Ranjan Gupta, M.D
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Dr. Gupta received his undergraduate degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and his medical doctorate degree from Albany Medical College through the Accelerated Six Year Biomedical Program. He completed a general surgery internship, residency in Orthopaedic Surgery, and an NIH Post Doctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. Subsequently, Dr. Gupta completed fellowship training in hand surgery/microsurgery at the University of California, Los Angeles, followed by an AO Fellowship in hand surgery/traumatology/shoulder at the University of Berne in Switzerland. He has a robust surgical practice- both at the University of California Medical Center in Orange and the Long Beach Veterans Hospital.
He is internationally recognized as leader in understanding and treating peripheral nerve and brachial plexus injuries. He is the Principal Investigator for the UC Irvine Peripheral Nerve Research Lab that has been funded with extramural grants from numerous foundations (OREF, ASSH, OTA, Aircast) and the National Institute of Health since 2000. His lab is focused on understanding nerve regeneration and Schwann cell control of neural injury. He is also actively involved with biomechanics research as a Co-Investigator for Dr. Thay Lee at the Orthopaedic Biomechanics Lab.
He has been recognized by his peers with the NIH Career Development Award from the National Institute for Neurologic Disorders & Stroke (2000), the Marshall Urist Young Investigator Award from the Association of Bone & Joint Surgeons (2005), the Kappa Delta Young Investigator Award from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery and the Orthopaedic Research Society (2006), the Sterling Bunnell Traveling Fellowship from the American Society of Surgery of the Hand (2008), the American-British-Canadian Traveling Fellowship for the American Orthopaedic Association (2013), the Joseph H. Boyes Research Award from the American Society of Surgery of the Hand (2015), and the Andrew J. Weiland Medal from the from the American Society of Surgery of the Hand to honor a surgeon-scientist who has contributed a significant body of research that has advanced the science and practice of hand surgery (2016).
Weiping Wang, M.D, Ph.D
Dr. Wang is a gastroenterologist by training who completed his PhD and postdoctoral research in Japan. As the lab manager, Dr. Wang provides invaluable expertise on molecular biology and cell culture techniques.
Winnie Palispis, M.D
Winnie Palispis is an Orthopaedic Surgery Resident Physician at UCI Medical Center. She graduated from UC Irvine and UC Irvine Medical School
Nilay Patel, M.D
Nilay Patel is an Orthopaedic Surgery Resident Physician at UCI Medical Center. He graduated from the Accelerated Physician-Scientist BS/MD Program from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Albany Medical College.
Justin Chan, B.A
Justin is a medical student at the University of California, Irvine. He completed his bachelor's degree at Columbia University, where he also studied human induced pluripotent stem cells in the context of Alzheimer's disease at the Taub Institute. Previously, he has studied aging and neurodegeneration as a member of labs at the University of California, San Francisco and the Gladstone Institutes. At the PNRL, he is working on applying 2-photon microscopy to study traumatic peripheral nerve injuries and the molecular biology of the human neuromuscular junction.
Jennifer Uong
Jennifer is an undergraduate student and is currently working on various projects in the PNRL. She has expertise in RT-qPCR, immunohistochemistry, and a wide myriad of tissue staining.
Henry Hoang
Lab Alumni
Minal Tapadia
Residency: UC Irvine, Orthopedic Surgery
Minal is a joints fellow at the Florida Orthopedic Institute. She received undergraduate degrees in political science and molecular biology from UC Berkeley, a masters degree from Boston University, a law degree from UC Hastings, and her medical degree from University of Toledo College of Medicine. At PNRL, Minal is working on projects involving compression neuropathies and nerve transections. She recently was awarded the Orthopedic Research Educational Foundation 2014 Resident Clinician Scientist Training Grant. She also presented the lab's work at the 2013 International Society for Neural Regeneration, where the lab was awarded a Poster Finalist Award.
Dr. Kurimoto hails from Nagoya, Japan where he practices hand surgery at Nagoya University Hospital. He is visiting PNRL for the year where he is researching methods by which to preserve the neuromuscular junction after traumatic nerve injury.
Shigeru Kurimoto, MD, PhD
Visiting Hand Fellow
James graduated from UC Irvine School of Medicine. He is currently an orthopedic resident at UC Irvine Health. He received his undergraduate degree from UC San Diego in Biochemistry and Cell Biology. He is currently working on various projects in the PNRL.
James Jung
Medical Student
Jared received his undergraduate degree from UC Irvine. He is currently a medical student at Stonybrook Medical School.
Jared Su
Medical Student
Ryan Anderson
Medical School : UC Davis
Awards: 2009 UC Irvine Undergraduate Research Opportunity Award ($600)
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Phong Bui
Medical School: UC Irvine
Residency: White Memorial Hospital, Internal Medicine
Awards: 2000 UC Irvine Undergraduate Research Opportunity Award ($2000)
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Tom Chao
Residency: Orthopedic Surgery, UC Irvine
Fellowship: Tom plans on pursuing fellowship in foot and ankle surgery.
Awards: Dr. Chao was awarded the 2012 Orthopedic Trauma Association Research Grant together with Dr. Zamorano ($10,000), as well as the 2012 Orthopedic Research Educational Foundation Resident Clinician Scientist Award ($20,000), as well as the 2013 Outstanding Basic Science Award from the American Society for Peripheral Nerve. He was also awarded the 2003 Whitaker Foundation Grant ($4,500).
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Michael Gray
Medical School: UC Irvine
Residency: UC Irvine, Internal Medicine
Awards: 2005 Orthopaedic Research Educational Foundation Medical Student Summer Research Fellowship ($2500), 2003 UC Irvine Undergraduate Research Opportunity Award ($3,000)
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Tony Hazel
Medical School: UC Irvine
Residency: Loyola University, Orthopedics
Fellowship: Tony plans on pursuing a fellowship in hand surgery.
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Michael Lin
Residency: Orthopedic Surgery, UC Irvine
Fellowship: Beth Israel Deaconess, Hand Surgery
Awards: Dr. Lin was awarded the California Orthopedic Association Hospital Resident Award ($2,000)
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Michelle Luu
Medical School: SUNY Downstate
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Nima Nassiri
Medical School: UCLA
Awards: 2009 UC Irvine Undergraduate Research Opportunity Award ($600)
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Winnie Palispis
Medical School: Medical College of Wisconsin
Residency: UC Irvine, Orthopedics
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Kasra Rowshan
Medical School: UC Irvine
Residency: UC Irvine, Orthopedic Surgery
Awards: 2002 AOA Medical Student Honors Society Student Research Fellowship ($3,500)
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Dr. Jeremy Smith
Medical School: New York University
Residency: UC Irvine, Orthopedics
Fellowship: Rothman Institute, Spine Surgery
Faculty: Dr. Smith previously served as an assistant professor of spine surgery at University of Southern California, where he served as co-director of the USC Center for Spine Surgery.
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Kazuko Abe
Undergraduate: UC Irvine
Physician Assistant School: Rosalind Franklin
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Mary Bathen
Medical School: UC Irvine
Residency: UCSD, General Surgery
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David Bear
Medical School: UC Irvine
Residency: University of Pittsburgh, Orthopaedics
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Brent Berger
Medical School: UC Irvine
Residency: UCLA, Orthopaedics
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Kim Cahill-Peterson
Medical School: UCLA Drew College of Medicine
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Jennifer Channual
Medical School: UC Irvine
Residency: UC Irvine, Dermatology
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Paul Dinh
Medical School: Northwestern University
Residency: UC Irvine, Orthopaedics
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Maryam Forootan
Maryam completed her undergraduate degree at UC Irvine in Biology. Her project involves assisting with the development of an in vitro modeling system to study the effects of mechanical stimuli on myelination. Her hobbies include shopping and real estate.
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Scott Hadley
Medical School: UC Irvine
Residency: NYU, Orthopaedics
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Sean Nguyen
Dental School: UCLA
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Thuy Pham
Medical School: University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Alex Rasouli
Medical School: UC Irvine
Residency: UC Irvine, Orthopedic Surgery
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Laura Rummler
Laura is a graduate student in the Biomedical Engineering Department at UC Irvine. She received bachelors degrees in Physics from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR and in Biomedical Engineering from Columbia University in New York, NY. Her current work in the lab focuses on developing an in vitro modeling system to study the effects of mechanical stimuli on myelination. Outside the lab, Laura enjoys cooking, hiking and camping.
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Erika Strandberg
Industry: Reva Medical, Scientific Affairs Associate
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Sourabh Suryadevara
Medical School: St George's University
Residency: University of Massachusetts, Internal Medicine
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Mona Tafti
Medical School: UC Irvine
Residency: Loma Linda, Radiology
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Linh Truong
Medical School: UC Irvine
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Derek Frump, BS
Undergrad: UC Irvine
Dental School: UCLA
Derek graduated as an undergraduate from UC Irvine 2011 as a Biological Sciences major. He is pursuing a career in dentistry and will be attending UCLA School of Dentistry in the fall on a merit-based scholarship.
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Dr. Peter Hahn
Medical School: UC Irvine
Residency: UC Irvine, Orthopedics
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