Principal Investigator
Alan Baik, MD
Dr. Alan H. Baik is a non-invasive cardiologist with a special interest in cardio-oncology. Cardio-oncology is an emerging field in cardiology that focuses on the cardiovascular care of cancer patients and survivors who have developed cardiovascular disease from their cancer-directed therapies. He provides specialized cardiovascular care to cancer patients who have received traditional chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy and radiation therapy. Baik works closely with oncologists and other providers to optimize the cardiovascular care of these patients. Baik earned his medical degree at UCSF, where he was a Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Fellow and graduated with distinction after completing a graduate-level thesis in molecular medicine. He completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in cardiology at UCSF. He has served on the subcommittee for cardio-oncology with the American Heart Association.
Priyanka Kataria, PhD
Staff Research Associate
Priyanka earned her PhD in Biochemistry from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, where she studied how yeast and plants adapt to carbonyl and oxidative stress. She now investigates how combined lipid saturation stress and hypoxia reshape overall physiology, with a focus on cardiac metabolism under chronic stress. Her long-term goal is to be an independent researcher exploring how cells integrate multiple stressors to drive metabolic remodeling. Outside the lab, she enjoys traveling to new destinations and is always on the hunt for new restaurants and cuisines to try.
Yujun (Daisy) Xu, PhD
Post-Doctoral Scholar
Yujun (Daisy) Xu recently earned her PhD in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science from Washington University in St. Louis and is excited to continue her research as a Postdoctoral Fellow at UCSF. Her scientific interests lie at the intersection of cardiovascular pathology, adipose biology, and immunology, with a particular focus on understanding how immunometabolic processes shape cardiovascular health and disease. Ultimately, she aims to leverage this multidisciplinary background to establish herself as an independent investigator in cardiovascular immunometabolism. A fun fact about Daisy is that her camera roll is mostly pictures of her two cats.
Sofia Tasca
Clinical Research Coordinator
Sofia Tasca is a Clinical Research Coordinator (CRC) for the UCSF Division of Cardiology Section of Cardio-Oncology and Immunology. She recently graduated from UC Berkeley with a BS in Nutritional Sciences, Physiology and Metabolism. She spent her undergraduate years volunteering at Highland Hospital in Oakland and various non-profit organizations, as well as served as a medical assistant for Silkiss Eye Surgery in Oakland. Sofia's role as a CRC at UCSF involves supporting ongoing clinical studies that focus on advancing our understanding of cardiovascular complications in cancer patients and survivors. She is looking forward to collaborating with this team as she works towards fulfilling her dreams of becoming a physician.
Daniel Alvarado
Undergraduate (UC Berkeley) Researcher
Daniel Alvarado is a first-generation undergraduate student at UC Berkeley studying Bioengineering and Molecular & Cell Biology. His interest in cardiovascular disease research is shaped by the low-income and minority community that helped raise him, where the impact of cardiovascular disease has made understanding these conditions especially meaningful to him. Through biomaterials research in Iman Noshadi's lab at UCR and engineering-focused work in the Fletcher Lab at UC Berkeley, Daniel has developed an interest in integrating basic science and bioengineering approaches to better understand the mechanisms that drive disease. In the future, he hopes to carry the perspective he gains from research into his career as a practicing physician while continuing to contribute to scientific work in a meaningful way; outside of lab and coursework, Daniel enjoys running and backpacking, and his first backpacking trip through Zion made him excited to explore more trails in the future.
Tyler Edwards
Staff Research Associate
Tyler joined as a Staff Research Associate after completing an integrated Masters in Biochemistry at the University of Manchester. He previously focused on chromatin regulation, tissue-specific enhancer elements, developmental disease, and adeno-associated virus gene therapies using both wet-lab and computational approaches. He is eager to continue investigating gene regulation and mechanistic perturbation in the context of hypoxia pathology, and to integrate transcriptional regulation machinery with downstream processes and metabolic checkpoints. He is hoping to eventually pursue a PhD and a career in translational molecular biology and biotechnology. When he's not in the lab, he enjoys video games, cooking, and exploring. Having lived in 4 different countries, he is always open to trying new foods and drinks as well!
Alexandra Wallerstein
Student Research Volunteer
Alexandra Wallerstein is a high school senior assisting with research in the Baik Lab. She has a passion for molecular biology and is particularly interested in how interactions between cells and their environment shape the development and function of complex organisms. The research she contributes to focuses on hypoxia and its potential as a therapeutic approach for cardiovascular disease. Through her work in the lab, Alexandra gains insight into the cellular mechanisms underlying cardiovascular health and disease while developing firsthand experience in scientific research and its potential to improve human health. Fun Fact: Alexandra competes on her school's Ethics Bowl team and loves tackling challenging Jigsaw puzzles.
Alumnus
Tej Joshi
Research Assistant
Current: Medical student, Boston University School of Medicine
Ryan Ruaysungnoen
Clinical Research Coordinator
Current: Medical student, UCLA School of Medicine
Cardio-Oncology and INFLAME Research Team
Javid Moslehi, MD
Collaborator
Mandar Aras, MD, PhD
Collaborator
Chen Zhang, PhD
Post-Doctoral Scholar
