Iain Drummond PhD Principal Investigator, Drummond lab. Dr. Drummond received his PhD from the University of California Berkeley for work on ionic signaling and the Drosophila heat shock response. His postdoctoral work at Northwestern University Medical School and the University of Chicago focused on gene regulation in Dictyostelium and the Wilms tumor suppressor in human cells. At the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Dr. Drummond pioneered studies of the zebrafish to discover mechanisms of organ development, pathobiology of kidney disease, and stem cell-based mechanisms of kidney regeneration. Dr. Drummond is currently Professor and Director of the Davis Center for Aging and Regeneneration at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor Maine.
Caramai Kamei PhD studies kidney regeneration and Wnt signaling in adult zebrafish. Nana is interested in organogenesis and how developmental mechanisms contribute to repair and regeneration in adult organs. She received her PhD in Dr. Tom Schultheiss’ and Dr. Cliff Tabin’s labs at the Harvard Medical School Department of Genetics on the role of Bmp-regulated transcription factors in kidney and vascular development. More recently she has found that Wnt signaling is essential for stem cell based nephron regeneration. Dr. Kamei is currently Senior Research Scientist at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor Maine.
Magdalena Cardenas Rodriguez PhD received her PhD from the Universidad de la República in Montevideo Uruguay. Dr. Cardenas-Rodriguez continued her work with Dr. J.L. Badano at the Human Molecular Genetics Lab., Institut Pasteur of Montevideo studying novel functions of the Bardet-Biedl ciliopathy syndrome associated protein CCDC28B. At MGH Dr. Cardenas-Rodriguez has continued her work on ciliopathies, studying novel mechanisms of genetic compensation for mutation in the centrosomal protein Cep290. Dr. Cardenas-Rodriguez has also discovered pathways involved in mechanosensory signaling in ciliogenesis.
Lydia Djenoune PhD recieved her PhD Summa cum laude from the French National Museum of Natural History under the mentorship of Dr. Clare Wyart studying cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons in zebrafish. An expert in in vivo calcium imaging, Dr. Djenoune is discovering the role of calcium signaling in kidney glomerular morphogenesis.
Past lab members
Tom Gallegos PhD is a Research Fellow studying FGF signaling during kidney regeneration. Tom received his PhD at the University of California San Diego in the lab of Sanjay Nigam. Tom is currently working in a biotech startup to produce organ replacement devices.
Ritu Tomar PhD studied kidney glomerular morphogenesis, vascular interactions and novel podocyte cell signaling mediated by intracellular calcium. Dr. Tomar received her PhD from Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India.
Judith Bergboer PhD studied sensory ciliopathies and cell signaling. Dr. Bergboer received her PhD in experimental dermatology at the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, The Netherlands.
Guillaume Dorval MD PhD received his M.D. degree in 2010 from the Rene Descartes University of Medicine, Paris V and completed his Magistère Européen de Génétique there along with his Inter Universities Diploma in Paediatric Nephrology. Dr. Dorval is currently at the Imagine Institute in Paris and studies novel genetic causes of nephropathy.
Yuya Sugano PhD obtained his degree under the direction of Drs. Johannes Loffing and Stephan Neuhauss. Dr. Sugano’s thesis work focused on kidney distal tubule cell function as well as podocyte function in the zebrafish. Dr. Sugano continues his work on the kidney as a fellow at the University of Zurich.
Erin Merkel is a graduate of the BBS program at Harvard Medical School. She is now working a the Scheppens Eye Institute on gene therapy applications.
Mohamed Adan received his BS degree from the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Mr. Adan is an expert in aquaculture and zebrafish maintenance and studies using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in zebrafish. Mr Adan is now pursuing a degree as a Physicians Assistant.