TEAM
Henry J. Donahue, Ph.D
BME Professor and Chair
Dr. Donahue is the Alice T. and William H. Goodwin, Jr. Endowed Professor and Chair Department of Biomedical Engineering and Co-Director, Institute for Engineering and Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University. He received his Ph.D. in Biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. He has over 30 years of experience studying musculoskeletal biology, using both in vitro and in vivo models. His research focuses on understanding the mechanism by which bone and muscle adapt to their mechanical environment; examining the effects of space flight on musculoskeletal tissues and exploiting biophysical signals, including shear stress and nanotopography, to develop innovative strategies to regenerate musculoskeletal tissue lost to disease, injury or ageing. His research has been continually funded by the National Institutes of Health for over 30 years and he has had funding from the Department of Defense, NASA/National Space Biology Research Institute, private foundations and industry. Dr. Donahue is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research and the Orthopaedic Research Society.
Email: hjdonahue@vcu.edu
Phone: (804) 828-7958
Twitter: @HenryJDonahue1
Yue Zhang, Ph.D
Research Associate Professor
Email: yzhang29@vcu.edu
Phone: (804) 828-0870
Michael A Friedman, Ph.D
TRISH Postdoctoral Fellow
Michael is a TRISH postdoctoral fellow who received his PhD and Masters in biomedical engineering from Michigan University. Michael received his bachelor’s degree from University of Texas at Austin in biomedical engineering as well. His research focuses on interactive effects of exercise and nutrition on the musculoskeletal system. He is interested in studying ways to maximize bone mass and bone strength as well as ways of preventing bone loss from disuse or disease. His TRISH postdoctoral fellowship is focused on studying the effects of genetic variability on unloading-induced bone and muscle loss.
Email: mafriedman@vcu.edu
Twitter: @MAFriedmanVCU
Evan Buettmann, Ph.D
TRISH Postdoctoral Fellow
Evan is a TRISH postdoctoral fellow in the B.E.S.T. Lab who previously received his PhD and Master’s in Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. There he worked in Matthew Silva’s Mechanobiology Laboratory looking at the role of osteoblast lineage cells and VEGFA in coordinating osteogenic and angiogenic processes necessary for fracture healing. Before that Evan received his B.S. in Biological Engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia. His current TRISH funded project is investigating the role of microgravity and connexin43 deficiency on bone fracture healing.
Email: buettmanne@vcu.edu
Twitter: @EvanBuettmann
Rachel DeNapoli
BME Ph.D. Student
Rachel is a Ph.D. student studying biomedical engineering under Dr. Donahue at VCU. Her undergraduate degree was from the University of Florida in 2018 in biomedical engineering as well. Her current research involves studying the endocannabinoid system, particularly the CB1 and CB2 receptors, and how they influence bone metabolism under different loading conditions.
Email: denapolir@vcu.edu
Twitter:denapoli_rachel
Gabe Hoppock
BME Ph.D. Student
Gabe is a Ph.D. student studying Biomedical Engineering under Dr. Henry Donahue at VCU. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Biomedical Engineering from Vanderbilt University in 2019. Gabe is researching the effect loading and simulated microgravity have on osteocytes, both in vitro and in vivo. Specifically, the effects these changes have on osteocyte phenotype and protein expression and the effect of osteocytic protein expression on other musculoskeletal cell types.
Email: hoppockg@vcu.edu
Twitter: @GabrielHoppock
Steven Meas
M.D./Ph.D. Student
Steven is an MD/PhD student in the Clinical and Translational Science PhD program under the supervision of Dr. Henry Donahue. He was awarded a B.Sc. in Human Biology: Neuroscience and Animal Physiology at the University of Toronto in 2016 and then completed an M.Sc. in Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto in 2018. His research interests include regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, aging and developmental biology. He is currently investigating the role of senescence in disuse- and aging-induced bone loss.
Email: meass2@vcu.edu
Lovell Abraham
Chemistry Undergraduate Student
Lovell is an undergraduate student in his sophomore year, majoring in Chemistry. He has been working in the B.E.S.T. Lab since March of 2020. Lovell is interested in investigating systemic bone and muscle loss during fracture healing in mice.
Email: labraham2@vcu.edu
Yasmina Zeineddine
BME Undergraduate Student
Yasmina is an undergraduate student in her junior year, majoring in biomedical engineering. Shee has been working in the B.E.S.T. lab since September 2019. Yasmina is interested in investigating the effects of microgravity and spaceflight on muscle and bone homeostasis.
Email: zeineddinejy@vcu.edu
Joseph Denisco
BME Undergraduate Student
Wesam Elhawabri
BME Undergraduate Student
Email: elhawabriw@vcu.edu
BEST Lab Alumni
Seyed Mohsen Latifi, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow – ECPI, Lecturer
Camilla Reina Maroni, Ph.D.
Doctoral Candidate – GSK, Scientific Advisor
Otto J. Juhl IV
Doctoral Candidate – GSK, Discovery Project Manager
Christopher Brunkhorst
Undergraduate Researcher – Cornell University, Doctoral Candidate
Ravi Shankar
Undergraduate Researcher – Johns Hopkins University, Masters Student
Anna-Blessing Merife
Undergraduate Researcher – Syracuse University, Doctoral Student
Ushna Aroura
Undergraduate Researcher – Stryker, R&D Intern
Caleb Ryan
Undergraduate Researcher –