Volker Haase Lab

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 at Vanderbilt University

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). In 2016 he was elected to the Association of American Physicians (AAP). As of 2018 Professor Haase serves the NIH as a standing member of the Pathobiology of Kidney Disease (PBKD) study section. 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).

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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.

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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.

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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

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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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.

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