Dr. Paola Pastena is a Postdoctoral Research Scientist in the Targoff Lab at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. She earned her medical degree from the International MD Program at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome, Italy. With a passion for medical research, Dr. Pastena moved to the United States to undertake a research scholarship at Stony Brook University Hospital's Division of Cardiology, where she focused on clinical studies in heart failure. Motivated to explore the mechanisms of disease and bridge the gap between research and patient care, Dr. Pastena transitioned to basic and translational science. At the Targoff Lab, her work focuses on pioneering projects investigating cardiac regeneration and repair following myocardial infarction. By advancing cardiovascular research, she aims to translate her findings from bench to bedside, ultimately contributing to innovative therapies that improve patient outcomes.

Dr. Jana Moubarak is a postdoctoral research scientist in the Targoff Lab at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC).  She earned her medical degree from the Lebanese American University (LAU) in 2024, where she cultivated a deep passion for research and innovation in pediatric medicine. Her journey has been driven by a fascination with the heart’s remarkable capacity for regeneration, which now fuels her work on myocardial repair mechanisms. At Columbia, she is leveraging advanced genetic and molecular tools to unravel the complexities of heart regeneration. With a steadfast commitment to improving children’s health, she aims to bridge the gap between groundbreaking research and transformative clinical outcomes.

Rigolin Nayak joined the Targoff lab in November 2024. Rigolin obtained her PhD from the University of South Bohemia under the supervision of Dr. Martin Psenicka, a pioneer in reproductive biotechnology. During her PhD, she worked with various germ cell-based techniques to establish germline chimeras across different genera and species with gonial cell transplantation. During this time, she developed a keen interest in cardiac development and regeneration, which ultimately led her to pursue postdoctoral research in cardiovascular development. Her current works focus on understanding the genetic mechanism involved in embryonic heart development using state-of-the-art technologies with the goal of contributing to the development of innovative therapeutic strategies for cardiovascular diseases.

Meet the Team

Dr. Kimara Targoff, M.D. is Pediatric Cardiologist and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) in New York City.  She also directs the Cardiac Development and Regenerative Biology Laboratory at Columbia University.  Dr. Targoff received her M.D. from Yale University School of Medicine and completed her clinical residency and fellowship training at the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York at CUMC.  She pursued her post-doctoral research with Dr. Deborah Yelon at the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine at NYU Medical Center in the Developmental Genetics Program.  Dr. Targoff established her independent laboratory at Columbia in 2012 as the first zebrafish investigator.  Her laboratory’s research seeks novel strategies optimized in the zebrafish model to explore the molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for embryonic cardiomyocyte differentiation with the goal of applying these insights to design new approaches to regenerate functional myocardium.

1. Isabel Nunez (Research Technician, Current position: MD student at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons)

2. Benjamin Liberman (High School Student, The Bronx High School of Science, Current position: College student at Columbia University)

3. Caitlin Ford, M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. (Graduate Student, Department of Genetics & Development, Current position: Communications Associate, Hemsley Charitable Trust)

4. Angelika Nitzl, M.A., Ph.D. (Graduate Student, Department of Physiology & Cellular Biophysics, Current position: Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Kharas Laboratory, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)

5. Sabrina Krista (Undergraduate Student, Northeastern University)

6. Misha Bhatia (Undergraduate Student, Barnard College, Columbia University, Barnard’s Summer Research Institute Award)

7. Fabian Blondet (Undergraduate Student, Columbia University, Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF))

8. Feria Ladha (M.D./Ph.D. Candidate, University of Connecticut Health, Current position: Pediatric Resident at Boston Children’s Hospital)

9. Micah Woodard (Undergraduate Student, Columbia University, Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF))

10. Zehui (Cynthia) Gao (Master’s Student, The Data Science Institute, Columbia University, Data Science Initiative Scholar, Current Position: Software Engineer, Asana

11. Elizabeth Myrus (Undergraduate Student, Columbia University, Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), Current Position: MD student at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons)

12. Joseph Nguyen (Summer Program for Under-Represented Students (SPUR Post-Baccalaureate Student, Columbia University, Department of Physiology & Cellular Biophysics, Columbia University)

13. Julia Baran (Undergraduate Student, Barnard College, Current position: Clinical Research Assistant, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia)

14. Auria Godard (Master’s Student, Magistère Européen de Génétique Program, Paris Diderot University, Current position: Doctoral Student, Institut National de la Transfusion Sanguine (INTS), Paris, France)

15. Favor Ononogbu-Uche (Summer Program for Under-Represented Students (SPURS), Department of Physiology & Cellular Biophysics, Columbia University, Current position: MD student at SUNY Downstate College of Medicine)

16. Di Yao, PhD. (Postdoctoral Research Fellow)

17. Matthew Parker (Post-baccalaureate Research Training, Current position: MD student at Albert Einstein College of Medicine)

18. Abigail Tercek (Post-baccalaureate Research Training, Current position MD student at Florida International University College of Medicine)

19.  Jennifer Coates (Undergraduate Student, Columbia University, Current position: MD student at Tufts University School of Medicine)

20. Miguelina Burgos (Summer Program for Under-Represented Students (SPURS), Department of Physiology & Cellular Biophysics, Columbia University)

21. Alex Pennachio (Summer Program for Under-Represented Students (SPURS), Department of Physiology & Cellular Biophysics, Columbia University, Current position: Physician’s Assistant, Geisinger General Surgery)

22. Nicole Liberman (High School Student, The Bronx High School of Science, Current position: MD student at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons)

23. Carmen de Sena-Tomás, PhD. (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Current position: Assistant Researcher, Fundació de Recerca Clínic Barcelona-Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS))

24. Soniya Gurung (Undergraduate Student, Barnard College, Current position: Associate, L.E.K Consulting)

25. Dalton Haslam (Medical Student, College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University, Current position: Pediatric Hospitalist, Children’s National Hospital)

26. Robert Sorabella, M.D. (Cardiothoracic Surgery Resident, Columbia University Medical Center, Current position: Assistant Professor of Surgery, University of Alabama)

27. Hemant Varma, M.D., Ph.D. (Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Neuropathology Fellow, Department of Pathology & Cell Biology, Columbia University, Current position: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center)

28.  Jamie Harrington, M.D. (Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Pediatric Cardiology Fellow, Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University, Current position: Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Columbia University)

29. Christopher Puleo (Medical Student, College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University, Current position:  Internal Medicine Resident, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center)

30. Barbara Ben Yamin (Master’s Student, Magistère Européen de Génétique Program, Paris Diderot University, Current position:  Doctoral student at the Université Paris-Sud and at the Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France)

31.  Martin Liberman (High School Student, The Bronx High School of Science, Current position: MD student at Boston University School of Medicine)

32. Alan Zhao (Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Student, Columbia University, Current position: Software Engineer, Google)

33. Michael Boyajian (Post-baccalaureate Pre-medical Student, Columbia University, Current position: MD student at Medical School of Brown University)

34. Dorcas Huang (Undergraduate Student, Columbia University, Current position: Product Engineer, OSIsoft)

35. Sophie Colombo, Ph.D. (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Current position: Associate Director, Flamingo Therapeutics)

36. Vanessa George (Research Technician, Current position: Project Manager, QuiO)