Current Lab Members

Razvan L. Cornea, Ph.D. - Principal Investigator

Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics Department
School of Medicine
​University of Minnesota
Robyn Rebbeck
Postdoctoral Fellow (2014 - current)
​Co-mentored by Drs. Cornea and Thomas
Research Focus: Structural dynamics of ryanodine receptor modulators in health and disease. 
E-mail: rrebbeck@umn.edu
Florentin Nitu
Postdoctoral Associate (2011 - current)
Research Focus: Fluorescent probes of the ryanodine receptor. 
E-mail: nitux001@umn.edu
Bengt Svensson
Research Associate 
Research Focus: Molecular dynamics simulations of the ryanodine receptor. 
E-mail: svens005@umn.edu
Megan McCarthy
Graduate Student (BMBB; 2014 - current)
Co-advised by Drs. Cornea and Thomas​
Research Focus: Structural dynamics of calmodulin in regulation of cardiac calcium release. 
E-mail: mmccarth@umn.edu
Maram Essawy
Junior Scientist (2015 - current)
E-mail: ​essaw002@umn.edu
Opoku Akyeampong
Junior Scientist (2016 - current)
E-mail: akyea004@umn.edu
Megan Ryan
Undergraduate Research Assistant 
​(2015 - current)
Research Focus: Functional effect of CPVT-associated calmodulin mutants on ryanodine receptor modulation. 
E-mail: ryanx993@umn.edu
Claire Haskin
Undergraduate Research Assistant 
​(2015 - current)
E-mail: cehaskin@umn.edu
 

Former Lab Members

Trinh Nguyen
Position in lab: Junior Scientist
​Period in lab: 2010 - 2011
​Current Position: Assistant Scientist at R&D Systems
Anton Popa
Position in lab: Undergraduate Research Assistant
Period in lab: 2011 - 2012 
Current Position: Medical student at St. George's University 
Tyler D. Miller
Position in lab: Junior Scientist
Period in lab: 2009 - 2012
​Current Position: Family Practice Resident at MidMichigan Medical Center
Elizabeth Lockamy
Position in lab: Graduate Student (BMBB) - Co-advised by Drs. Cornea and Thomas​
Period in lab: 2007 - 2011
Current Position: Senior Scientist at Beckman Coulter
Simon Gruber
Position in lab: Graduate Student (BMBB) - Co-advised by Drs. Cornea and Thomas​
Period in lab: 2008 - 2013
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow at Mt. Sinai
Xiaoqiong Dong
Position in lab: Graduate Student (BMBB) - Co-advised by Drs. Cornea and Thomas
Period in lab: 2010 - 2014
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Davis
Bonnie Fedor
Position in lab: Junior Scientist
​Period in lab: 2006 - 2007
​Current Position: Graduate Student (BMBB), University of Minnesota