The Kwiatkowski Lab

The Kwiatkowski Lab is located in the Department of Cell Biology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The primary focus of work in the Kwiatkowski Lab is to gain a mechanistic understanding of cardiomyocyte adhesion and cytoskeletal organization. Our approach is to use to a combination of protein biochemistry, cell biology and microscopy to define mechanisms of cell-cell adhesion, and downstream regulation of actin and intermediate filament organization, by the cadherin-catenin adhesion complex. Our rationale is that understanding the molecular mechanisms of adherens junction adhesion in cardiomyocytes will provide fundamental insight into cardiomyocyte cell-cell adhesion and adherens junction biology.

Latest news

The lab has grown!

We welcome Korina, Anshi, Yerin, and Gabe to the lab. Korina and Anshi are Pitt undergrads who joined last year. Yerin (a Pitt graduate) started as a lab tech in […]

Sahana receives an AHA Predoctoral Fellowship!

Sahana was awarded an American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship – well done! The fellowship runs from June 2023 until May 2025 and will support her work in exploring how the […]

Welcome incoming IBGP students!

The Kwiatkowski lab would like to welcome the new IBGP students to Pitt! We hope yinz are settling in nicely and are ready for orientation to start on Monday, August […]

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Team

Adam Kwiatkowski

Adam Kwiatkowski

Principal Investigator

Adam did his Ph.D. work with Frank Gertler at MIT and his postdoc research with James Nelson at Stanford. He moved to Pittsburgh to start his own lab in April 2012.

Adam’s NIH BioSketch

Adam’s Google Scholar Profile

Adam’s ResearchGate Profile

 

Sahana Balasubramanian

Sahana Balasubramanian

Graduate Student

Sahana is a Ph.D. student in the Cell Biology and Molecular Physiology Program who joined the lab in April 2020. She received her Master’s Degree from the University of Texas at Dallas. She enjoys exploring nature when she’s not exploring the lab. She likes photographing birds and butterflies. She’s also a trained Indian Classical Bharatanatyam dancer. Sahana loves drinking coffee and is on a quest to finding the best cup of coffee in Pittsburgh.

Gabriel Ratcliffe

Gabriel Ratcliffe

Graduate Student

Gabriel is a Ph.D. student in the Cell Biology and Molecular Physiology Program who joined the lab in May 2024. He earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Biology at Hanover College. When he’s not collecting and analyzing data in the lab, he interprets data from personal growth and world happenings by writing and performing poetry. He is an old, young soul who listens to jazz music, goes on walks, and maintains an eclectic taste in movie and TV show genres.

Yerin Han

Yerin Han

Lab Technician

Yerin graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2023 with a BS in Biological Sciences with minors in History and Chemistry. She has worked as an undergraduate researcher in an endocrinology lab for four years in college. Post-grad, she gained many meaningful clinical experiences working as a care assistant, solidifying her dreams of becoming a doctor one day. She also missed doing research during her post-grad life, which led her to finding the lab in 2024! Outside the lab, Yerin enjoys drawing, playing cozy video games, and spending quality time with friends.

Korina Karpov

Korina Karpov

Undergraduate Researcher

Korina is a biology undergraduate student at the University of Pittsburgh who joined the lab in August 2023. Outside of studies and the lab, she listens to music, plays board and video games, and engages in a variety of creative activities such as dance, drawing, and game design. She also has 11 years of ballet training and hopes to continue dancing throughout her life.

Anshi Bhatnagar

Anshi Bhatnagar

Undergraduate Researcher

Anshi is a second-year undergraduate student majoring in Biology with minors in Economics and Chemistry and a certificate in Conceptual Foundations of Medicine. She joined the lab in January 2024 and has been actively involved in research since then. Outside the lab, Anshi enjoys playing tennis, traveling to new places, watching a variety of movies, and listening to new music.

Lab Alumni (position)

Alexandra (Lexi) Campbell – Masters Student/Lab Tech

Ian Dale – Lab Tech

Kerry Hancuch – Lab Tech

Jonathon Heier – Graduate Student

Yang Li – Research Instructor

Chelsea Merkel – Graduate Student

Roisin O’Dowd – Undergrad

Katherine Pfister – Postdoc

Emma Porter – Undergrad

Qanber Raza – Postdoc

Aisha Vallopra – Undergrad

Emily Wickline – Postdoc