Principal Investigator:
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 Staff:
Jackie Stevens
Laboratory Manager
Jackie graduated with a BS in Neuroscience and a minor in Chemistry from the University of St. Thomas. She has extensive research experience which has been recognized with both regional and national research awards. Jackie performs functional assessments of isolated hearts and all of the variations used in the lab to probe cardiac function. Jackie also performs cryosectioning for our lab and the University of Minnesota Muscular Dystrophy clinic.
Parker Banyard
Research Scientist
Parker graduated from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities in 2020 with a BS in Biology. Since joining the lab in May 2021, Parker has been in charge of mouse genotyping and been instrumental in the creation of new transgenic mouse lines. He supports all of the Lab's projects by performing the majority of the mouse colony's maintenance. Parker also helps with immunostaining, imaging, and data analysis.
Laboratory Alumni:
| Name | Type | Current Position | |
| Evelyne Houang | IBP Rotation Student | Computational Scientist, Drug Discovery Group- Schrödinger | |
| Tim Matsura | IBP Rotation Student | Post-Doctoral Fellow- University of Pennsylvania | |
| Jae Hwi Sung | IBP Rotation Student | Current IBP Student | |
| Dogacan Yucel | IBP Rotation Student | Current IBP Student | |
| Amirtha Yellamilli | IBP Rotation Student | Pediatric Resident Stanford University | |
| Tanya (Meyers) Vetter | IBP Graduate Student | Director of Microscopy Nationwide Children's Hospital | |
| Kaleb Fischer | CMB Graduate Student | Senior Software Engineer | |
| Emily Chiu | MSTP Rotation Student | MSTP Student- University of Minnesota | |
| Jaelyn Basich | Undergrad | Medical Student- University of North Dakota | |
| Gina Qian | Undergrad | Research Scientist- University of Minnesota | |
| Alexandria Palmer | Undergrad | Medical Student- St. Louis University | |
| Kira Bourdage | Undergrad | Graduated with Physiology BA | |
| Ali Mashadi | Undergrad | Research Assistant - University of Minnesota | |
| Rohan Raikar | Undergrad | Graduated with Physiology BA | |
| Jonah Muller | Undergrad | Medical Student - TBD | |
| Stone van Slooten | Undergrad | Medical Technician- Edina Retina Consultants | |
| Tyler Dobratz | Masters in Biological Sciences | Medical Student- Lake Erie Medical School | |
| Precious Wells | Undergrad | Healthcare IT Analyst | |
| Amiee Krebsbach | Undergrad | Senior R&D Engineer- Medtronic | |
| Mitchell Taylor | Undergrad | Research Assistant - Creighton University School of Medicine | |
| Robert Hughes | Undergrad | Scientist at Medtronic | |
| Rebecca Lorsung | Undergrad | MSTP University of Maryland | |
| Max Melin | Undergrad | MSTP - UCLA/Caltech | |
| Lauren Aufdembrink | Research Scientist | Graduate Student- Unviersity of Minnesota (GCBD) | |
| Justin Duffy | High School Student | Harvard University - Undergraduate | |
| Prashasti Bhatnagar | Undergrad | JD/MPH Candidate - Georgetown University Law Center/Sommer Scholar at John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health | |
| Abdullatif Dire | Undergrad | Nuclear Medicine Technologist- Abbott Northwestern | |
| Aolei Chen | Veterinary Student | Associate Professor South China Agricultural University College of Veterinary Medicine | |
| Adriana Pohl | Post-Bac | Masters of Library and Information Sciences Simmons College | |
| Ben Petrie | Undergrad | Resident - Mcgaw Medical Center of Northwestern University Physcial Medicine and Rehabilitation | |
| Lucy Sjaastad | Undergrad | Graduate Student- Unviersity of Minnesota (MICAB) | |
| Karuna (Thomas) Lewis | Masters in Biological Sciences | Senior Design Assurance Engineer | |
| Colin Wendt | Undergrad | Psychiatry Resident University of Washington | |
| Nneka Nwachukwu | Undergrad | Internal Medicine Resident Columbia University | |
| Zachary Steleter | Research Scientist | Biology Instructor- St. Paul College | |
| Monica Premsukh | Undergrad | Pharmacist- Children's Minnesota | |
| Joseph Ernster | Undergrad | Pharmacist- Private Practice | |
| Meghan Stumpf | Undergrad | Pediatrician (Creighton Medical School) | |
| Robert (Taylor) Bockstruck | Undergrad | Pediatric Medicine Resident - University of Arizona | |
| Nate Schneider | Undergrad | Regulatory Global Outreach Specialist- H.B. Fuller | |
| Crystal Schemenauer | Undergrad | Laboratory Techncian (U of Wi- Stevens Point) | |
| Jon Dean | Veterinary Student | Veterinarian (University of Minnesota) |