Our Research Center
Our research program in vascular genomics incorporates novel high-throughput sequencing approaches, new methods to analyze and integrate multi-omic data and genome editing experimental techniques to study heritable mechanisms for atherosclerosis and other vascular disease. Our work benefits from cross-departmental collaborations with geneticists, biomedical engineers, computer scientists, vascular biology scientists and developmental scientists.
The Team
Marios Arvanitis
Assistant Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering
Johns Hopkins University
I am a physician scientist with a focus on vascular genetics and genomics. I received my medical degree from the University of Athens, School of Health Sciences in Greece. Then I moved to Brown University for a post-doctoral fellowship in basic sciences and completed my internal medicine residency at Boston University and my cardiology fellowship at Johns Hopkins. I currently devote most of my time to research. I enjoy discussing new projects, papers and ideas with the members of my lab. I also see patients with complex cardiovascular disease and genetic lipid disorders at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Maria Viskadourou
Post-doctoral Fellow
I received my medical degree from Athens Medical School, where I discovered my career interest in investigating human genetics for tackling a series of diseases. Currently, I am working as a postdoctoral fellow in the Arvanitis lab, where my project concerns the investigation of candidate genes coming from Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) and their impact in atherosclerosis. Outside the lab, I enjoy playing ping pong, swimming and listening to blues and jazz.
Sharjeel A. Chaudhry
Post-doctoral Fellow
Sharjeel is a 4th year Vascular Surgery resident at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School. He is currently pursuing a post-doctoral fellowship in cardiovascular medicine at Johns Hopkins on an NIH T-32 training grant. Sharjeel is interested in vascular biology, genetics, and drug discovery.
Pablo Toledano Sanz
Research Assistant
I was born in Spain where I obtained my Bachelor's degree in Engineering and my Master's degree at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. In 2020, I moved to the United States where I joined the Arvanitis lab as a research assistant. Aligned with my research interests in vascular genetics using computational analysis, I am currently working on several projects, identifying transcriptional differences between endothelial cell populations, and developing new approaches to expand our understanding of eQTLs in various endothelial cell types. Outside the lab, I enjoy time with my family and friends, whether at the theater, watching or practicing sports, or enjoying a good dinner.
Roujin An
PhD Student
Johns Hopkins Biomedical Engineering
I am a first year PhD student in the Biomedical Engineering program. My research interests include atherosclerosis disease mechanism study; The role of fibroblast in atherosclerosis genesis and development; Translational cell engineering for model organism development and regenerative therapy.
Abigail Fennell
PhD Rotation Student
Johns Hopkins Biomedical Engineering
I am a first year Biomedical Engineering PhD student interested in uncovering the mechanisms of disease and creating more effective therapeutic options. When not in the lab, you can often find me baking something new, hiking, or reading a book.