
Mentor: Jared Magnani, MD, MSc, and Amber Johnson, MD, MBA, MS
Research Summary:
As an R38 RI, Dr. Mann explored the relation between social determinants of health (SDOH) and cardiovascular disease. She published a paper outlining qualitative results from focus groups with Black participants diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation to understand barriers to care, as well as conducting similar focus groups with rural patients diagnosed with AF. Findings from her rural qualitative study also prompted a health advocacy editorial published by the Society of General Internal Medicine.
Publications:
Mann H, Johnson AE, Ferry D, de Abril Cameron F, Wasilewski J, Hamm M, Magnani JW. A qualitative crossroads of rhythm and race: Black patients’ experiences living with atrial fibrillation. Am Heart J Plus. 2023 Apr;28:100293. PMID: 37181157; PMCID: PMC10174465.
Mann HK, Magnani JW, Johnson AE. Health Literacy is Essential to ASCVD Prevention in Youth. Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2023 Apr;25(4):113-118. PMID: 36757614; PMCID: PMC10027824.
Countouris ME, Koczo A, Reynolds HR, Hausvater A, Mann H, Wang Y, Sharbaugh D, Thoma FW, Mulukutla SR, Catov JM. Characteristics of Premature Myocardial Infarction Among Women With Prior Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes. JACC Adv. 2023 Jul;2(5):100411. PMID: 37694271; PMCID: PMC10487279.
Mann HK, Streiff M, Schultz KC, Halpern DV, Ferry D, Johnson AE, Magnani JW. Rurality and Atrial Fibrillation: Patient Perceptions of Barriers and Facilitators to Care. J Am Heart Assoc. 2023 Nov 7;12(21):e031152. PMID: 37889198.
Current Position:
Resident, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh
Thiagarajan Meyyappan, MD
Residency Department: Department of Surgery
Medical School: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Mentor: Steven Little, PhD
Research Summary: Wound healing plays a critical role in various segments of surgical care for patients. From a general surgery perspective, Dr. Meyyappan research focused on three wound healing considerations that cause significant morbidity: incisional hernia formation, intestinal anastomotic leaks, and post-operative adhesion formation. These three conditions are all significantly affected by a fibrotic response in wound healing. As a member of the Little lab, Dr. Meyyappan used lab expertise in drug release to release medications and proteins to ameliorate the fibrotic response to accelerate and augment wound healing. Furthermore, he started offshoots of this study for localized release of similar therapeutics for treatment of vocal fold healing and prevention of intimal hyperplasia.
Publications:
Zhang X, Lin J, Zou B, Killinger JR, Sayce AC, Meyyappan T, Xiong Z, Scott MJ, Lee JS, Rosengart MR. Sepsis restructures the mitochondrial calcium uniporter complex in the lymphoid tissues of mice and humans. Commun Biol. 2025 Jul 23;8(1):1093. PMCID: PMC12287363.
Current Position:
Resident, Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh
Laura Molina, MD, PhD
Residency Department: Department of Pathology
Medical School: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Mentor: Kari Nejak-Bowen, PhD, MBA
Research Summary: During her R38 fellowship year, Dr. Molina has acquired and/or created the necessary mouse lineages for her proposed experiments. She has practiced the technique of intrasplenic injection for hepatocyte transplantation, in preparation for Aim 2 experiments. She has also worked with the Center for Biologic Imaging to use electron microscopy to compare the ultrastructure of the vasculature in normal mice vs. YAP KO mice. She has requested patient specimens with congenital biliary abnormalities to identify possible vascular changes in these livers, as well as changes to the primary cilia and cell junctions.
Publications:
Molina LM, Bailey N, Jawad M, Patwardhan PP, Friehling E, Bailey K, Windreich RM, Al-Attar A, Davis K, Gestrich CK. A Rare Case of Concurrent Neuroblastoma and Acute Myeloid Leukemia With CBFA2T3::GLIS2 Fusion: A Diagnostic and Therapeutic Dilemma. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2025 Aug;72(8):e31815. PMID: 40390182.
Molina LM, Rao A, Meade J, Squires JH, Yatsenko SA, Salgado CM, Reyes-Múgica M. Hiding in Plain Sight: Radiologic and Pathologic Findings Can Identify Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome in Patients With Wilms Tumor. J Pediatr Hematol Oncol. 2024 Nov 1;46(8):424-428. PMCID: PMC11512605.
Current Position:
Resident, Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh
Sydney Rooney, MD
Residency Department: Department of Pediatrics
Medical School: Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Mentor: Gilles Clermont, MD, MSc
Research Summary:
Being an R38 Resident Investigator afforded Dr. Rooney the opportunity to develop a framework for designing projects in predictive analytics. Specifically, she focused on forecasting the onset of atrial fibrillation with the premise of ideally adapting it to the intensive care setting. Dr. Rooney presented her work surrounding this task at multiple conferences, as well as a forthcoming manuscripts that focus on forecasting in the intensive care unit and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. In the next year, she plans to finish applying these methodologies to the critical care population as well as develop a project surrounding forecasting hypotension in the pediatric intensive care unit.
Publications:
Rooney SR, Kaufman R, Murugan R, Kashani KB, Pinsky MR, Al-Zaiti S, Dubrawski A, Clermont G, Miller JK. Forecasting imminent atrial fibrillation in long-term electrocardiogram recordings. J Electrocardiol. 2023 Aug 23;81:111-116. PMID: 37683575.
Rooney SR, Clermont G. Forecasting algorithms in the ICU. J Electrocardiol. 2023 Oct 4;81:253-257. PMID: 37883866.
Current Position:
Resident, Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh
Andrew Sayce, MD, PhD
Residency Department: Department of Surgery
Medical School: Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (PhD from University of Oxford)
Mentor: Timothy Billiar, MD
Research Summary:
Dr. Sayce’s research aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of the role of the UPR in inflammatory responses to trauma and sepsis and determine whether modulation of the UPR can alter inflammatory responses and thereby improve clinical outcomes. Trauma and surgical sepsis induce states of profound physiologic derangement requiring widespread transcriptional and translational reprogramming, 1–3 and the secretory demands imposed at these times can easily overwhelm the protein processing capacity of the ER and trigger the UPR. Dr. Sayce seeks to systematically define the role of ER stress and UPR in sterile (trauma) and septic surgical disease.
Current Position:
Resident, Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh
Erin Schikowski, MD
Medical School: University of Rochester School of Medicine
Mentors: Stephen Chan, MD, PhD, and Jared Magnani, MD, MSc
Research Summary:
Using a national administrative claims database, Dr. Schikowski conducted a retrospective cohort study looking at the relationship between annual household income and likelihood of receiving right heart catheterization for patients with a diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension. She found that those making less than $40,000 were 19.5% less likely to receive right heart catheterization than those making $100,000 or more. She is currently preparing a manuscript based on these results for submission to JAMA Cardiology. Additionally, Dr. Schikowski is also using the same administrative claims database to conduct a similar study evaluating the relationship between copayments, deductibles, and annual household income with medication adherence in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Publications:
Kosanovich CM, Pi H, Handen A, Schikowski E, Chen Y, Thoma FW, Mulukutla S, Koscumb S, Nouraie M, Chan SY. Improved hospitalization rates in a specialty center for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and pulmonary hypertension. Pulm Circ. 2022 Jun 7;12(2):10.1002/pul2.12002. PMID: 35795496; PMCID: PMC9248797.
Goobie GC, Ryerson CJ, Johannson KA, Schikowski E, Zou RH, Khalil N, Marcoux V, Assayag D, Manganas H, Fisher JH, Kolb MRJ, Gibson KF, Kass DJ, Zhang Y, Lindell KO, Nouraie SM. Neighborhood-Level Disadvantage Impacts on Patients with Fibrotic Interstitial Lung Disease. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2022 Feb 15;205(4):459-467. PMID: 34818133.
Schikowski EM, Swabe G, Chan SY, Magnani JW. Association between income and likelihood of right heart catheterization in individuals with pulmonary hypertension: A US claims database analysis. Pulm Circ. 2022 Jul 1;12(3):e12132. PMCID: PMC9476889.
Goobie GC, Ryerson CJ, Johannson KA, Keil S, Schikowski E, Khalil N, Marcoux V, Assayag D, Manganas H, Fisher JH, Kolb MRJ, Chen X, Gibson KF, Kass DJ, Zhang Y, Lindell KO, Nouraie SM. Neighbourhood disadvantage impacts on pulmonary function in patients with sarcoidosis. ERJ Open Res. 2022 Oct 24;8(4):00357-2022. PMCID: PMC9589334.
Schikowski EM, Swabe G, Chan SY, Magnani JW. Association Between Copayment and Adherence to Medications for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. J Am Heart Assoc. 2022 Nov 15;11(22):e026620. PMCID: PMC9750087.
Current Position:
Cardiology Fellow, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh
Nathanial Tolman, MD, MEd
Residency Department: Department of Medicine
Medical School: Penn State College of Medicine
Mentors: Jonathan Alder, PhD, and William Bain, MD
Research Summary:
Dr. Tolman will investigate whether the platelet releasate protects against bacterial-mediated ALI in part through an EGF-induced increase in Cldn4 expression. During his R38 training, he plans on determining whether platelet EGF-mediated upregulation of lung epithelial Cldn4 promotes epithelial integrity in vitro and investigating whether reconstitution of platelets or platelet proteins promotes ATII-derived transitional cells in a mouse model of pneumonia.
Publications:
Bain W, Ahn B, Peñaloza HF, McElheny CL, Tolman N, van der Geest R, Gonzalez-Ferrer S, Chen N, An X, Hosuru R, Tabary M, Papke E, Kohli N, Farooq N, Bachman W, Olonisakin TF, Xiong Z, Griffith MP, Sullivan M, Franks J, Mustapha MM, Iovleva A, Suber T, Shanks RQ, Ferreira VP, Stolz DB, Van Tyne D, Doi Y, Lee JS. In Vivo Evolution of a Klebsiella pneumoniae Capsule Defect With wcaJ Mutation Promotes Complement-Mediated Opsonophagocytosis During Recurrent Infection. J Infect Dis. 2024 Jul 25;230(1):209-220. PMID: 38271564 PMCID: PMC11272070.
Shah FA, Bahudhanapati H, Jiang M, Tabary M, van der Geest R, Tolman NJ, Kochin M, Xiong Z, Al-Yousif N, Sayed K, Benos PV, Raffensperger K, Evankovich J, Neal MD, Snyder ME, Eickelberg O, Ray P, Dela Cruz C, Bon J, McVerry BJ, Straub AC, Jurczak MJ, Suber TL, Zhang Y, Chen K, Kitsios GD, Lee JS, Alder JK, Bain WG. Lung Epithelium Releases Growth Differentiation Factor 15 in Response to Pathogen-mediated Injury. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2024 May;70(5):379-391. PMID: 38301257; PMCID: PMC11109583.
Current Position:
Resident, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh
Contact
For more information about PICTOR, please email Katie Nauman at kem182@pitt.edu.