https://wirkalab.com/home daily 1.0 2020-09-18 https://wirkalab.com/contact daily 0.75 2020-09-17 https://wirkalab.com/robertwirka daily 0.75 2023-04-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f59015d3da6d648d8430ecc/9d4417ef-850f-4cf6-bc44-210da856ccf3/20221101_140010.jpg Team - Make it stand out Danica Dy, PhD Candidate Danica graduated with her BS in Biology from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2020. Prior to pursuing her graduate degree, Danica was a research intern at the Gilbride Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University where she worked on a project identifying ciprofloxacin-resistant bacteria in urban water sources and quinolone resistance genes as a mechanism for ciprofloxacin resistance. She continued her undergraduate research with the Caron Lab at UNC-Chapel Hill where she contributed to various projects studying signaling pathways important for the development and maintenance of the lymphatic vasculature. Her thesis work with the Wirka Lab focuses on investigating causal genes driving atherosclerosis acting in different cell types. Outside of the lab, Danica has served as a Peer Mentor for UNC’s Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) program and UNC’s SURE/SOLAR program, is a contributing author to The PipettePen and NC DNA Day blogs, has served on the Organizing Committee for North Carolina’s Science Communication Conference (ComSciCon-Triangle), and is a mentor through the international STEM network, GradMAP Philippines. She is passionate about increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM and strives to increase accessibility to science through science communication. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f59015d3da6d648d8430ecc/1600281145555-X9IOYE8QJDCHVLZOQ0EK/rw_photo_2018.jpg Team - Robert Wirka, MD - Principal Investigator Rob completed his B.S. in Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his M.D. at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. He completed his Internal Medicine Internship and Residency at the University of California-San Francisco and his Cardiology Fellowship at Stanford University. At Stanford, he trained in the lab of Tom Quertermous, investigating the mechanisms of causal genes revealed by coronary disease GWAS. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiology, and practices General Cardiology. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f59015d3da6d648d8430ecc/0a57100a-7e24-4a3c-885a-4a0aff0487c5/Image.jpeg Team - Make it stand out Tiffany Riascos, BS, Graduate Student Tiffany is a first year BBSP graduate student in the department of Pharmacology. She is interested in studying the molecular mechanisms of smooth muscle cell phenotypic modulation during the development of atherosclerosis and the role that GWAS genes such as TWIST1 play in disease onset and progression. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f59015d3da6d648d8430ecc/f5b9ec39-22c4-4644-b7ec-261f55f0c111/DSCF3625.JPG Team - Make it stand out Thiel Lehman, PhD - Research Specialist https://wirkalab.com/research daily 0.75 2020-11-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f59015d3da6d648d8430ecc/1600711934737-TGZQK7IDN18WS0IY3488/lesion_fluorescence-01.png Research https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f59015d3da6d648d8430ecc/1600460335726-4SXAJIPDE2231M4VB99Q/myh11_for_website%2B%25281%2529.jpg Research https://wirkalab.com/positions daily 0.75 2020-09-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f59015d3da6d648d8430ecc/1600716860682-AY5M6DTE112BJRTN03IH/ridge_plot_1-01.png Positions - Research Specialist We have an open position for a research specialist/lab manager. Applicants should be detail-oriented, organized and motivated to grow and learn new techniques. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f59015d3da6d648d8430ecc/1600718619928-H9Y2M6UPFUK9J7R3LCNH/hairball_for_website-01.png Positions - Graduate Students Rotations are available for graduate students interested in learning how to use human genetics to identify the most important pathways mediating complex human diseases, including coronary artery disease. Great opportunity to gain exposure to single-cell multi-omics methods and datasets, highly multiplexed CRISPR and other cutting-edge methods for perturbing gene function. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f59015d3da6d648d8430ecc/1600719679365-012MOPMC9FQ9THD9V18N/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-06-23%2Bat%2B4.39.43%2BPM.jpg Positions - Undergraduate Students We have open positions for undergraduate students who would like to gain exposure to human disease-focused, lab-based research. Positions include work-study and research for credit. Undergraduates are included on publications commensurate with their contributions! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f59015d3da6d648d8430ecc/1600716939039-U8HO8JI46LIM62XK23AG/dimplot_for_website-01.jpg Positions - Postdoctoral Fellow The lab is seeking a highly-motivated, creative, resourceful and honest postdoctoral fellow to spearhead the cellular and molecular investigation of a top causal CAD gene. Methods will include working with complex genetic mouse models, single-cell RNA and ATACseq of mouse and human vascular tissue, ChIP-seq, highly-multiplexed CRISPR, and bioinformatic analyses of large datasets.