Center Members and Affiliates
Colleen Clancy, Ph.D. (Research Profile)
Director
Colleen E. Clancy serves as the Director of the Center for Precision Medicine and Data Sciences at UC Davis School of Medicine and is a professor in the Departments of Physiology and Membrane Biology and Pharmacology. She is the inaugural Editor in Chief of the Journal of Precision Medicine: Health and Disease. She has authored more than 100 published works and serves on the editorial board of The Journal of General Physiology. Clancy has also been an associate editor for the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Clinical Electrophysiology and has served on the advisory board of the National Biomedical Computation Resource, as a member of the NIH Multiscale Modeling Consortium, and on the Heart Rhythm Society Fellowship Subcommittee. Additionally, she regularly participates in peer review for numerous national and international funding agencies and scientific journals. She leads a multidisciplinary team of junior and senior investigators, supported by multiple NIH programs, focused on computation.
Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoy, Ph.D. (Research Profile)
Associate Director
Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoy earned an M.S. Degree in Physics at the Moscow State University in Moscow, Russia (mentored by Galina Mironova), and then Ph.D. Degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Oregon Health Science University in Portland, Oregon (mentored by Keith Garlid). Yarov-Yarovoy was a postdoctoral fellow in Biophysics (mentored by William Catterall) and Computational Biology (mentored by David Baker, 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry) and then a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. He joined UC Davis as an Assistant Professor in Physiology and Membrane Biology in 2011 and became a full Professor in 2020. Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoy’s research interests and expertise encompass neuroscience, protein structure, and computational biology. The main focus of his research group is on computational design of subtype-specific ion channel modulators, structure and function studies of voltage-gated ion channels, and development of computational methods for membrane protein structure prediction and design. Recent advances in computational protein design, determination of high-resolution ion channel structures and discoveries of natural peptides that target them with high affinity, set a stage for computational design of novel ion channel modulators.
Hajar Amini, Ph.D. (Research Profile)
Assistant Researcher
Department of Physiology and Membrane Biology
Hajar Amini is an Assistant Project Scientist at the Center for Precision Medicine and Data Sciences. Amini has a Ph.D. in Biometrical Genetics from Tehran University, with a focus on bioinformatics analysis for the integration of transcriptomics and metabolomics data. She joined UC Davis Health, Department of Neurology, in January 2019 as a postdoctoral scholar and was later appointed as an Assistant Project Scientist in March 2020.
Her work over the past five years has focused on the interaction between genetics and phenotype, particularly using eQTL-based analysis to identify genetic variants that contribute to diseases and overall outcomes.
Her passion is developing approaches to utilize multi-omic datasets to gain deeper insights into the contribution of genetics to different diseases. The ultimate goal is the identification of novel drug targets and personalized medicine strategies to improve patient care.
Kent A Anderson, M.S.
Special Role: Advisor on Data Science
Director, Data Center of Excellence
Associate Director, CTSC Biomedical Informatics
Kent Anderson, M.S. is charged with facilitating the integration of research technology within UC Davis Health, including health data re-use, secure research infrastructure provision, and development of population health datasets. He is responsible for directing the design, acquisition, development, and implementation of specialized databases, tools, and applications to support clinical and translational research at UC Davis. In addition, he serves as a representative to the national consortium of CTSA award recipients to develop resources to benefit all represented CTSA institutions. He works closely with the Biomedical Informatics Program director to help investigators make the most efficient use of informatics services and resources.
Mili Arora, M.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine
Mili Arora's research focuses on improving the landscape of treatments for breast cancer. She has a specific interest in triple negative breast cancer and developing better supportive therapies to use adjunctively with standard breast cancer treatments.
Ramsey D Badawi, Ph.D.
Co-Director, EXPLORER Molecular Imaging Center
Vice-Chair for Research, Department of Radiology
Professor, Division of Biomedical Engineering
Professor, Department of Radiology
Kermit L. Carraway, III, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine
Vladimir Filkov, Ph.D.
Special Role: Advisor on Artificial Intelligence
Professor, Department of Computer Science
Vladimir Filkov is a data scientist specializing in producing analytics from large data sets in the areas of empirical software engineering, systems biology of plants, applied network theory and combinatorial algorithms. He co-directs the DECAL lab, which focuses on evidence-based methods to improve modern software engineering processes. He also works with plant biologists to understand and modify the processes of plant growth using genomic methods.
Amanda Flores
Executive Assistant to Colleen Clancy, Ph.D.
Chiara Anna Giordani
Medical Student in the ARC-MD Program
Chiara is a first-generation Italian-American, and she completed high school in Sacramento. She attended University of California, Los Angeles, for her undergraduate education, where she earned a B.S. in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology and a B.A. in Italian. During her undergraduate studies, she joined a Neural Tumor Research Lab, which introduced her to translational research. This experience informed her decision to return to Sacramento and pursue a M.S. in Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology at University of California, Davis, prior to starting medical school. During graduate school, she developed an interest in computational biology, which is her current research focus as a medical student.
Gonzalo Hernandez Hernandez, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dharan Sankar Jaisankar, M.S.
Assistant Specialist – AI and Informatics
Yen Her-Lai
Ph.D. Student in Biomedical Engineering
Yen-Her Lai is a Ph.D. student at the Center for Precision Medicine and Data Sciences under the supervision of Igor Vorobyov. Her research integrates molecular dynamics simulations, structure-based modeling, and machine learning to study how genetic variation alters cardiac sodium channel function and drug response. Her long-term goal is to advance precision cardiology by linking genotype-specific molecular mechanisms to individualized therapeutic strategies.
David Liem, M.D., Ph.D. (Research Profile)
Associate Professor
Department of Internal Medicine
Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
As a physician-scientist in cardiovascular medicine, Liem's focus has been in basic (translational) science combining cardiovascular research with computational biology. He has an expertise in the pathophysiology of ischemic heart disease (ischemia-reperfusion injury), and cardiomyopathies leading to heart failure (HFrEF, HFmEF, HFpEF). Liem has been conducting strategies in computational biomedicine and text mining to uncover molecular (multi-omics) underpinnings and biological pathways via data science and bioinformatics approaches. Liem is currently studying how social determinants of health (SDoH) affect the clinical phenotypes and outcomes in heart failure patients.
Deborah K Lieu, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Internal Medicine
Lieu's research focuses on the mechanisms underlying the differentiation and maturation of human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSCs) into pacemaking cardiomyocytes for engineering biopacemakers and contractile cardiomyocytes for cell replacement therapy after heart attack.
Laura Marcu, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Director, NIH-NIBIB National Center for Interventional Biophotonics Technologies (NCIBT)
Marcu’s group is best known for researching and engineering fluorescence lifetime-based instrumentation and multimodal imaging systems that enable studies of the molecular, metabolic and morphologic changes in living systems ranging from biological cells and animal models to human patients. Her research targets unique applications that impact clinical management of critical human disease, with an emphasis on three distinct areas: cardiovascular systems (intravascular diagnostics), oncology (intraoperative delineation of surgical margins) and regenerative medicine (tissue engineering).
Diego Lopez Mateos, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
dlopezmateos@health.ucdavis.edu
Diego Lopez Mateos is a postdoctoral researcher working at the intersection of biophysics, protein design, and precision medicine. By modeling ion-channel conformational landscapes, his research seeks to connect genetic variation at the single-residue level with emergent differences in channel function and pharmacological response across individuals, while leveraging these insights to design therapeutic modulators (including mini-proteins, antibodies, and macrocycles) that precisely target relevant channel states. In parallel, he develops data-driven approaches that integrate structural biology with clinical, patient-level records from large relational health databases to help connect molecular mechanisms to disease phenotypes and treatment response. Diego earned his undergraduate degree at the Technical University of Madrid (UPM), Spain, and completed his PhD in Biophysics at the University of California, Davis as a Fulbright Fellow.
Frederick J. Meyers, M.D., M.A.C.P. (Research Profile)
Director of Educational Programs
916-734-2412
fjmeyers@health.ucdavis.edu
Meyers has a long-standing interest in cancer biology, clinical trials, and palliative care with a focus on advanced and metastatic malignancies. He was part of the leadership team that achieved the National Cancer Institute designation of a Comprehensive Cancer Center for UC Davis Health. He is a Distinguished Professor of Internal Medicine and his service to the University has included 12 years as Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine followed by 7 years as Executive Associate Dean and Vice Dean of the UC Davis School of Medicine.
Elizabeth Anne Morris, M.D.
Chair and Professor
Department of Radiology
Morris has conducted expensive research optimizing the use of newer techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to detect breast cancer early, with the goal of finding breast cancer lesions when they are small and treatable. She is a pioneer in high-risk breast cancer screening. She has authored a book “Breast MRI: Diagnosis & Intervention”. In collaboration with her colleagues she has written over 230 papers, 40 chapters and 5 books about breast disease. Morris lectures widely both nationally and internationally at over 320 conferences and has mentored over 50 international research fellows. She has grants from NCI, RSNA, Komen Foundation, and Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Her recent research efforts have involved looking at imaging biomarkers to assess risk and treatment response. She is PI of a $3.6 million grant from GRAIL to use circulating fragments of tumor DNA in the plasma to distinguish between benign and malignant BI-RADS 4 lesions in the hopes that some day early detection of breast cancer may be possible before imaging abnormities appear.
Bryn Elissa Mumma, M.D., M.A.S.
Professor
Department of Emergency Medicine
Bryn E. Mumma is an emergency medicine physician in Sacramento, California and is affiliated with UC Davis Medical Center. She received her medical degree from Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and has been in practice between 11-20 years.
Khoa Ngo, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Khoa Ngo is a computational biophysicist working at the intersection of structural modeling, molecular simulation, and machine learning to understand how drugs interact with proteins in the body, particularly those involved in cardiovascular function. His research focuses on predicting how drug responses change based on the shapes these proteins adopt and how genetic mutations affect their behavior, with the goal of making treatments safer and more tailored to each individual.
He earned his Ph.D. in Biophysics from UC Davis in 2024, where he developed computational models that help explain why certain drugs can disrupt heart function and cause cardiotoxic side effects. He has also contributed to projects in pain therapeutics, heart rhythm disorders, and enzyme engineering. His goal is to advance drug development by using computational tools to design safer, more effective, and more tailored treatments that improve patient outcomes.
Misagh Piran, M.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor
Director of Cardiothoracic Imaging Research
Misagh Piran’s research focuses on advancing cardiovascular and thoracic imaging for improved diagnosis and treatment of heart and lung diseases. He is particularly interested in normal value assessments, electrophysiology imaging, and the study of Fabry disease, cardiomyopathies, and cardiac sarcoidosis. His work includes research on strain analysis and its clinical implications, as well as the role of imaging in heart and lung transplantation. Additionally, Piran is exploring the application of artificial intelligence in evaluating cardiac function.
Emilie Roncali, Ph.D.
Director of Computational Biomedicine
Associate Professor
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Department of Radiology (courtesy)
Emilie Roncali is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and a courtesy appointment in Radiology at UC Davis. Roncali’s research involves dosimetry for radiopharmaceutical therapy and multiscale modeling. Roncali currently focuses on theranostic digital twins, personalized dosimetry for liver cancer transarterial embolization, dosimetry for nuclear medicine cancer therapies. Roncali is a member of two working groups for the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) AI taskforce and Computational Nuclear Oncology taskforce. She is also serving as steering committee member of NCI Informatics TEchnology for Cancer Research program. Her contributions to women in medical imaging sciences have been recognized in 2022 with the Faber award from the (SNMMI).
Jennifer Lynn Rosenthal, M.D., M.A.S.
Associate Professor
Department of Pediatrics
Rosenthal's research focuses on using telehealth to improve the safety and quality of patient care. She has a special interest in improving transitions of care such as hospital-to-hospital transfers.
Ashley Joy Ruiz
Admin Assistant for CPMDS
Clodomir Joaquim De Santana Junior, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Kiarash Shalaie, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Neurological Surgery
Chair, Department of Neurosurgery
Kia Shahlaie is a fellowship-trained neurosurgeon specializing in complex cranial surgery who believes patients and their families should be well informed and actively engaged in their care. His clinical expertise includes brain tumors such as meningiomas, skull base and pituitary tumors, trigeminal neuralgia, hemifacial spasm, epilepsy, and movement disorders including Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, and dystonia, with advanced training in minimally invasive endoscopic and keyhole techniques. As an affiliate of the UC Davis Center for Precision Medicine and Data Sciences, Shahlaie is an award-winning educator at the UC Davis School of Medicine, leads multiple clinical trials, and has an active translational neuroscience research program at the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience focused on developing innovative brain stimulation strategies to improve learning, memory, and cognition.
Roy-Ben Shalom, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Neurology
Ben-Shalom combines electrophysiology and neuronal modeling to advance the understanding of these diseases. In order to reverse engineer neuronal excitability in health and disease, Ben-Shalom's lab incorporates the biophysical properties of single neurons into detailed numerical models. In addition to facilitating an understanding of the pathophysiology of neurodevelopmental disorders, these models can also serve as testing grounds for therapeutic interventions.
Igor Vorobyov, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Physiology and Membrane Biology
Pei-Chi Yang, Ph.D. (Research Profile)
Project Scientist
Pei-Chi Yang is a Project Scientist in the Department of Physiology and Membrane Biology at UC Davis and the Center for Precision Medicine and Data Sciences. She completed her postdoctoral training at Weill Cornell Medicine and UC Davis. Her research focuses on using computational models and techniques to study how drugs, genetic mutations, hormones, and other interventions influence cardiac electrophysiology.
Hannah Marie Zukowski
Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. Candidate at UC Davis
