Volker Haase Lab

The laboratory of Professor Volker Haase studies hypoxia response pathways and mitochondrial metabolism in erythropoiesis and iron metabolism, chronic kidney injury, kidney development and tumorigenesis taking of advantage of cutting-edge mouse genetics, biochemical, metabolomic and single cell approaches. Click on links for information about career opportunities in the Haase lab and recent publications. We represent a diverse and international group of researchers and students from multiple countries across the world.

Principal Investigator

Volker H. Haase, M.D. (Dr. med.)
The Krick-Brooks Chair in Nephrology
Professor of Medicine and Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics

Volker H. Haase holds the Krick-Brooks Chair in Nephrology at Vanderbilt University. He is a physician-scientist with clinical training in Internal Medicine and Nephrology, and training in experimental biology and genome editing under Professor Rudolf Jaenisch at the Whitehead Institute. His research focus is on mammalian oxygen sensing, prolyl hydroxylase domain oxygen sensor and HIF biology. Professor Haase is an alumnus of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes (German Academic Scholarship Foundation), a former DFG (German Research Foundation) and Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow, and the recipient of the 2006 Sir William Osler Young Investigator award. He is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) and was elected to the Association of American Physicians (AAP) in 2016. From 2018 to 2022, Professor Haase served the NIH as a standing member of the Pathobiology of Kidney Disease (PBKD) study section. In addition to basic research, Professor Haase provides patient care in General Internal Medicine and Nephrology (see Clinical Activities in Internal Medicine and Nephrology).

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Group Members

Baris Afsar, M.D.

Visiting Professor

Prof. Afsar is a Professor of Nephrology at Süleyman Demirel University in Turkey and Visiting Scholar at Vanderbilt University supported by the Turkish Society of Nephrology. He has a longstanding interest in the pathogenesis and therapy of complications of CKD, and works with the Haase Lab on the clinical effects of HIF-prolyl hydroxylase inhibitors on kidney hemodynamics and blood pressure.

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Ryoichi Bessho, M.D., Ph.D.

Visiting Research Fellow

Ryoichi Bessho joined the Haase lab from Asahikawa Medical University. He trained in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology and is interested in renal oxygen and mitochondrial metabolism. Ryoichi studies the role of mitochondrial electron transport dysfunction in the pathogenesis of chronic kidney injury.

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Olena Davidoff, M.S.

Lab Manager

Olena Davidoff received a Masters Degree in Molecular Diagnostics from Odessa University. Olena is interested in mouse genetics and animal work.

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Nan Guan, M.D.

Visiting Graduate Student

Nan Guan received her M.D. degree (Bachelor of Medicine) from Fudan University in Shanghai, China. She is the recipient of a China Scholarship Council fellowship and has joined the Haase laboratory to work on HIF and mitochondrial signaling in kidney disease as part of her Ph.D. studies.

Hanako Kobayashi, Ph.D.

Research Assistant Professor of Medicine

Hanako Kobayashi received her Ph.D. in Molecular Nutrition Science from the University of California, Berkeley. Hanako studies the regulation of EPO in the kidney and is interested in the role of prolyl hydroxylase domain enzymes and HIF in the pathogenesis of acute and chronic kidney injury.

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