Our Team.
Josh Dunaief, MD PhD
Adele Niessen Professor of Ophthalmology/Iron Man (please don’t sue us Marvel)
Josh is an author of more than 100 publications, mentor to more than 70 students, and shameless promoter for his two sons’ film and music careers.
Contact: jdunaief[at]pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Alaina Wojciechowski
PhD student.
The newest graduate student in the lab, Alaina is a Pharmacology PhD student investigating retinal ferroptosis. Outside of the lab, she loves to hike, make recipes from her science cookbook (yes that’s a thing!), and read. Just be careful not to ask about her dog, because then she might never stop showing you pictures of her.
Contact: alaina.wojciechowski[at]pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Rohini Nair, PhD
Post-doctoral researcher.
Rohini is a Postdoc investigating the mechanisms behind AMD pathogenesis using cell based and transgenic mice models. But when she drops her lab coat, you'll find her in a different kind of chase—swiftly lacing up her running shoes, whether it's along the river trail or chasing after her unstoppable bundle of toddler energy!
Contact: rohini.nair[at]pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Timothy Lee
Research Assistant.
Tim, a recent Penn graduate majoring in Biology and Health & Societies, has become an expert in qPCR, the intersection of business and biology in medicine, and the best dining spots in Philadelphia (ask him for recommendations!). While prepping to attend medical school, he is taking a couple gap years to study the effect estrogen and testosterone have on retinal oxidative stress.
timothy.lee[at]pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Ying Song, MD
Lab manager.
Ying is the keeper of lab secrets. The greatest testament to her work is the sheer chaos that ensues whenever she takes a vacation.
Brent Bell
Research Project Manager/Director of Animal Imaging.
Brent is our resident in vivo ocular imaging and retina functional testing aficionado. He has a biomedical/laser electro-optics background and has been involved with academic research for 30 years. When not inundated with mice to process, he enjoys helping others, mentoring students on the trials and tribulations of in vivo small animal experimentation, repairing lab equipment, creating useful widgets to 3D print, and working towards improving lab workflow productivity and efficiency. In his spare time, he enjoys globetrotting with family and taking part in occasional fishing trips to catch up with old friends and getting to know new ones.
Joe Vithayathil, MD PhD
Post-doctoral researcher.
Joe is a pediatric neurology resident that will be a post-doc in the lab. He studies how dysregulation to iron homeostasis in the brain following perinatal hypoxic brain injury contributes to long-term injury. In his spare time, he hangs out with his 2 kids generally making a mess in their house and annoying their mother.
Contact: vithayathj[at]chop.edu
Brandon Anderson
PhD student.
Chipping away at his PhD in Pharmacology, Brandon is trying to cook up some new therapeutics to treat oxidative stress in the retina. In the lab you can find him trying to optimize some python program or dissecting a bunch of mouse retinas. When not in the lab, you can catch him playing disc golf, practicing the organ, or trying out a new ice cream recipe.
Contact: brandon.anderson[at]pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Sierra Foshe
PhD student.
As a Neuroscience student, Sierra has decided to study the brain of the eye: the retina. When she's not baking banana bread or losing at online chess, she is working to understand the role of iron in ocular bacterial infection and inflammation.
Contact: sfoshe[at]pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Tan Wang, MD
Visiting scholar.
Coming all the way from Peking Union Medical Collage, Tan has joined the Dunaief lab for a couple years.
tan.wang[at]pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Sophia Shi
Undergraduate Student.
Sophia is an undergraduate student in the Penn LSM program, majoring in Biochemistry and Healthcare Management. Outside of the lab, you can find her running along the Schuylkill or volunteering with little kids.
Contact: sophshi[at]wharton.upenn.edu
