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LAB MEMBERS
Evan Ray, MD PhD
Principal Investigator
Evan attended medical school and graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania. His graduate dissertation examined potassium channel gating behavior in the voltage-gated K-channel Shaker. He pursued clinical training in Internal Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, followed by a clinical fellowship in Nephrology and a basic sciences fellowship in Epithelial Transport Biology at the University of Pittsburgh. His post-doctoral fellowship focused on the physiology of the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC). He sees patients with challenging electrolyte disorders or hypertension and has been voted one of the region’s Best Doctors by Castle Connolly and Pittsburgh Magazine. In the lab, he studies how the body maintains electrolyte balance and the consequences of mineral imbalance. A Google Scholar profile with Ray Lab publications can be found here.
Tracey Lam
LAB MANAGER
Tracey graduated Magna cum Laude from the University of Pittsburgh in 2019 with a B.S. in Neuroscience. She joined the lab in 2020 and manages the lab, making sure everything runs smoothly and exploring the mechanisms of how improper electrolyte balance affect the body.
Andrew Gordon
Research assistant
Andrew joined the lab in 2022. He explored the physiological effects of improper electrolyte balance within the body. He graduated Cum Laude from the University of Pittsburgh with a B.S. in the Biological sciences and enrolled in medical school at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Ivy Liu
Undergraduate Student
Ivy is in her sophomore year at University of Pittsburgh, currently studying Molecular Biology and pursuing a certificate in Conceptual Foundations of Medicine. Ivy joined the lab in the spring of 2022. Since then, she has been helping the experiments with mice and exploring the different mutation effects on kidneys and the body.
Lorena Ye
Undergraduate Student
Lorena is currently a sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh pursuing a major in Biochemistry and a minor in Computer Science. She first joined the lab in summer 2022 and explored the impact of Muc1 expression on the localization of Trp channels in vivo.
Allison Marciszyn, PhD
Research specialist specializing in animal phenotyping
Allison works for the P30 O’Brien Kidney Center and specializes in animal care and phenotyping. Her efforts are critical for maintenance of our large animal colony and phenotyping of genetically modified animals.
Past Lab Members
Sarah Rokaw
Medical student
Sarah Rokaw worked the lab in 2019, exploring cellular responses to magnesium depletion for her University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine longitudinal research program. She graduated from medical school and enrolled in Internal Medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, with plans to apply for fellowships in Nephrology.
Ritam Patel
Undergraduate Student
Ritam joined the lab in the fall of 2019 and participated in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine’s Cell Biology Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) in 2021. Ritam explored the physiological importance of dietary magnesium and the role of ENaC in body fluid and blood pressure regulation. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Pittsburgh in December 2022. He enrolled medical school at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in the summer of 2023.
Amir Philobos
Internal Medicine chief Resident / renal fellow
Amir studyied management of patients with severe electrolyte-wasting disorders. In the laboratory, he is studying the importance of different genes expressed in the tubule on bodily electrolyte balance.
Alexa Jordahl
Medical Student
Alexa graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and enrolled in Pediatrics Residency at Rainbow Babies and Children’s University Hospitals in Cleveland, OH.
Linh Huynh
Undergraduate
Linh Huynh joined the lab in the fall of 2019 as part of the University of Pittsburgh First Experiences in Research Program. She has been examining the physiologic effects of Mg depletion in laboratory animals and in patients with Mg depletion secondary to calcineurin-inhibitor immunosuppressive agents.
Jenna Barbour
Undergraduate Student
Jenna worked with us from 2018 to 2019 as part of the Pitt First Experiences in Research Program. She explored the role of Muc1 in bone density, confirming that Muc1 influences bone density as a maternally inherited phenotype.
Austin Lieber
Lab Manager
Austin joined the laboratory in 2018 as laboratory manager. He worked to explore methods for evaluating total-body mineral stores. He subsequently enrolled in graduate school in Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh.
Syeda Ahmad
Renal Fellow
Syeda went to undergrad at Carnegie Mellon University and studied chemistry. She joined the Renal Division in 2017 as a clinical fellow. Syeda explored the relationship between kidney disease and handling of acid, potassium, and magnesium using large clinical datasets. She subsequently completed a fellowship in glomerular diseases at Columbia University and began a faculty position at the University of Pittsburgh in the fall of 2020.
Chris Santucci
Undergraduate student - Kenyon College
Chris joined the laboratory through the cell biology summer undergraduate research program (SURP). He analyzed CT scan data to examine the relationship between mineral handling in the kidney and bone density. He subsequently enrolled in medical school.
Amanda Schwenk
Pharmacy Student
Amanda examined changes in non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug prescribing and acute kidney injury as Pennsylvania phased in its prescription drug monitoring program to limit opiate use. Her project won an award at the Department of Medicine Research Day for best graduate student clinical research.
Aaliyah Winfrey
Lab Manager
Aaliyah helped to establish several novel murine models to study the regulation of the epithelial sodium channel in vivo.
Casey Allen Demko
Masters student - Chatham University
Casey studied electrolyte balance in association with different levels of urinary plasmin. She became adept at mineral measurement in bodily fluids using flame fluorimetry.
Leah Liu
Undergraduate student - McGill University
Leah examined bodily sodium and potassium balance in animals lacking expression of the BK channel in intercalated cells of the renal collecting duct.
John Demko
Medical student
John joined our laboratory in 2015 as a medical student at the University of Pittsburgh. He examined urinary plasmin levels in patients with proteinuric kidney disease, looking for an indication that the plasmin could be activating the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC). John’s work won an award at the 2017 Department of Medicine Research Day for best clinical research. John subsequently moved to San Francisco to pursue residency in internal medicine at UCSF and fellowship in nephrology. He is shown here, with his dog Henle (yes, like the famous loop of ...).
