Team
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Jennifer Q. Kwong, PhD
Principal Investigator
Jen is a cell biologist and Associate Professor with a primary appointment in the Department of Pediatrics and Division of Cardiovascular Biology, and a secondary appointment in the Department of Cell Biology at Emory University School of Medicine. Jen leads a research program dedicated to mitochondrial biology and energetics in excitable tissues.
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Chiemela Ohanele, B.S.
Graduate Student
Chiemela is an MD/PhD student in the Biochemistry, Cell and Developmental Biology Program at the Emory University School of Medicine. Chiemela is interested in Cardiac Anesthesiology and connections to congenital heart disease.
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Nasab Ghazal, M.S.
Graduate Student
Nasab is a PhD student in the Biochemistry, Cell, and Developmental Biology Program at Emory University. Nasab’s current research interest is in understanding the mitochondrial regulation of post-translational acylations.
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Nahum Arefeayne, B.S.
Graduate Student
Nahum is an MD/PhD student in the Biochemistry, Cell, and Developmental Biology Program at the Emory University School of Medicine. Nahum is interested in Cardiology and congenital heart disease research.
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Luke Shoemaker, B.S.
Graduate Student
Luke is a PhD student in the Emory Biochemistry, Cell, and Developmental Biology Graduate Program. Luke is jointly mentored by Jen and Dr. Guy Benian and is interested in costameric signaling and connections to cardiomyopathy.
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Benjamin Huang
Undergraduate Researcher
Benjamin is an Emory undergraduate who is conducing his honors thesis research how mitochondrial bioenergetics connects with cardiac mitochondrial acylation state.
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Crystal Oleka
Undergraduate Researcher
Crystal is an Emory Anthropology and Human Biology major with a strong interest in medicine. She is gaining hands-on research experience in the lab, where she helps study how tissue-specific loss of the mitochondrial citrate carrier affects the heart.
Alumni
Ethan Liu (2023-2025)
Ethan was an undergraduate researcher in the lab interested in the intersection between basic lab science and medicine.
Cola Cui (2023)
Cola was an undergraduate Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology major from Emory University. She was woking on how tissue specific loss of the mitochondrial citrate carrier impacts heart development.
Fateemaa Sohani (2022-2023)
Fateemaa was a research specialist in the lab who worked on mitochondria in the developing heart. She is now pursuing a law degree at Emory.
Nasab Ghazal (2018-2022)
Nasab was a research specialist lead in the lab who spearheaded work on modeling mitochondrial energy dysfunction in the adult heart. She is currently a PhD student in the Biochemistry, Cell, and Developmental Biology Program at Emory.
Jessica N. Peoples (2018-2022)
Jessica was a postdoctoral fellow who joined the lab from the University of Central Florida. She lead our work on cardiac acylome remodeling and the role the citrate carrier in the developing heart. She is now a Scientific Advisor at Meunier Carlin & Curfman LLC.
Austin Park (2021-2022)
Austin was an undergraduate work study student intrigued about research in the biological sciences. He is currently a computer science major at Emory.
Tyler Pham (2017-2019)
Tyler was an Emory undergraduate double majoring in Biology and Chemistry who conducted research in the lab as part of the Scholarly Inquiry and Research Experience Program.
Chinhsien Tsai (2017-2018)
Chinhsien was a research specialist in the lab who is now pursuing a masters in Analytics at the University of Georgia
Tahmina (Daisy) Mohuiddin (2017-2020)
Daisy was the first undergrad and truly the first member of the lab! She is currently a medical school student at the Medical College of Georgia.
Nina Turcanu (2023-2025)
Nina was a research specialist in the lab working on mitochondria in the developing heart. She is now a medical student at Wake Forest University.
Ashley Gayle (2022-2023)
Ashley was a research specialist lead in the lab who worked on mitochondria in the developing heart.
Adam Malik (2023-2024)
Adam was an undergraduate researcher in the lab interested the science behind medicine.
Allie Rodgers (2022-2023)
Ashley was a research specialist lead in the lab who worked on mitochondria in the developing heart.
Philosophy
At the Kwong Lab, we are committed to…
Mentorship and supporting the growth of our trainees
Fostering an environment that values teamwork and collaboration
Diversity, inclusion, and equity
Expanding the horizons of mitochondrial and cardiac research
Positions Available
Join our team! We are actively recruiting enthusiastic and motivated postdoctoral fellows, Ph.D. students, and laboratory technicians.
If you are interested in joining our lab, please email Jennifer Kwong for more information.