Principle Investigator
Joyce Bischoff, PhD
Joyce Bischoff received an A.B. in chemistry from Duke University and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Washington University School of Medicine. She was a post-doctoral fellow at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. She joined the Surgical Research Laboratories, now called the Vascular Biology Program, at Children's Hospital in 1990. She was promoted to Professor in the Department of Surgery at Harvard Medical School in 2010.
Lab Members
Annegret Holm, MD
Research Fellow
Dr. Annegret Holm graduated from Medical School at the University of Heidelberg where she conducted her basic science thesis work in Dr. Hellmut Augustin’s lab at the German Cancer Research Center focusing on microvascular mural cell biology and Ang/Tie signaling in tumor angiogenesis. She worked as a clinical fellow in the Department of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at the University Hospital Freiburg, Germany with a special interest in caring for patients with vascular anomalies. She was recently appointed a committee member of VASCERN – the European Reference Network for vascular anomalies.
Her research in the Dr. Joyce Bischoff lab combines her basic science and clinical interest in vascular anomalies and focuses on drug discovery/repurposing for these patients. Specifically, she works on understanding the molecular mechanisms driving vasculogenesis and angiogenesis in infantile hemangioma involving the transcription factor SOX18 and downstream signaling pathways.
Outside of work, she enjoys outdoor activities (running, hiking, skiing) and is an enthusiastic clarinet player.
Sana Nasim, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Sana Nasim received her B.S in Biomedical Engineering and a minor in Applied Mathematics from New Jersey Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Florida International University in 2020. She joined Dr. Bischoff’s laboratory as a postdoctoral fellow where she focuses on capillary malformations caused by the GNAQ R183Q mutation in endothelial cells and how this impacts endothelial barrier formation, response to flow, and interaction with surrounding mural cells and immune cells.
Jill Wylie-Sears, MA
Research Technologist I
Jill obtained her Master of Science in Plant Molecular Biology from University of Michigan and her Master of Arts in Professional Writing with a concentration in Biomedical Sciences from Western Michigan University in 1998. In 2001, Jill joined the Bischoff Lab as a Research Technician with graduation to Research Technologist I.
Jerry Wei Heng Tan
Research Assistant I
Jerry received his Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences, First Class Honors, from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore in May 2023. He was in the CN Yang Scholars’ Program at NTU, a research intensive and interdisciplinary STEM program. He received several awards and scholarships, including funding to conduct his Final Year Research Project in the Bischoff Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital; his thesis was titled “Role of R(+) Propranolol in the Adipogenic Differentiation of Hemangioma Stem Cells.” After graduation from NTU in May of 2023, Jerry rejoined the Bischoff Lab as a Research Assistant 1 where he is continuing his work on infantile hemangioma stem cell differentiation and cholesterol metabolism. Jerry will enter the Basic Biomedical Sciences PhD program at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in the Fall of 2024.
Maya Alvarez-Harmon
Undergraduate Student
Maya is a junior at Harvard College, pursuing a Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology Concentration. She joined the Bischoff Lab in September of 2023 to conduct independent research on vascular tumors and vascular malformations. She is investigating the expression and localization of two transcription factors – SREBP2 and SOX18 – to assess the mevalonate pathway in endothelial cells in these vascular lesions. Maya has several teaching and research activities, including as STAT 100 Teaching Fellow at Harvard College (Fall 2023) and Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Volunteer at the Massachusetts General Hospital.