We bid farewell to our lovely technician Tint Tha Ra Wun and our amazing postdoc Paola Pastena. Tint will be starting her MD/PhD program at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, while Paola matched for an Internal Medicine residency at Yale! Congratulations to both!
We welcome Eian Tsou and Perry as summer research student to the lab. Eian and Perry are undergraduate students at Columbia University.
Targoff lab went out to celebrate everybody’s hard work at the Weinstein Conference, and to bid farewell to Tint and Paola!

Congratulations to Geli, Rigolin, Caitlin, Carmen and the team for their new publication in Development (PMID: 41601327)
Our team attended the WEINSTEIN Cardiovascular Development & Regeneration Conference in New Jersey. Sarah and Rigolin gave poster presentations on their work on the role of Fibulin proteins in regulating outflow tract caliber, while Jana gave an oral presentation on the requirement of Fibulin proteins for zebrafish heart regeneration. Great job everyone!
Jana participated in the Bio-IT FAIR Data Hackathon in Boston. Congratulations!

The Targoff lab went on a scientific retreat with the CSCI for a relaxing getaway and great science! Rigolin gave a poster presentation, congratulations!
We welcome Debarshi Banerjee as Associate Research Scientist to our lab!

We celebrated summer with a fun lab dinner. Delicious hangout!
We welcome a new member, Sarah Cao, who is joining us as a research technician. Sarah is a recent graduate from Columbia University.

Our crew sailed off to Milwaukee to attend Weinstein Zebrafish Heart Development and Regeneration Conference where Isa gave a talk and Paola and Tint presented posters. Great science!
Congratulations to Caitlin and team for new publication in Nature Communications (PMID: 40268889).
Congratulations to Paola and Tint for presenting their posters at the 2nd Annual Children’s health Innovation & Learning Day hosted by Department of Pediatrics!
Congratulations to Paola for presenting her talk titled “Fibulin Extracellular Matrix Proteins are Essential for Heart Regeneration in Zebrafish” at the 2nd Annual Children’s health Innovation & Learning Day hosted by Department of Pediatrics!

Two new postdoctoral research fellows join our lab: Jana Mourabak, a recent MD graduate from Lebanese American University and Rigolin Nayak, who completed her PhD training at The University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice. Welcome everyone!
Tint gave a talk at the CSCI Work-in-progress meeting in November 2024. Good work, Tint.
Kimara and Tint attend the 2024 Annual Genetics and Development Departmental Retreat at the Crotonville Conference Center in September where Tint presented her recent work on Fibulin heart regeneration project. What a great gathering and scenic landscape!

We bid farewell to our lovely technician Isa Nunez as she begins her medical school at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Congratulations, Isa!
Isa and Kimara attend the Weinstein Cardiovascular Development and Regeneration Conference (Montreal, Canada) where Isa presented her work on Fibulin outflow tract project and won a poster award. What a great work, Isa!
We welcome Ben Liberman as a summer research student to the lab. Ben is a high school junior at The Bronx High School of Science.

We welcome Paola Pastena from Italy who is joining us as a postdoctoral research fellow from Lab at Stony Brook Medical School. Paola is a recent medical school graduate from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome, Italy.
Congratulations to Dr. Geli Aleman on her successful PhD thesis defense!
Isa gave her talks on Fibulin outflow tract project at the CSCI Work-in-progress and at Joint Floor Lab Meeting. Outstanding progress, Isa.
We welcome Tint Tha Ra Wun joining us as a research technician. Tint earned her BA from Smith College prior joining the lab.

Congratulations to Dr. Caitlin Ford on her successful thesis defense!
The Targoff and Nerurkar Labs were granted a collaborative Research Initiatives in Science & Engineering (RISE) award from Columbia University to study the design and implementation of innovative mechanobiology tools to study cardiac chamber development. (July 2023)
The Targoff Lab was awarded a R01 from NHLBI entitled “Mechanism of myocardial regeneration mediated by Nkx2.5 in zebrafish." (June 2023)
We welcome Isa Nunez and Sabrina Krista joining us as research technicians!
The Targoff Lab was awarded a R01 from NHLBI entitled “Essential functions of extracellular matrix in outflow tract morphogenesis." (April 2023)