LAB MEMBERS

Education

• B.S. Biochemistry: Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA (1995)
• PhD Biological Sciences: Mount Sinai, School of Medicine, NY, NY (2002)
• MD: Mount Sinai School of Medicine, NY, NY (2004)
• Residency, Medicine: Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (2006)
• Fellowship, Cardiology: Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (2011)

Stephanie Hicks is the Lab Manager for the Rentschler Lab. She Joined the Rentschler lab in December of 2012. She received her BS in Agriculture with a concentration in Animal Health Technology from Murray State University. She is a former veterinary technician who loves her pack of animals at home.  In her spare time she has a passion for photography, riding motorcycles, hunting, and water skiing.     

James joined the Rentschler Lab in May 2022 after recently completing his M.S. in Physiology from Tulane University. He previously completed his B.S. in Psychology from Rockhurst University. He is currently assisting with multiple projects in the lab. Outside of the lab, he enjoys traveling and spending time with friends and family. He is a lifelong fan of St. Louis sports and some of his favorite activities include alpine skiing, water skiing and working out.

Yuqian (Freya) joined the Rentschler Lab in March 2024. She is currently assisting with multiple projects in the lab. In her free time, she enjoys traveling with her family and dog Oreo, going to live sports games like soccer, football, baseball, and ice hockey, partying with friends, and enjoying drawing and hand making things.

Sam joined the Rentschler Lab in July 2022. Sam is a medical student and a visiting researcher from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. He is currently in his second year of the Sarnoff Fellowship.

Florence joined the Rentschler lab in August 2022. They earned their PhD in Physics for Life Science from the University of Strasbourg in France. They went on to a post-doctoral position in the Pathak lab at Washington University. Florence is currently working on the Additional Ventures’ Cures Collaborative, a group of people dedicated to finding a cure for Single Ventricle Disease. In their free time they enjoy photography, travelling, dreaming of becoming an astronaut, and spending time with their rescue dog, Fisher.

Pranav joined the Rentschler lab in January 2022 and worked on optimizing code used for analyzing the conduction velocity of cardiac tissues.

Lauren joined the Rentschler Lab in February 2022 after completing her B.S. in Biology from University of Missouri – St. Louis. Her research background is primarily in molecular biology, although she also has experience working in healthcare. She assisted with multiple projects in the lab including the Additional Ventures Cures Collaborative, which is focused on creating non-invasive cure for single ventricle disease using micro-heart tissues. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, baking soft pretzels, thrift shopping, and visiting the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Stephanie joined the Rentschler lab in June 2021. She started at WashU in 2014, where she worked as a technician in an isotope geochemistry lab on the Danforth Campus. Previously, she earned her B.S. in Forensic Biology from Maryville University. Outside of the lab, Stephanie enjoys spending her free time with her dogs, cooking new recipes, practicing yoga, camping, and skydiving.

Ashley joined the Rentschler Lab in September 2020 after completing her M.S. in Chemistry. Previously, she received her B.S. in Biochemistry from Florida State University. She assisted on a project that involved the investigation of COVID-19 infection in the heart. In her spare time, she enjoys reading books, lifting weights, petting kitties, and drinking excessive amounts of coffee.

Morgan studied Anthropology and Chemistry at Washington University in St. Louis. She joined the Rentschler Lab in 2019 and focused on Notch signaling in mouse heart failure models. Originally from Columbus, Ohio, she spends her free time playing badminton, cooking, and reading ethnography.

Lei joined the Rentschler Lab in March 2020 as a postdoctoral research associate. He received his doctoral degree in 2018 in Forensic Medicine from Zhongshan School of Medicine at Sun Yat-se University. His research focused on the epigenetic regulation of the heart post-irradiation. Outside of lab Lei enjoys watching movies and TV shows, visiting US cities, and hiking.

Jessica was an undergraduate student at Washington University in St. Louis studying Japanese and Biology.