Lab Members
Aarti Asnani, MD
Principal Investigator
Dr. Asnani is the Section Head of Cardio-Oncology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School. She is a principal investigator in the BIDMC CardioVascular Institute and an Associate Member of the BIDMC Cancer Research Institute. Dr. Asnani graduated from Duke University with a degree in chemistry and French. She stayed at Duke for medical school and spent a year as a Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Gerszten. After completing clinical training in internal medicine and cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital, she pursued postdoctoral training in chemical biology in the laboratory of Dr. Randall Peterson. Dr. Asnani came to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in 2017 to establish her basic and translational research program in cardio-oncology.
Jing Liu, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Dr. Liu received her PhD in Cardiovascular Medicine from Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China in 2018 and her MD from Nanchang University, China in 2013. Dr. Liu trained for three and half years as a student and postdoc at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Her past research experience focused on cardiovascular immunology. Dr. Liu received an AHA postdoctoral fellowship award in January 2020 and joined Dr. Asnani’s lab in May of 2020. Dr. Liu’s research is now focused on the molecular mechanisms of cancer-therapy induced cardiotoxicity.
Sandeep Basu, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Sandeep received his bachelor's (B.Sc.) in Genetics from Bangalore University and master's (M.Sc.) in Biomedical Genetics from VIT University, India. He then joined the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB) and learned zebrafish chemical biology. In August 2013, he started a PhD in Dr Chetana Sachidanandan's lab and utilized the zebrafish model to study hemochromatosis. After his PhD, Sandeep joined the Burns' lab at Harvard Medical School (Boston Children's Hospital) to understand the molecular pathogenesis of thoracic aortic aneurysms. In March 2023, Sandeep joined Asnani Lab for his second postdoc, where his research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms of cardiac arrhythmia associated with estrogen receptor signaling. Sandeep also enjoys fishing, driving, travelling, cooking, watching movies and reading books.
Max Narvaez, MD
International Research Fellow
Max is originally from Mexico City, Mexico. He obtained his medical degree from the Tecnologico de Monterrey University in 2023. Before graduating from medical school, he completed his medical community year as a research fellow in the cardiovascular department of his university, as well as serving as a teaching assistant. He is passionate about research in heart failure and cardio-oncology, and hopes to pursue these specialties in the future. In his free time, he enjoys traveling, cooking, playing tennis, and spending time with family and friends.
Gabriel Pajares Hurtado, MD
Cardiology Fellow
Gabe is originally from Lima, Peru and moved to Atlanta, Georgia at an early age. After graduating from the Medical College of Georgia, he is now loving the northeast as an internal medicine resident at BIDMC. Passionate about being at the bedside and complex physiology, he was naturally drawn to cardiology, developing an interest in cardio-oncology research and echocardiography. Gabe’s interests also extend into medical education, on the wards and online. Catch Gabe on an episode of Mio-Cardio Podcast, a growing Spanish cardiology podcast with expert discussants from Latin America and Spain that he co-produces/hosts with a fellow resident.
Andrea Nathalie Rosas Diaz, MD
Medical Resident
Nathalie is originally from Bogota, Colombia. She is a Medical Doctor who graduated from Universidad del Rosario in 2019. She is passionate about the early detection of cardiotoxicity, identification of frailty in the elderly population receiving chemotherapy and treatment response in chemotherapy-induced heart failure. She loves doing ecotourism in her home country. In her free time, she likes to exercise with Zumba classes.
Abul Andrés Ariza Manzano, MD
International Research Fellow
Abul is originally from San José, Costa Rica, though he moved from an early age to Barranquilla, Colombia. He completed medical school in 2018, been awarded the academic excellence scholarship, at Universidad del Rosario, Colombia. During the last year of medical school, he received the “Reinaldo Cabrera Polania” award for being the best intern of his class. Abul is interested in clinical and translational research in cardio-oncology and cardiac imaging. Outside of medicine he enjoys reading, listening to podcasts, doing exercise and dancing Latin music
Arrush Choudhary, MD
Medical Resident
Arrush is an internal medicine resident at BIDMC with an interest in cardiology, cardio-oncology, heart failure, and transplantation. He considers Northern Virginia home but has spent a sizeable amount of his life living in India, Toronto, and Nashville. Outside of medicine, he enjoys staying active, cooking, traveling, and spending as much time outdoors as possible.
Shriram Sundararaman, MD
Medical Resident
Shriram studied bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania and received his MD from the University of Virginia, his home state. He spent a year during medical school at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute studying mechanisms of resistance to immunotherapy and is thrilled to be back in Boston as an internal medicine resident at BIDMC. Shriram hopes to understand how novel cancer therapies cause cardiotoxicity to develop cardioprotective strategies for patients, and is excited to stay involved in basic science research during residency and beyond. Outside of the hospital, you might catch him playing pickup basketball in Fenway.
Casie Curtin, BS
Research Assistant
Casie is a recent graduate of Salem State University. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s of Science in biology with a concentration in biomedical sciences and a double minor in chemistry and psychology. Casie was a three-sport varsity collegiate athlete, being named captain for two of them as she emerged as a leader on and off the field. She has always been passionate about learning, especially in the STEM field. One of her favorite parts of school was being in the laboratory setting. Casie hopes to apply to medical school in the coming years with an interest in the prevention and treatment of cancers.
Monica Urias, BA
Monica is originally from Mexico. At a young age she moved to a border city named Laredo, Texas. In 2023, she graduated from Texas A&M International University with a Bachelor's of Arts in biology and a minor in psychology. From a young age, she knew science and service were her passions which then turned into an interest for a future in the healthcare field. During college, she participated in research under the biology and chemistry department chair which sparked her interest in pursuing a career in research and cardiology. She moved to Boston to pursue my education in Medical Diagnostic Sonography with a concentration of Echocardiography and Research. Outside of work and school, Monica enjoy traveling, reading, painting, and taking walks.
Lab Alumni
Jakob Wieke - Summer student (2023); Current Medical Student at University of Heidelberg
Julia Vasquez-Gonzalez - Summer student (2023); Current Medical Student at Morehouse
Alisson Shea - Summer student (2023); Current Undergraduate at Penn State
Benjamin Weitzman - Undergraduate research student (2021-2023)
Luis Alberto More, MD - Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2019-2021); Current Medical Resident at Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
Sarah Lane, BS - Research Assistant (2019-2021); Current Medical Student at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
Sujithraj Dommaraju, MBBS - Clinical Research Coordinator; Current Primary Care Physician
Amudha Kumar, MBBS - Clinical Research Coordinator; Current Cardiology Fellow at Loyola Medicine
Anita Vohra, BS - Research Assistant; Current Veterinary Student at University of Pennsylvania
Rahul Lall, PhD - Postdoctoral Fellow
Cole Turissini, BS - Research Assistant; Current Medical Student at Tufts University School of Medicine