Dr. Susmita Sahoo
Susmita Sahoo, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Cardiology, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York. She has completed her education and training at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai and at Northwestern University, Chicago. She has established a new line of research in the field of Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine to study miniature biological vesicles secreted by cells called exosomes and their role in cardiac regeneration.
Contact Information: susmita.sahoo@mssm.edu / 212-824-8913
Dr. Sabrina La Salvia
Sabrina enjoys exploring Biomedical Science and its unknowns because it keeps her on her toes. Her major interest is studying Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) and their roles as important agents of cell-to-cell communication. Her exploration of different scientific fields (marine biology, neuroscience, and hypertension) is all connected by her curiosity to discover the unpredictable and reveal the unknown. Like the things that really matter in life (love, integrity, friendship, etc.), the study of vesicles is microscopic and therefore not tangible. The more she explores this field, the more she realizes how active and unique the potential of each vesicle is. She graduated and received her PhD in Neuroscience at Genomic and post-Genomic Center, IRCCS C. Mondino National Neurological Institute in collaboration with the University of Pavia, Italy. She specifically focused her thesis project on understanding the role of Extracellular Vesicles (EV) as novel biomarkers and bio-activators in patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). She was introduced to the field of Hypertension at the University of Virginia (UVA), Division of Nephrology: Center for Immunity, Inflammation & Regenerative Medicine. Here, she earned powerful knowledge in EV Single detection by Imaging Flow Cytometry. She currently works on viral gene therapy mediated by exosomes to exploit their increasing targeting efficacy in heart failure models.
Contact Information: sabrina.lasalvia@mssm.edu
Dr. Anh Phan
Anh is originally from Central Highland of Vietnam and received his undergraduate training from School of Pharmacy, UMPHCM, Vietnam. He then conducted graduate training in the lab of Dr. Walter K. Jones at Loyola University Chicago where he studied sorting mechanisms and cardioprotective effects of small non-coding RNAs in mesenchymal stem cells-derived extracellular vesicles. His current objective is to understand the N6-methyladenine (m6A) mRNA post-transcriptional modification and signaling pathways that underlie ischemic heart disease using rodent and cell models of disease.
Contact Information: anh.phan@mssm.edu
Dr. Xisheng Li
Xisheng Li is a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Sahoo’s lab. He completed his PhD at Chinese University of Hong Kong and he investigated the differentiation of pancreatic beta cells and vascular endothelial cells from human pluripotent stem cells. Xisheng is studying the cardiovascular exosomes and epitranscriptome as a part of the Sahoo laboratory.
contact: xisheng.li@icmssm.edu
Dr. Nikhil Raisinghani
Nikhil Raisinghani went to medical school in India and got his MD in 2019, following which he worked as a Resident Medical Officer till 2021 before joining The Cardiovascular Research Institute at Mount Sinai. Nikhil is a postdoctoral fellow at The Sahoo Lab where his main area of interest is studying the role of circulating extracellular vesicles in the pathogenesis of chronic reno-cardiac disease. He hopes that through this research he can set the premise for the discovery of novel biomarkers that would eventually lead to better patient outcome in the clinics and help lower the burden of heart failure.
Contact: nikhil.raisinghani@mssm.edu
Shihong Zhang
Shihong completed her bachelor’s in science from Northern Jiaotong University of China in 1978 and has worked in research since then. Through the decades of research, she has amassed a breath of experience and skill set that makes her truly an invaluable member of the team. Shihong manages the day-to-day workings of the lab seamlessly along with her many roles like making adenoviral construct, amplification and purification of the primary virus, making adeno-associated virus, cell culture, western blot, tissue sectioning and staining, animal colony management and breeding, genotyping and procedures like intraperitoneal injections. When she is not working Shihong likes to watch movies, visit new restaurants and spend time with her family.
Contact: shihong.zhang@mssm.edu
Alan Shao
Alan is currently an Associate Researcher in the lab. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2023 with a degree in Biology and a minor in Computer Science. At UPenn, he was involved in immunology research and worked on characterizing the role of metabolic enzymes in the innate immune response in macrophages during bacterial infection. Alan also has research experience at Rutgers University, where he worked to develop co-culture E. coli systems for biosynthesis of acacetin. Alan hopes to attend medical school in the future and pursue his interests in cardiology and cell biology.
Contact: alan.shao@mssm.edu
Alexander Gallinat O’callaghan
Alex Gallinat is a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Sahoo’s lab. He obtained his PhD in 2023 at Prof. Badimon’s lab in Barcelona, where he conducted research on the molecular basis of ischemic post-conditioning and cardioprotection. Prior to pursuing his PhD, he served as a research associate at Dr. Flores’ lab in Madrid, where he studied the role of telomeres in heart regeneration. His current research primarily focuses on utilizing extracellular vesicles containing adeno-asociated viruses (EV-AAV) for therapeutic gene delivery to the myocardium.
Contact: alex.gallinat@mssm.edu
Roopa Irakam
Roopa is an undergraduate student at Barnard College majoring in Cell and Molecular Biology. She joined the Sahoo Lab in the Spring of 2021 and has primarily worked with members of the lab on isolation of EV-AAVs, looking at the role of extracellular vesicles in cell to cell communication and their potential in cardiac repair. She is especially interested in the future of innovation and therapeutics for heart failure. Roopa hopes to attend medical school and she has specific interests in cardiology, women’s health, and public health. In her free time, Roopa enjoys Indian classical dance, debate, baking, and running.
contact: ri2261@barnard.edu
Past Lab Members
Dr. Mihir Parikh
Dr. Mihir Parikh is a postdoctoral fellow in the lab. He completed his PhD at the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences at University of Manitoba in Canada. As part of his doctoral study he investigated the effect of a functional food on the left ventricular remodeling after a myocardial infarction and on metabolic syndrome compounded cardiac dysfunction. He is interested in unraveling the molecular mechanisms behind cardiac remodeling that could help improve the management of patients with heart failure. Mihir is very excited to participate in the fascinating research on cardiovascular exosomes and epitranscriptome as a part of the Sahoo laboratory.
Contact Information: mihir.parikh@mssm.edu
Kimberly Okoli
Kimberly Okoli is currently an Associate Researcher and Ph.D. student working on completing her dissertation on the role of extracellular vesicles as biomarkers for cardiorenal syndrome. Graduating from Cornell University in Spring 2017 with a Bachelors in Human Nutrition, Kim followed her research aspirations to the Icahn Mount Sinai Graduate Clinical Research Program, where she earned her Master’s degree. Kim hopes to use her degrees and knowledge to further expand the horizons of cardiovascular research in an effort to help shed light on unknown connections and better help her community.
Contact Information: kimberly.okoli@icahn.mssm.edu
Shweta Lodha
Shweta was an Associate Researcher in the lab. She graduated from Duke University in 2019 with degrees in Neuroscience, Chemistry, and Ethics. At the lab, she primarily worked to optimize current isolation and purification techniques for AAV-exosomes, and investigated the therapeutic potential of CD34+ stem-cell derived exosomes. In addition, she assisted with lab managerial tasks. Shweta matriculated to medical school in 2021, and enjoys singing, cooking, and hiking in her free time!
Contact Information: shweta.lodha@mssm.edu
Samantha Osinksi
Contact Information: samantha.osinski@mssm.edu
Dr. Prabhu Mathiyalagan
Dr. Prabhu Mathiyalagan graduated from Bharathidasan University, Tamilnadu, India, with a Master of Science degree in Biotechnology and completed a PhD program at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Prabhu’s PhD thesis describes lncRNA-mediated epigenetic regulation of cardiac genes encoding contractile proteins for which he was awarded Monash Graduate Scholarship. In 2015, he was recruited to Cardiovascular Research Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai as a Postdoctoral Fellow where he has opened up a new line of cardiovascular research and brought focus to the concept that mRNA modifications mediate important cellular responses in myocardial ischemia. As a Postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Prabhu is currently investigating these intriguing findings in heart development, health and disease.
Email: prabhu.mathiyalagan@mssm.edu
Phone: 212-824-9047
Twitter: @prabhu_gene
Dr. Divya Jha
Dr. Divya completed her PhD program from National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, India. Her PhD work was primarily based on particulate vaccine adjuvants and the use of combination of adjuvants in order to elicit desirable immune response. She had received her M.Sc. in Biomedical Science from Dr. BR Ambedkar Center for Biomedical Research, University of Delhi and B.Sc. in Life Sciences from Miranda House, University of Delhi, India. As a Postdoctoral Fellow in Cardiovascular Research Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Dr. Divya will be investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying post-transcriptional modifications of Lnc-RNAs that regulate the cardiac functions.
Email: divya.jha@mssm.edu
Phone: 212.824.9046
Marta Adamiak
Marta Adamiak is currently a Senior Associate Researcher at Cardiovascular Research Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. She earned her Master of Science in Biotechnology at the prestigious Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. In 2012 she enrolled in a doctoral program in Biotechnology at Jagiellonian University in the Department of Cell Biology in the Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology. In her PhD thesis work she investigated the potential impact of extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from iPS cells (iPSCs) on regeneration of ischemic myocardium. As a Senior Associate at Dr. Susmita Sahoo laboratory, she is currently studying the role of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) mRNA modification in the ischemic heart failure.
Email: marta.adamiak@mssm.edu
Phone: 212.824.9126
Neha Agarwal
Neha Agarwal is currently the Lab manager and a Senior Associate Researcher at Cardiovascular Research Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. She has completed her Bachelor of Technology in Biotechnology at the Uttar Pradesh Technical University, UP, India. She has received her degree of Master of Science in Biotechnology at the New York University, New York. As a Senior Associate Researcher at Dr. Susmita Sahoo laboratory, she is working with other post-doc members in their respective projects and also managing the lab.
Email: neha.agarwal@mssm.edu
Phone: 212.824.9041
Gabriella Shayani
Gabriella Shayani is currently a student at Jericho High school. Gabriella is very interested in cardiology and in providing the most innovative and efficient cardiac care. In the laboratory, Gabriella assisted with various experiments and research, with the goal of becoming more familiar with lab techniques and practices. She is considering a career in medicine and attending medical school in the future.
Email: gshayani@yahoo.co
Dr. Yaxuan Liang
Dr. Yaxuan Liang received his B.S. from Harbin Institute of Technology, China. Dr. Liang received his PhD from Department of Chemistry, at University of New York in 2014 and he had studied the N-link Glycan serving as a determinant in the microvesicle cargo recruitment. At Dr. Susmita Sahoo, Dr. Liang was studying the therapeutic properties of exosomes in heart failure models.
David Kim
David received a B.A. in Biological Sciences from Northwestern University, class of 2012. In 2016 he expects to complete his M.S. in Physiology, at Georgetown University, Class of 2016. Currently, he is applying for medical schools, to accomplish his ultimate goal, which is become a cardiologist. David was Dr. Susmita Sahoo first student and he had an outstanding role studying the exosomes contribution in cardiac repair, as well as, managing the laboratory for 2 years.
Mittal Rana
Mittal Rana is expected to receive his B.A. in Biology with a minor in Psychology from New York University. Interested in pursuing a career in interventional cardiology and related research, he has developed his passion for medicine by becoming involved in clinical volunteer work and research projects. His previous research includes involvement in the study of inhaled mometasone to reduce painful episodes in patients with Sickle Cell Disease and The FAMILIA Project, led by Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, to study the impact of lifestyle changes on cardiovascular health. Currently, Mittal is working in the Sahoo Lab focusing on exosome biology, gene therapy, and cardiovascular disease.
Christopher Campbell
Christopher is expected to attain his B.A in Sociology and a minor in Chemistry in June of 2018 from Hunter College. He plans to attend medical school after graduation. Campbell is interested in Cardiology and wants to become a doctor because he wants to be the type of doctor who isn’t restricted by insurance/hospital quotas. He wants to prioritize the patient above everything else. In our lab he was assisted with experiments and research but mainly he is just trying to familiarize himself with lab techniques and practices. He is considering pursuing a PhD in the future.
Dr. Adriano Martins
Dr. Adriano Martins received his Master of Science degree in Cardiovascular Pharmacology, from University of Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil. He completed his PhD degree in Human Physiology from University of Sao Paulo, with emphasis in Cardiovascular Physiology. Dr. Adriano Martins has extensive experience working with animal models for cardiovascular diseases, strong expertise in cardiac functional assays and calcium measurements. Currently at Dr. Susmita Sahoo laboratory, Adriano is investigating mRNA modifications associated to cellular responses in myocardial ischemia.