Armaan Akbar, B.S.

Armaan Akbar is a current medical student at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and an aspiring cardiothoracic surgeon. He received a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh, where his research focused on designing and fabricating vascular grafts for coronary artery bypass grafting.

He is currently on a year-long fellowship between his third and fourth year of medical school, pursuing outcomes research with the divisions of Cardiac, Thoracic and Transplant Surgery, as well as assisting with xenotransplantation efforts as a Pozefsky Scholar within the Johns Hopkins Transplant Research Center.

See a list of his publications.

Jessica B. Briscoe, M.D.

Dr. Briscoe is a postdoctoral research fellow and Irene Piccinini Investigator in Cardiac Surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She received bachelor’s degrees in neurobiology and psychology from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and a master’s degree in biomedical science and a medical doctorate from Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. She is completing her general surgery residency at MedStar Health Georgetown University Hospital and Washington Hospital Center.

Dr. Briscoe is interested in a career as a cardiothoracic surgeon-scientist. Her research interests include studying how to alleviate the neurological consequences of cardiac surgery, developing strategies to optimize surgical outcomes and advancements in surgical technique.

See a list of her publications.

Ifeanyi Chinedozi, M.D., M.B.A.

Dr. Chinedozi is the Joyce Koons Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Cardiac Surgery at Johns Hopkins University. He graduated from the Honors College of East Tennessee State University, earning his B.S. in nursing. Subsequently, he received his M.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine as the Bruce Reynolds and Carolyn Zimring Scholar in 2020. He joined the University of Maryland as a general surgery resident thereafter.

As a rising surgeon-scientist and leader in organizational management, Chinedozi focuses his attention on novel pharmacologic and technical approaches to mitigating neurological injuries following hypothermic circulatory arrest in cardiac surgery; clinical outcomes of multi-arterial surgical revascularization; and evaluating the complex intersection of sustainable global health implementation strategies with patient outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. As the founding chair of AthleticsMD Prehabilitation, Dr. Chinedozi seeks to advance the understanding and adoption of surgical prehabilitation, envisioning a health-care paradigm where preoperative optimization becomes the standard, not an exception. He is blessed with a beautiful wife and three wonderful children.

See a list of his publications.

Zachary Darby, M.D.

Zachary Darby is currently a postdoctoral research fellow for the Division of Cardiac Surgery at Johns Hopkins. He graduated from Seton Hall University with a B.S. in physics before attending Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University. He has experience with 3-D printing and computer numerical control (CNC) manufacturing. He is most interested in researching and exploring the areas of medicine that intersect with engineering. His research areas at Hopkins focus on the development of a computer simulation of a human heart and the development of new cardiac surgery procedures/techniques.

Albert Leng, B.A.

Albert Leng is a current medical student at Johns Hopkins interested in surgery. He graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a major in neuroscience and a minor in fine arts. His thesis investigated the use of unnatural amino acid incorporation with click chemistry to elucidate the pathway to abeta generation. At Johns Hopkins, he has been engaged with cardiothoracic, transplant, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and surgical oncology research groups. In his free time, Albert likes to paint, hike and ski. 

Deven Patel, M.D., M.S.

Dr. Patel is a Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellow at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He received his B.S. in biomedical engineering from the University of California, San Diego, an M.S. in biomedical engineering from California Polytechnic State University and an M.D. from Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine. He completed his general surgery residency at Cedars Sinai Medical Center.
 
Prior to his current role, Dr. Patel has been actively engaged in academic research and has multiple publications to his name. His dual background in medicine and engineering enables him to apply innovative engineering solutions to complex medical problems. His research interests are primarily focused on the intersection of biomedical engineering and surgery to improve surgical techniques and patient outcomes.

See a list of his publications.

Emily Rodriguez, B.S.

Emily Rodriguez is a third-year medical student at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She attended Ohio State University, where she studied chemistry and substance misuse and addiction. During her undergraduate career, Emily was a National Science Foundation Research Fellow, conducting research in a structural biology lab identifying protein structures of mycobacterium species.

Prior to medical school, she spent a year working in public health and harm reduction. Emily hopes to pursue a career in adult cardiac surgery. Her research interests include analyzing patient safety metrics, populations-based outcomes and disparities analyses, and perioperative care, with particular interests in cardiac transplantation and mitral valve surgery.

Annie Wang, B.A.

Annie Wang is a medical student at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She received a bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Regenerative Biology from Harvard College. Her undergraduate research at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute examined the impact of aging and lifestyle factors on cardiomyogenesis and cardiac fibrosis in murine and primate models. At Johns Hopkins, her research interests include addressing unmet needs in patient populations and exploring multi-disciplinary approaches to improve cardiac surgery outcomes. 

Hanghang Wang, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Wang is a cardiac surgeon at Johns Hopkins Suburban Hospital and an assistant professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Grinnell College, an M.D. from Dartmouth Medical School, and a Ph.D. in computational biology and bioinformatics from Duke University. She completed her general surgery residency at Duke University Medical Center and a cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at Johns Hopkins. 

Dr. Wang is deeply invested in research that bridges the gap between computational biology and clinical practice. Her research interests extend to the development of computational models for predicting surgical outcomes, the application of machine-learning algorithms in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases and the integration of bioengineering techniques to advance surgical interventions.

As an educator, Dr. Wang is committed to the mentorship of medical students, residents and fellows, fostering an environment of academic curiosity and clinical excellence. Dr. Wang holds a certificate in college teaching from Duke University and has previously served on the faculty at Durham Technical Community College, where she taught anatomy and physiology.

See a list of her publications.

Alice Zhou, M.S.

Alice Zhou is a medical student at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She received her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and a master’s degree in chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania, with a thesis project investigating epigenetic regulators involved in breast cancer recurrence.

Since coming to medical school, Alice has become interested in surgery. She has been working with the divisions of Cardiac, Thoracic and Transplant Surgery on a number of clinical outcomes research projects. She is currently on a dedicated research year between her third and fourth years of medical school and is supported by the Pozefsky Scholars Program and Dean’s Year of Research.

See a list of her publications.

• Duke Cameron, M.D.
  Professor of surgery, Cardiac Surgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital 
• James Gammie, M.D.
  James T. Dresher Sr. professor of surgery, Cardiac Surgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital 
• Harry Dietz III, M.D.
  Victor A. McKusick professor of genetics, Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins Hospital

• Allen Everett, M.D.
  Professor of pediatrics, director of the Pediatric Proteome Center, Johns Hopkins Hospital
• Virginia Hahn, M.D.
  Assistant professor, Medicine, Johns Hopkins Hospital 
• Jochen Steppan, M.D.
  Associate professor, Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins Hospital