
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Genetic Medicine and Biomedical Engineering
Johns Hopkins University
Center for Inherited Heart Disease
I am a physician scientist with a research focus on stem cell biology, heart regeneration and developmental cardiology. I received my BSc in Biology and my Medical Degree from the University of Crete in Greece. Then I moved to Boston MA, where I was a post-doc at Harvard Medical School and completed my residency at Boston University and my cardiology fellowship at Johns Hopkins. During my time at Hopkins I was a post-doc in Dr. Chulan Kwon and David Kass labs.
Currently, I treat patients with cardiac disease at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and I dedicate the majority of my time brainstorming ideas with members of the lab and getting fascinated by transcriptional regulation, heart development and regeneration. Outside the lab I enjoy playing legos and board games with my son and wife, wine tasting, guitar playing and watching artistic movies.
Myo Htet, MBBS, PhD

I was born and raised in Burma where I studied medicine at the University of Medicine Mandalay. I completed my PhD training at the Glasgow Caledonian University where I conducted research about the role of connexin43 in pulmonary hypertension. I was trained as a postdoctoral fellow for 2 years at the University of Maryland Baltimore where I conducted hypertension research where I manipulated myosin phosphatase regulatory subunit (Mypt1) to lower blood pressure through smooth muscle sensitization to NO/cGMP-mediated vasodilation. Currently, I am a postdoctoral fellow in the Tampakakis lab where I study the role of a cardiac enhancer in the development of heart failure. Outside of lab, I enjoy outdoors, listening to music and watching snooker games.
Johns Hopkins BME Graduate student
Shunyao Lei, MSc

I received an undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering (BME) from Rutgers University, where I discovered my career interest falls on developing novel therapeutics to improve human lives. Later, I moved to Baltimore and received a master’s degree in BME from Johns Hopkins University. Currently, I am currently a graduate in the Tampakakis lab, where I am exploring the role of mRNA modifications during heart development.
Outside the lab, there are some fun facts about me: 1) I have an identical twin sister; 2) I also have a chubby cat whose nickname is Donggua (Means winter melon in Chinese).

Sheetal Bajpayi
BA/MSc Candidate
I am a master's student at Johns Hopkins Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. I completed most of my schooling in Singapore and moved to India for a Bachelor's in Biotechnology. I have been fascinated by the field of regenerative medicine and stem cell biology and I joined the Tampakakis lab in August 2021.
I am currently working on projects focusing on cardiovascular epitranscriptomics and the use of stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes for heart regeneration.
I love outdoor activities and enjoy photographing while I’m at these. Apart from that, being environmentally conscious is something that really matters to me.
Asimina Zoitou
Johns Hopkins BME Undergraduate Student
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Alumni
Harshi Gangrade, MSc, Research Associate at CRISPR Therapeutics, Cambridge MA
Jenica Wang, MHS, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
Sandra Gomez, PhD Student, Colorado School of Mines Chemical Engineering
Stephanie Glavaris, PhD Student, Johns Hopkins University CMM program
Eubin Park, MSc Student in Data Science, Columbia University