Current Lab Members
Kartik Rajagopalan, M.D., Ph.D.
Position: Principal Investigator | Email Dr. Rajagopalan
Dr. Kartik Rajagopalan is a physician-scientist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, and a member of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at UT Southwestern. He specializes in medical critical care.
Dr. Rajagopalan earned his medical and doctoral degrees at UT Southwestern where he studied metabolic fluxes during cell proliferation in the lab of Dr. Ralph DeBerardinis. He then completed his Internal Medicine Residency and Pulmonary and Critical-care Fellowship at Columbia University in New York. He performed post-doctoral work understanding the role of leptin signaling during influenza and COVID infection in the lab of Dr. Jeffrey Friedman at Rockefeller University.
He returned to UT Southwestern to start a faculty position and laboratory in September of 2023.
When not in the laboratory, Kartik continues to practice medicine as an intensivist.
Roger Fan, M.D.
Position: Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellow/Postdoctoral Research Fellow | Email Roger
Dr. Roger Fan is originally from North Carolina. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics from the University of North Carolina. He conducted computational research on arachidonic acid metabolism at the Jackson Laboratory. He later worked in an electrophysiology laboratory where he studied mathematical models of neural networks. Driven by a desire to directly impact people’s lives, Dr. Fan attended Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. During medical school, he investigated the role of nasopharyngeal colonization in the pathogenesis of acute respiratory infections.
His pursuit of rigorous clinical training led him to internal medicine residency at UT Southwestern. Initially considering specialization in endocrinology or infectious diseases, he discovered a passion for critical care medicine that crystallized during the COVID-19 pandemic. This led him to stay at UT Southwestern for a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine. His research focus lies in understanding the role of hypothalamic signaling during critical illness, particularly the response to severe infection. He hopes to develop novel ICU therapies targeting hypothalamic pathways, ultimately improving patient care.
Tadiwanashe Gwatiringa
Position: Research Technician | Email Tadiwanashe
With a solid academic foundation and a visionary approach to health and society, Tadiwanashe is on a trajectory towards making a substantial impact in the medical field.
Tadiwanashe holds a bachelor's degree in human biology, health, and society from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
She is on a pre-med academic track to pursue a combined MD/PhD which she intends to use to deepen her knowledge and understanding of health disparities, with the goal of devising strategies that contribute significantly to improving healthcare access and outcomes for underserved communities.
Catherine Pontius
Position: Research Technician | Email Catherine
Curiosity is Catherine’s default setting, propelling her into the realm of scientific research. Catherine received a liberal arts education at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York with a bachelor’s in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology. At Hamilton she was fortunate enough to conduct research in the labs of Herman Lehman and Natalie Nannas.
Catherine intends to gather lab skills and concentrate her curiosity into a specific field of research. Then her sights are set on graduate school.