Lab Members – old

Satoshi Konishi – Postdoctoral Associate

Satoshi was born and raised in Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan. He attended Kyoto University School of Medicine and went on to become trained as a respiratory physician in Kurashiki city. He decided to study regeneration because he wanted to help patients with complicated lung diseases and returned to Kyoto University where he obtained his Ph.D. degree studying induction of functional airway multi-ciliated cells from hiPSCs. He continued his multi-ciliary research working as a respiratory physician in Japan in the Tsukita lab at Osaka University. He is interested in the plasticity of lung stem cells and disease modeling. Click here for a full list of Satoshi’s publications.

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Preetish Murthy – Postdoctoral Associate

Preetish was born in India. He finished his schooling in Bangalore and obtained a degree in mechanical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Madras. He worked on understanding fluid flows in microchannels using Extended Transport Equations. With an interest in academic research he joined the graduate program at Cornell University. During his PhD, he realized his interest for life science research and worked on understanding epithelial tissues under homeostatic and pathologic conditions. Broadly, his current research interests lie in applying engineering tools and principles to answer biological questions.

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Apabrita Ayan Das – Postdoctoral Associate

Apabrita is from West Bengal, India. He pursued his B.S in Zoology, Physics and Chemistry from Visva-Bharati, Shantiniketan and then moved to Varanasi to pursue his M.S in Zoology from Banaras Hindu University. He completed his Ph.D from CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata. During his Ph.D, he studied the mechanism of atherosclerotic plaque progression in Coronary Artery Disease through qualitative and quantitative proteomics. Later, he became interested in cell-cell connectome analysis and its role in different diseases. Apabrita is currently working on the role of cell- cell connectome in lung homeostasis and repair. In his free time, he plays North Indian classical flute. He is also an avid trekker.

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Michael Forrester – Pulmonary Fellow

Michael did his undergraduate at Northwestern where he worked on organic synthesis in Rick Silverman’s lab. He then moved to Duke for his MD and PhD where he studied NO biology, nitrosative stress and proteomics in the lab of Jonathan Stamler. After brief postdoctoral work on protein S-palmitoylation with Patrick Casey at Duke, Michael pursued internal medicine residency at Mass General Hospital. After residency he joined the clinical staff as a medical instructor of Harvard Medical School where he focused on teaching medical procedures to the residents (eg vascular access, lumbar puncture). In 2020, he moved back to Duke to pursue fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine. His research interests are in lung injury/repair, assay development and diagnostics. Michael is blessed with a family; including his wife Christine who is a radiation oncologist, two energetic boys, and two couch-potato dogs.

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Arvind Konkimalla – MD/PhD Candidate (Duke – MSTP)

Arvind was born in India, but moved to New Jersey when he was just 4 years old. He received his BA in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from Rutgers University in 2014, where he worked in the lab of Nancy Woychik, studying a Mycobacterium tuberculosis stress response mechanism. He joined the MD/PhD program at Duke University following his undergrad. After medical school rotations, Arvind decided to pursue pulmonary medicine, thus meandering his way into the Tata lab. Broadly, his research interests lie in lung cancer and regeneration.

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Zac Farino – PhD Candidate

Zac is from Seattle, and graduated with his BS from Washington State University in 2013. He then went on to earn an MS from Columbia University, where he studied pharmacology and cell biology. After helping his PI relocate his lab to UPMC, he went on to work at a small biotech company in Manhattan called Kallyope, Inc. He moved to NC when his wife graduated with her MD from Columbia, and matched at UNC as a psychiatry resident. In the Tata lab, Zac is focusing on understanding the key cell types driving the disease pathology of pulmonary fibrosis in order to develop targeted therapeutic strategies. In his free time, he enjoys exploring the outdoors with his wife and dog, fostering shelter dogs, and working to restore his classic Mustang. 

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Jeremy Morowitz – PhD Candidate

Jeremy is originally from New York. He graduated from UNC Chapel Hill in 2018 with a BS in biology and a minor in history. His time studying intestinal stem cells with the Gracz Lab in undergrad led him to work as a cell culture operations manager for a biotech startup, Altis Biosystems. After 3 years in industry, Jeremy came to Duke to pursue his PhD through the Developmental and Stem Cell Biology program. His work in the Tata Lab focuses on utilizing a CRISPR screen to better understand stem cell state and fate regulation in the lung. Outside of lab Jeremy enjoys nature photography, disc golf, and craft beer. 

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Lauren Macadlo – Research Technician III

Lauren is from Northwest Indiana and earned her B.S. in Biochemistry from Purdue University while working in a yeast epigenetics lab. After graduating she worked in a plant genetics lab, then traveled Europe for 7 weeks; visiting 7 countries! She started a position as a QC Microbiologist, but missed research and moved to NC.  She is currently helping with a DARPA funded project.  She hopes to further her education by taking classes at Duke and becoming a research assistant.  In her spare time she enjoys reading, rollerskating, and playing volleyball. Her favorite part about being at Duke is the architecture and Duke gardens.

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Rafaela Belloni – Research Technician III

Rafaela is originally from Brazil and came to the states in 2002 finishing her degree at the Extension School at Harvard University. She then started work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA, as a Veterinary Technician for several species of laboratory animals. She moved to NC in 2007 and has been working at Duke ever since. She is primarily working with the Tata lab’s mouse colonies; including maintenance and breeding. Her research interests include using mouse models to understand cancer biology. In her free time she enjoys volunteering with animal rescue and wildlife conservation.

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Ashna Sai – Undergraduate (Freshman)

Ashna is a pre-med freshman from Ormond Beach, FL who intends to major in Health Equity and Health Policy. She joined the Tata lab after reading about the “lab-made mini lungs” since she is fascinated by the new technologies and innovations that shape the present and future of science and medicine. After graduating, she would like to focus on preventative medicine and healthcare for the underprivileged. She is also a Bass Connections team member, club officer of Remote Area Medical (RAM), and a long-term volunteer for her local free clinic where she provides care to the uninsured and underserved.

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