People

Principal Investigator:

Dr. Townsend
Dr. Townsend hanging out in the lab.

DeWayne Townsend, DVM, Ph.D

Associate Professor

Dr. Townsend obtained a B.A. in chemistry from St. Olaf College. He then entered the combined DVM/Ph.D program at the University of Minnesota where he obtained his Ph.D in Pharmacology with a minor in Neuroscience. His thesis work was directed at using the enteric nervous system to understand opioid receptor biology. During his clinical veterinary training Dr. Townsend became enamored with the heart. After he completed his clinical training he moved on to the University of Michigan for post-doctoral training where he started investigating dystrophic cardiomyopathies. He was recruited back to the University of Minnesota into the department of Integrative Biology and Physiology.

Integrative Biology and Physiology


Laboratory Alumni:

NameTypeCurrent Position 
Evelyne HouangIBP Rotation StudentComputational Scientist, Drug Discovery Group- Schrödinger 
Tim MatsuraIBP Rotation StudentPost-Doctoral Fellow- University of Pennsylvania 
Jae Hwi SungIBP Rotation StudentAssay Development Scientist Bio-Techne 
Dogacan YucelIBP Rotation StudentPost-doctoral Fellow Boston Children's Hospital (Harvard University) 
Amirtha YellamilliIBP Rotation StudentPediatric Rheumatology Fellow Stanford University 
Tatyana (Meyers) VetterIBP Graduate StudentScientific Director Diverge Translational Science Laboratory 
Kaleb FischerCMB Graduate StudentSenior Software Engineer 
Emily ChiuMSTP Rotation StudentMSTP Student- University of Minnesota 
Jaelyn BasichUndergradMedical Student- University of North Dakota 
Gina QianUndergradMPH Student/Environmental Health Sciences- UCLA 
Alexandria PalmerUndergradOMM Fellow- Kansas City University 
Kira BourdageUndergradGraduated with Physiology BA 
Ali MashadiUndergradMedical Student- Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland 
Rohan RaikarUndergradMedical Student - University of Minnesota 
Jonah MullerUndergradMedical Student - University of North Dakota 
Stone van SlootenUndergradMedical Technician- Edina Retina Consultants 
Tyler DobratzMasters in Biological SciencesMedical Student- Lake Erie Medical School 
Precious WellsUndergradHealthcare IT Analyst 
Amiee KrebsbachUndergradSenior R&D Engineer- Medtronic 
Mitchell TaylorUndergradResearch Assistant - Creighton University School of Medicine 
Robert HughesUndergradScientist at Medtronic 
Rebecca LorsungUndergradMSTP University of Maryland 
Max MelinUndergradMSTP - UCLA/Caltech 
Lauren AufdembrinkResearch ScientistGraduate Student- Unviersity of Minnesota (GCBD) 
Justin DuffyHigh School StudentHarvard University - Undergraduate 
Prashasti BhatnagarUndergradJD/MPH Candidate - Georgetown University Law Center/Sommer Scholar at John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health 
Abdullatif DireUndergradNuclear Medicine Technologist- Abbott Northwestern 
Aolei ChenVeterinary StudentAssociate Professor South China Agricultural University College of Veterinary Medicine 
Adriana PohlPost-BacMasters of Library and Information Sciences Simmons College 
Ben PetrieUndergradResident - Mcgaw Medical Center of Northwestern University Physcial Medicine and Rehabilitation 
Lucy SjaastadUndergradGraduate Student- Unviersity of Minnesota (MICAB) 
Karuna (Thomas) LewisMasters in Biological SciencesSenior Design Assurance Engineer 
Colin WendtUndergradPsychiatry Resident University of Washington 
Nneka NwachukwuUndergradInternal Medicine Resident Columbia University 
Zachary SteleterResearch ScientistBiology Instructor- St. Paul College 
Monica PremsukhUndergradPharmacist- Children's Minnesota 
Joseph ErnsterUndergradPharmacist- Private Practice 
Meghan StumpfUndergradPediatrician (Creighton Medical School) 
Robert (Taylor) BockstruckUndergradPediatric Medicine Resident - University of Arizona 
Nate SchneiderUndergradRegulatory Global Outreach Specialist- H.B. Fuller 
Crystal SchemenauerUndergradLaboratory Techncian (U of Wi- Stevens Point) 
Jon DeanVeterinary StudentVeterinarian (University of Minnesota) 

Undergraduate Research Positions

The Townsend Lab provides undergraduates with research opportunities. If you are interested in studying physiology of disease and can devote 8 - 15 hours per week, our group could be a good fit for you. If you are interested in learning more send your resume and a short statement about what you hope to gain from a research experience to Dr. Townsend ([email protected]).