PI: Associate Professor Hee Cheol Cho
Hee Cheol Cho is the Urowsky-Sahr Scholar in Pediatric Bioengineering and Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Pediatrics. He received his PhD in Physiology from the University of Toronto in 2003.
Honors and Awards:
Louis N. and Arnold M. Katz Basic Research Prize, 2012
Staff:
Natasha Fernandez
Lead Research Specialist / Lab Manager
natasha.fernandez@nullemory.edu
Post-Doctoral Researchers/Visiting Scholars:
Pengcheng Han
B.S., China
Ph.D.
AHA Postdoctoral Fellow
pengcheng.han@nullemory.edu
Pengcheng is from China. He enjoys his cat/child, and Steph Curry is his favorite. In his opinion, embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes are the best.
Nam Kyun Kim
B.S., M.D., Inha University College of Medicine, Incheon, Korea
Internship, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine
Pediatrics Residency, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine
Assistant Clinical Professor, Severance Cardiovascular Hospital Yonsei University
AHA Postdoctoral Fellow
nam.kyun.kim@nullemory.edu
.
Nam Kyun is a pediatric cardiologist and electrophysiologist from South Korea. He has joined the Cho lab at Emory University, who has developed new tools to study cardiac biology and electrophysiology. Here, he is exploiting his prior training and clinical experience in pediatric heart disease and adult congenital heart disease patients to create animal disease models of arrhythmias for engineering hardware-free biological pacemakers. He has already established the first surgical, survival model of complete atrioventricular block, which is stable for over 2 months. His goal is to become an independent investigator and pursue his passion in fundamental cardiac research with a view to apply the novel knowledge to therapeutic options. As a pediatric cardiologist, Nam is motivated to find better solutions than the palliative care that is currently given for patients with the congenital complete atrioventricular block and adult congenital heart disease.
Jinqi Fan
AHA Postdoctoral Fellow
jinqi.fan@nullemory.edu
Graduate Students:
Sandra Grijalva
B.S. Biomedical Engineering, University of Arizona
Ford Foundation Fellow, GT President Fellow, GT Goizuetta Fellow, Sloan Fellow
Sandra.grijalva@nullemory.edu
Sandra grew up in Phoenix, AZ and became the first in her family to graduate from high school and then attend a university with support solely from grants and scholarships. She graduated from the University of Arizona cum laude with a focus in microelectronics. Upon entering GT and Emory University she was awarded the prestigious Ford Foundation Fellowship. Her current research focuses on creating two and three dimensional models of the sinoatrial node (pacemaker) of the heart. She wants to study one of the fundamental concepts in the field, source-sink mismatch. In the past two years she has been able to show that a 3-D engineered cardiac pacemaker tissues can pace and drive the surrounding myocardium in vitro as well as in the rat heart in vivo. This project will directly benefit in expanding our knowledge in the electrical signal propagation through the heart, and will ultimately advance the therapeutic treatment of patients with cardiac arrhythmias and other electrophysiological diseases. Outside of lab, Sandra enjoys hiking, flying small planes and crossfit.
David Wolfson
B.S. Chemical Engineering, magna cum laude, Case Western Reserve University
NSF Graduate Fellow, GT President Fellow
david.wolfson@nullemory.edu
David was born and raised in Austin, Texas, where he attended the nationally-recognized Liberal Arts and Science Academy magnet program. As a high school student, he worked on therapeutic hypothermia devices in Dr. Kenneth Diller’s Biomechanics lab at the University of Texas in Austin. David then continued to explore his interests in Biomedical Engineering, as an ENGAGE research fellow in Dr. Eben Alsberg’s lab at Case Western. His work focused on the development of a new biomaterial system for simultaneous encapsulation of growth factors and culture of mesenchymal stem cells. This Advanced Materials featured publication lead to a new platform for enhanced osteogenic differentiation of stem cells and ultimately bone regeneration. Currently, David is working on an injectable delivery system for biological pacemakers, as a Georgia Tech President’s Fellowship recipient and NSF GRFP awardee. He plans to enhance his work with collaborative research at Peking University in Beijing, China for one year through the Global Biomedical Engineering Research and Education Fellowship. As a former varsity swimmer, David enjoys swimming, weightlifting, running, and triathlons.
Undergraduates and High School Students:
Ashleigh Hawk (Emory University)
Joseph Kim (Emory University)
Past Members
Prachaya Charoenkitkarn, B.S.
Joseph Fonseca, B.S.
Ruben Casas, B.S.
Michael Sayegh, B.S.
Ben Furman
Jinmo Gu, Ph.D.
Jun Li, Ph.D.
Wensheng Li
Andrew Zhao, B.S.
