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Sophie Astrof, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Cell Biology

Sophie Astrof received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Biochemistry from Brandeis University in 1995 in the laboratory of Dr. Abeles. She received her Ph.D. degree in Virology from Harvard


Huaning Zhao, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Huaning Zhao earned her BS in Biotechnology from Northwest University in China, and her Master’s degrees from the University of Bridgeport. Prior to joining the Astrof Lab, she completed her


Gideon Obeng

Postdoctoral Fellow

Gideon pursued Biological Sciences at the Undergraduate level at KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana. He then continued with a Master’s degree in Microbiology at the University of Ghana and a PhD in


Christina Vyzas

MD/PhD Student

Christina Vyzas M.A. is an MD/PhD student at Rutgers NJMS. In the Astrof Lab, she is currently studying the role of second heart field-derived progenitors in congenital heart disease. She


Jonathan Dias

Ph.D. Student

Jonathan Dias is a PhD student in the Molecular Biology, Cancer, and Genetics (MBGC) track at Rutgers Health. He is currently studying the regenerative mechanisms of blood vessel compensatory responses



Krish Poudel

Undergraduate Student

Krish Poudel is a student in the seven-year BS/MD program with the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. In the Astrof Lab, Krish is focused


Esha Mogali

Undergraduate Student

Esha Mogali is a BS/MD student with The College of New Jersey and Rutgers NJMS. In the Astrof Lab, she is currently studying lymphatic system development. At TCNJ she is


Michael Warkala

Graduate Student

Michael Warkala, B.Sc. Michael Warkala is a Ph. D. candidate in the Molecular Biology, Genetics, and Cancer (MBGC) track of the Multidisciplinary Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. program at Rutgers SGS. He