VDTRC Team Members

WE HAVE SEVERAL OPENINGS TO JOIN THE TEAM -- INTERESTED CANDIDATES, PLEASE SEE THE "POSITIONS AVAILABLE" PAGE.

We are a multidisciplinary team of clinicians and engineers whose mission is to seamlessly integrate patient care, clinical investigation, and fundamental technology research with application in dermatology, oncology, hematology, and other specialties.

Principal Investigator
Eric Tkaczyk MD, PhD

Eric Tkaczyk, M.D., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Dermatology
 
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, University of Tartu, Estonia
 
Physician Scientist

Postdoctoral Fellows
Inga Saknite, Ph.D.

 

Inga Saknite, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
  • Spectral imaging, multiphoton microscopy and reflectance confocal microscopy of human skin

 

Xiaoqi Liu, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

  • Medical image processing, machine learning, computer-aided diagnosis
     

Andrew McNeil, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

  • Medical image computing, deep learning for medical image segmentation and biomarker discovery

Shramana Ghosh, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

  • Mechanical device design; characterization of viscoelastic and biomechanical parameters of biomaterials

Graduate Students
Tahsin Reasat, M.S.

Tahsin Reasat, M.S.

Graduate Student
  • Data Analysis, machine learning
Jianing Wang, M.S.

Jianing Wang, M.S.

Graduate Student
  • Medical image processing, machine learning, computer-aided detection

Research Assistants

Austin Cronin, B.S.

Research Assistant/Engineer
  • SJS photography protocol development

 

Madeline Marks, B.S.

Clinical Research Coordinator

  • Protocol development and implementation

Medical Students
Patrinely_Headshot_Cropped.png

James Randall Patrinely, B.A.

Medical Student
  • Confocal microscopy video analyses

 

Laura X Baker (née Wang), B.S.

Medical Student
  • Association of skin response in erythema and sclerosis with survival in chronic GVHD
  • Using skin biomechanical parameters measured with the Myoton device to quantify and track sclerotic disease 
 
 

Kelsey Parks, B.S.

Medical Student

  • Photography protocols for deep learning

 

 

Zijun Zhao, B.S.

Zijun Zhao, B.S.

Medical Student

  • Confocal microscopy video analyses

 

 

Yvette Ssempijjay, B.S.

Yvette Ssempijja, M.S.

2019-2020 Vanderbilt Medical Scholar

  • Obtaining objective measures of skin properties with the Myoton device
  • Assessing the clinical history and biomechanics of skin after stem cell transplantation

Undergraduate Students

Zeyad Moustafa

Undergraduate Student, Computer Science

  • Machine learning

Alumni
Alina Zufall Headshot

Alina Zufall, M.D.

Role on Team: Patient home photography (selfies) (2021 - 2022)

Next Position: Dermatology residency at New York Medical College

Zain Khera, B.A.

Roles on Team: VUMC Student Worker (2019-2020) and Research Analyst I (2020)

Next Position: Medical Student at NYU

 

Fuyao (Joanna) Chen, B.S.

Role on Team: Research Assistant/Engineer (2017-2019)

Next Position: MD/PhD Student at Yale

 

Laura Dellalana, M.D.

Role on Team: Medical Student (2017-2018)

Next position: Dermatology residency at Vanderbilt

 

Jocelyn Gandelman, M.D.

Role on Team: Medical Student (2017-2019)

Next position: Dermatology residency at UCSF
 

Kathy Zhang

Role on Team: Undergraduate Student (2018-2019)

Next Position: Undergraduate Student at Vanderbilt

 

Alexis Hood, B.S.

Role on Team: Medical Student (2018-2019)

Next Position: Medical Student at Meharry

 

Mihkel Põldemaa, M.Sc.

Role on Team: Masters Degree Candidate in Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics from the University of Tartu

and Tallinn University of Technology (2016-2018)

Next Position: Cybernetica AS