Lab Members
Shailesh Jaiswal, MBBS, MHA
Clinical Research Coordinator
Shailesh Jaiswal completed his medical school from the Indira Gandhi Government Medical College, India and master’s in health administration from the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, Texas. He manages clinical studies and is responsible for subject recruitment, regulatory compliance, database and vendor management, grant submissions and other research-related daily operations. He also provides support in drafting SOPs, informed consent forms and research protocols for Dr. Rohatgi’s research program.
During his free time, he enjoys camping, being outdoors, following current affairs and spending time with his kids.
Mandana Pahlavani, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Nutrition
Texas Woman's University
Mandana Pahlavani, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Nutrition at Texas Woman's University in Denton, Texas. She is also an adjunct assistant professor at UTSW, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology. She has a strong research background in areas of Nutrition, Obesity, Cardiometabolic health, and Inflammation. Her doctoral research focused on determining mechanisms by which omega 3 fatty acids (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids, primarily eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), activate brown adipose tissue and induce the thermogenic marker, uncoupling protein-1 (UCP-1) to reduce obesity. She was awarded a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Postdoctoral Fellowship to investigate gene and miRNA analyses of mechanisms mediating anti-inflammatory effects of fish oil and dose-dependent effects of fish oil in obesity. Her second postdoc at UT Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW), supported by the NIH T32 training program focuses on patient-oriented research in cardiometabolic health. She was awarded American Heart Association (AHA) Postdoctoral Fellowship to perform deep phenotyping approaches to understand the role of lipid metabolism in cardiometabolic health. Her current research investigates the link between extreme cholesterol efflux capacity (CEC), anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant functions of HDL in a diverse cohort of Dallas Heart Study. In addition, she will investigate the use of bioactive food compounds and nutrients such as polyphenols, antioxidants, and functional foods in reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD), obesity, and inflammation.
Suzanne Saldanha, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Originally from India, Dr. Saldanha completed her undergraduate studies at St. Xavier’s College in 1996, her post-graduate studies at King Edward Memorial Hospital in 1998, and her doctorate at Bhabha Atomic Research Center, all affiliated with the University of Bombay.
In the Rohatgi lab, she is involved with high throughput analysis in clinical research.
In her free time she enjoys growing a variety of veggies in her backyard and making her own custom jewelry.
Angela Duvalyan, M.D.
Internal Medicine Resident/Post-doctoral Fellow
Angela Duvalyan is a current Internal Medicine Chief Resident. She has worked in Rohatgi lab since 2021 and is interested in cardiovascular genetic epidemiology. She is investigating the role of oxidative stress on proinflammatory pathways associated with cardiovascular risk. Specifically, her work includes understanding the association between haptoglobin polymorphisms and cardiovascular risk and outcomes in various cohorts.
Parthvi Bharatkumar Patel
Clinical Research Assistant II
Originally from India, Parthvi holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from The University of Texas at Arlington. In the Rohatgi lab, she is responsible for assisting with a clinical research study which includes recruiting participants, managing databases, and other research related tasks. For fun, she enjoys listening to music and learning new recipes.
Former Lab Members
Colby Ayers, M.S.
Mark Izbrand, B.S.
Ivan Yuhann, Ph.D.
Sneha Deodhar, M.S.