Lab Members
Current Lab Members
Tomasz Brzóska, PhD
Research Assistant Professor of Medicine
Division of Hematology/Oncology
Tomasz obtained his MS in Pharmacy from the Medical University of Bialystok (Bialystok, Poland) in 2009 and his Ph.D. from the Hamamatsu University School of Medicine (Hamamatsu, Japan) in 2013. Subsequently, he worked for two years as an assistant professor at the Hamamatsu University School of Medicine (Hamamatsu, Japan). His research over the last few years has been focused on using intravital confocal microscopy to elucidate the molecular and biophysical mechanisms of interactions between platelets, endothelium, leukocytes, coagulation and fibrinolytic factors in physiological and pathophysiological states. Tomasz joined the Vascular Medicine Institute in January 2016 and he is using in vivo Multi-Photon Excitation enabled intravital fluorescence microscopy to identify the cellular and molecular cues that promote thrombosis and subsequent lung injury in transgenic SCD mice.
brzoskat@pitt.edu | 412-648-9987
Tomasz Kaminski, PhD
Postdoctoral Associate
Dr. Tomasz W Kaminski received his master’s degree in Pharmacy in 2013 from the Faculty of Pharmacy with Division of Laboratory Medicine at the Medical University of Bialystok, Poland. In March 2019 he defended his doctoral dissertation with honors at the KNOW – The Leading National Research Centre at the Medical University of Bialystok with cooperation with Mossakowski Medical Research Centre in Polish Academy of Sciences, University San Pablo-CEU, and Hasselt University. His Ph.D. project focused on the interplay between uremic toxin – indoxyl sulfate – and disturbances in the hemostasis system in various biological models of thrombosis and clinical settings of chronic kidney disease. In January 2018 he joined as Visiting Research Scholar to Prithu Sundd Lab at the University of Pittsburgh, where he received Post-doctoral Associate appointment shortly after his Ph.D. dissertation. During his postdoctoral fellowship in Sundd Lab, he studies cellular and molecular immunity functions of neutrophils in lungs during different pathophysiological conditions. He uses Multi-Photon Excitation fluorescence microscopy, Spectral-confocal microscopy, and animal models of chronic exposure to hazardous air pollutants.
kamins1@pitt.edu | 412-648-9987
Rikesh Kumar Dubey, PhD
International Post Doc Associate
Dr. Rikesh Kumar Dubey obtained his Bachelor of Science (Hons) Microbiology from Bundelkhand University (Jhansi, India) in 2011 and completed his Master of Science in Applied Microbiology from Banaras Hindu University (Varanasi,India) in 2013. In the year 2015, he joined the Microbiology Division of CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow for his Ph.D under the CSIR-CDRI JNU Ph.D program. He was awarded the Ph.D degree in the year 2020. Dr. Dubey’s Ph.D project focused on molecular microbiology and host pathogen interaction specifically to understand the mitochondrial arbitrations in intracellular survival of mycobacteria. He concentrated on the host-pathogen interaction, dissecting the roles of mitochondria, cell signaling, biology of infection and target identification to control the disease. His research interest lies towards understanding the disease biology through molecular and cellular approaches.
dubeyr@pitt.edu | 412-648-9987
Adekunle Emmanuel Alagbe, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Associate
Adekunle obtained his medical degree from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Nigeria in 2007 and obtained his fellowship in Hematology of the West African College of Physicians in 2017. During his residency and fellowship training at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria, he developed a special interest in Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) research and subsequently obtained a master’s and Ph.D. at the University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil in 2017 and 2022 respectively. His research includes studying the cross-talks among innate immunity in the pathophysiology and the treatment options for SCD through cellular and molecular techniques. During his Ph.D., Adekunle evaluated the role of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in predicting the outcome of COVID-19. He joined Sundd Lab in August 2022 with research focused on the use of advanced molecular techniques to investigate the role of neutrophils and other innate cells in both transgenic humanized SCD mice and SCD patients.
Email: aea97@pitt.edu | 412-648-9987
Former Lab Members
Margaret (Maggie) Bennewitz, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar in Sundd Lab from August 2013-July 2017
Current position effective July 2017- Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at West Virginia University, Morgantown WV.
Egemen Tutuncuoglu, MSc
Former Lab Manager / Research Technician V
Current position as of May 2022: Sr Research Scientist at Adaptive Biotechnology Inc., South San Francisco, CA.
Ravi Vats, PhD
Former Bioengineering PhD student
Ravi Vats, PhD joined Forma Therapeutics Inc as a Scientist 1 in the Department of Translation Science and Hematology, where he drives biomarker studies for various projects, assay validation, and technology transfer to support biomarker evaluation in clinical trials.