Adjunct Assistant Professor

Peng Zhao

Peng Zhao received his medical degree from China Medical University and his Ph.D. from Shinshu University in Japan. His Ph.D. work was focused on human amniotic mesenchymal cells and their potential for cardiac differentiation. In 2005, he moved to UCLA and has been working on the role of cell cycle factors in ischemic and hypertrophic heart diseases. He is currently using novel transgenic mouse models to identify cardiac progenitors that contribute to cellular proliferation early in life. He is also an expert micro-surgeon and performs a variety of mouse heart injury models. He provides research support and supervision for all the members of the lab. When not in lab, he enjoys swimming, skiing, skating, hiking, and traveling.

 

Project Scientist

Arash Pezhouman

Arash Pezhouman received his M.D. from Iran University of Medical Sciences (I.U.M.S). and worked for three years as a medical doctor prior to joining the labs of Drs. James N. Weiss and Hrayr S. Karagueuzian in 2013. His focus was on Electrophysiology and Mechanisms of Ventricular and Atrial Fibrillation and Tachycardia (VF/VT) in the presence of oxidative stress and electrolyte imbalances. He also worked on discovering appropriate anti-arrhythmic compounds. He joined our lab in April 2017 as an Assistant Project Scientist to study underlying mechanisms of chamber-specific cardiac differentiation of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) and conduct electrophysiological studies to investigate whether the transplanted hESC-CMs can mature and functionally integrate into the myocardial syncytium with no risk of arrhythmogenicity using optical mapping and microelectrode recording techniques.

 

Postdoctoral Fellow 

Ali Daraei 

  Ali received his Ph.D. in Biophysics from Wake Forest University. While working on his Ph.D., he worked on the mechanical properties of single fibrin fibers in clots of fibers and the mechanical properties of single cells. His research involved measuring the mechanical properties of single fibrin fibers and single cells using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). After joining Dr. Ardehali's lab, he is working on the mechanical characterizations of cardiomyocytes, including their surface rigidity/stiffness and force generation at different stages of development and maturity. He is also involved in using advanced imaging techniques to investigate the physical properties of the cardiac extracellular matrix at the molecular levels.

 

Maryam Kay 

 Maryam received her Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran Iran. Her PhD work was focused on molecular mechanism of non-coding RNAs in regulating cardiomyocyte differentiation and maturation process. Using in vitro methods she investigated how miRNAs and lncRNAs can enhance cardiac differentiation and maturation procedure. Maryam spent a year as a visitor researcher in cardiovascular research center of UNIL, Switzerland where she expand her studies in mice models. She joined Dr. Ardehali's lab in May, 2021 as a postdoc researcher and is working on the beneficial effect of young blood serum and the candidate circulating factors on heart regeneration capacity.

 

Visiting Gradudate Student 

Wang Lingjun

 Lingjun Wang received his M.D. from Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology   in 2018 and became  a graduate student in Zhejiang University (ZJu) cardiovascular research program. He   joined Dr. Reza Ardehali’s lab as a visiting graduate researcher supported by a UCLA-ZJU collaboration   program in September 2019. His research focuses on discovering the biomarkers, mechanism, and potential   therapeutic targets of cardiac perivascular fibrosis. He is committed to becoming a physician-scientist in   cardiology. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, reading, traveling, hiking, and swimming.

 

 

Staff of Research Associate 

Rong Qiao

Rong Qiao obtained the medical degree from LanZhou University School of Medicine in China in 1985. She has been working   is a Staff Research Associate in Dept. of Pathology & Lab Medicine, and Dept. Medicine at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine for more than twenty years. She has an extensive working experience and a variety of technical skills focusing on   the murine and human embryonic stem cells and IPS cells researches.

 

 

 

Undergraduate Students

Allison Shevtsov

 Allison Shevtsov is currently a senior at UCLA graduating with the class of 2021 getting her BS in Molecular,     Cellular, and Developmental Biology with a minor in Biomedical Research. She joined the Ardehali lab in early   2020 and was involved in writings paper about the generation of heart field-like cardiomyocytes and is involved in projects utilizing RNAseq for analysis of samples. She is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area. She is   planning on attending medical school to further continue her interests in heart disease and potential   regenerative therapies. In her free time she enjoys traveling, playing with her cat named Boots, and spending   time on the beach.

 

 

Kamal Kolluri 

 Kamal Kolluri is a third year undergraduate studying Physiological Science at UCLA. Prior to joining the   Ardehali lab, he had experience working with vascular biology and studying the different molecular pathways   involved in angiogenesis. As a part of the Undergraduate Research Scholars Program, Kamal works in the   Ardehali lab on studying the role of cardiac pericytes and vascular smooth muscle cells in various types of   cardiac injury models. When not in the lab, Kamal enjoys dancing, singing and playing basketball

 

 

 

Program Manager 

N. Joban

 

Ms.Joban received her Master’s in Business Administration from California Lutheran University. She is a healthcare professional with extensive experience leading multi‑state outpatient clinics. Her experience is focused to improve quality, enhance productivity, and deliver customer-focused service for businesses to meet their quality and financial objectives. She is a natural leader with strong organizational and prioritization abilities. She joined UCLA Health as a Program Manager to support Dr. Ardehali's program. 

 

 

---

 

Lab Alumni