Advancing HIF Biology and HIF-based Therapies
The laboratory of Professor Volker Haase studies hypoxia response pathways and their therapeutic applications in erythropoiesis and iron metabolism, tissue injury and ischemic pre-conditioning, inflammation, kidney development and tumorigenesis. A major focus of the lab is on the interplay between hypoxic signaling, metabolism and cellular differentiation and its regulation by the prolyl hydroxylase domain (PHD) / hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) / von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor (VHL) signaling axis. Haase group members take advantage of powerful cutting-edge mouse genetics, biochemical, metabolomic and single cell approaches to study oxygen and mitochondrial metabolism in kidney, urologic and other diseases. 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.
Professor of Medicine and Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
The Krick-Brooks Chair in Nephrology
Volker Haase is a physician-scientist with clinical training in Internal Medicine and Nephrology and holds the Krick-Brooks Chair in Nephrology at Vanderbilt University. He is a leader in the field of mammalian oxygen sensing, prolyl hydroxylase domain oxygen sensor and HIF biology, and trained in experimental biology and genome editing under Professor Rudolf Jaenisch at the Whitehead Institute. Professor Haase is the recipient of a Marie Curie/VINMER fellowship and the 2006 Sir William Osler Young Investigator award. He is an alumnus of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes and a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI). He was elected to the Association of American Physicians (AAP) in 2016. In addition to directing his research group, Professor Haase provides inpatient care in General Internal Medicine and Nephrology (see Clinical Activities in Internal Medicine and Nephrology).
Group Members
Aqeela Afzal, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor
Aqeela Afzal received her Ph.D. in Pharmacology and an M.B.A from the University of Florida in Gainesville. Aqeela works on mitochondrial metabolism in acute and chronic kidney injury and studies the role of HIF in blood brain barrier function and stroke.
Mikhail Burmakin, M.D., Ph.D.
Researcher
Mikhail Burmakin trained in Pediatric Nephrology and Molecular Biology. Mikhail is interested in the effects of HIF prolyl hydroxylase domain enzyme inhibition on renal physiology and works with Volker Haase on single cell transcriptomic profiling for the study of kidney disease.
Douglas B. Clayton, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Doug Clayton is an Assistant Professor of Urologic Surgery and is a Pediatric Urologist. He is pursuing a career as a clinician scientist funded through a K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Award. Doug’s research focus is on understanding hypoxia responses in bladder inflammation. When not seeing patients or working in the lab, Doug enjoys spending time with his wife and two young sons.
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.
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
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.
Carmen Tong, D.O.
Fellow in Pediatric Urology
Carmen Tong received her D.O. from the Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine in Glendale, Arizona. Carmen studies the role of mitochondria in polycystic kidney disease and diseases of the bladder. She also manages the Haase lab social media account @HIFpathway.
Alumni
Xiaoqian Hu, Ph.D.
click here for more info and present position
Hideto Sano, Ph.D.
click here for more info and present position
Heather P. Shutt, B.S.N.
click here for more info and present position
Haase Lab Photographs
Haase Lab Aug. 2018
Haase Lab Dec. 2017
