Summer Research

Hoora Shaghaghi, PhD
Dr. Shaghaghi received her PhD in Chemistry from the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran. She is an expert in NMR spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy. She is currently applying her expertise to the lung in order to understand how lung epithelial cells respond metabolically to injury and to elucidate where resources are most needed at different stages of the injury process.  

William “Bill” Slovinsky, PhD
Dr. Slovinsky received his PhD in Engineering from Temple University in Philadelphia PA.  Dr. Slovinsky’s project aims to determine the effects of alcohol on surfactant lipid homeostasis and to elucidate how changes in surfactant lipids influence alveolar macrophage behavior.

Hong Xu, PhD
Dr. Xu is a PhD scientist from China who is doing a two year sabbatical in the US. Dr. Xu is a highly trained molecular biologist with a PhD in Pathology from the North China University of Science and Technology. Dr. Xu’s is interested in understanding how environmental dusts (silica) contribute to the development of pulmonary fibrosis. Currently, Dr. Xu is also working on a project to better understand the molecular mechanisms linking cellular metabolism and DNA repair responses and to understand how these processes are disrupted in pulmonary fibrosis.