Our Team

Dr. Kedar Aras is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology & Biophysics and in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at State University of New York at Buffalo (UB), Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. He completed his PhD at University of Utah where he investigated the spate-temporal bioelectric sources of acute myocardial ischemia. He pursued his postdoctoral training at George Washington University under the supervision of Dr. Igor Efimov. As a postdoctoral fellow, he investigated the cardiac arrhythmia mechanisms, and the role of obesity in cardiovascular diseases for which he received the NHLBI Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00). Kedar joined UB and opened his independent lab in November 2022.

Research Interests: The ARAS Lab focuses on investigating the mechanistic underpinning of obesity and circadian dysfunction mediated cardiovascular diseases including arrhythmias and heart failure. We use a multimodal approach including: electrical and optical mapping, integrated omics (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics), cell and tissue imaging, and computational modeling & simulations to study the involvement of obesity (and metabolic syndrome) in promoting arrhythmias, heart failure, and other cardiac disorders.

Research Areas: Cardiac electrophysiology, Adipose biology, Chronobiology, Bioinformatics, Bioelectronics

A medical Laboratory scientist by professional training. I hold a bachelor’s degree in medical laboratory science from Nigeria and a Master’s degree in Biology from Western Illinois University. With an anticipated graduation date of Summer 2027, I have been focusing on exploring the molecular underpinnings of cardiovascular diseases and obesity since joining the ARAS Lab in April 2024. My research is driven by a passion to understand the complex interplay between these two significant health challenges, and I am committed to uncovering novel insights that will drive the development of effective treatments and improve patient outcomes.

I am currently a 3rd Year Medical Student at the Jacobs School of Medicine at the University at Buffalo. I previously received my bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from University at Rochester, and, at the Jacob’s School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, I work in Dr. Aras’ lab studying cardiac electrophysiology.

I’m Alexis, a Neuroscience major graduating UB in 2026. I joined the lab in June 2024 and am very passionate about cardiology. I love studying the intricacies of heart electrophysiology and how obesity may impact the heart.

Ethan Minnella is currently and undergraduate student pursuing a 3+2 BS/MPH combined degree program in Public Health. He plans to graduate in 2027, and then intends to pursue a medical degree with the goal of becoming a leader in the field of medicine. Ethan joined the ARAS lab in May of 2024.

Wren joined the lab in September of 2023 as an undergraduate student in the Biomedical Engineering department at UB. Working with two of their peers, they created a stainless steel cardiac preload device that would have allowed for increased viability of cardiac cells. After graduating with their Bachelors degree in May of 2024, they chose to continue with their work with this lab so that they may earn their master’s degree in May of 2025. Their current projects include 3D devices that would allow for more efficient data collection. One of the projects they completed is a waterproof 3D printed perfusion system that will allow for the collection of Optical Mapping data of whole hearts using a panoramic 4 camera set up.

I’m Neelam Qadus, an undergraduate and a pre-medical student, majoring in Biological Sciences. I will be graduating UB in 2025. I joined the ARAS lab in August 2024 because of my passion to study and understand the complexities of cardiovascular diseases.

I am Muazam Chaudhry, I currently major in Biochemistry and am an undergraduate pre-med student graduating UB in 2027. I joined this lab in late August 2024 due to my interests in understanding the multi-faceted effects that obesity has on the electrophysiology of the heart