Research at the intersection of genetics, epigenomics, and cardiac biology.

—— About the Lab ——

The Goldman Lab is located within the Department of Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology at The Ohio State University Medical Center. We combine zebrafish genetics, next-generation sequencing, and molecular biology to dissect the mechanisms of heart regeneration.

Dr. Joseph Aaron Goldman, PhD

—— PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Dr. Goldman’s is an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University, where he runs an independent research laboratory focused on the molecular mechanisms of heart regeneration. His research bridges developmental biology, epigenomics, and cardiovascular medicine. Dr. Goldman got his PhD in Genetics from Harvard Medical School where he studied in the laboratory of Dr. Robert E. Kingston. His PhD thesis centered around histone variants, including their biochemistry and influence on chromatin remodeling. His Postdoctoral work was at Duke University Medical Center in the laboratory of Dr. Kenneth Poss where he was trained to study zebrafish heart regeneration.

Using transgenic and mutant zebrafish models, Dr. Goldman's group dissects the specific molecules that regulate gene expression and chromatin dynamics in the zebrafish heart after injury. His long-term goal is to translate insights from zebrafish biology into actionable therapeutic strategies for human cardiac disease which remains one of medicine's most significant unmet challenges.

Current Team

  • Reece Ratermann Undergraduate Researcher, Class of 2027

    Reece began her research in the Goldman lab the second semester of her sophomore year. Currently, she is working on models of mRNA selection for translation during regeneration.

  • Addison Cross

    Undergraduate Researcher, Class of 2029

    Addison joined the lab at the end of her freshman year. She is working on generating new strains of fish to investigate chromatin organization.

  • Future Graduate Students
    PhD Candidates

    Rotation students from the OSBP, BGSP, MCDBand Biochemistry programs are welcome to contact us about potential projects.

Former Team Members

  • Dr. Anupama Rao
    Graduate student - PhD 2023

    Anupama joined the lab winter of 2019 as part of the MCDB program. She published two first author papers and graduated in 5 years. She is now working as a postdoctoral associate in the lab of Dr. Vidu Garg at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

  • Anna Lubertozzi Masters student, Graduated 2023

    Anna got her Masters from the Department of Molecular Genetics from the College of Arts and Sciences. She is currently working on her PhD in the Plageman lab in the Department of Ophthalmology.

  • Jacob Panten Masters student, Graduated 2021

    Jake got his Masters from the Department of Molecular Genetics from the College of Arts and Sciences. He is currently a Junior Scientist at Zepto Life Technologies.

  • Rejenae Dockery Research Assistant

    Rejenae began in the lab February of 2024 in an NIH funded post-baccalaureate program. She remained in the lab for two years and contributed to two manuscripts including one first author paper. She is on her way to Meharry Medical College in Nashville for the Class of 2030.

  • Tessa Zecchino Undergraduate, Class of 2026

    Tessa joined the lab in 2023. She contributed to a manuscript and after two summer fellowships in industry she is now working for Eli Lilly in Indianopolis.

  • Richard White Undergraduate, Class of 2026

    Richard joined the lab in 2024. He contributed to one manuscript and authored his honors thesis in the Department of Biology entitled, “Analysis of Kdm5bb overexpression on heart muscle proliferation and regeneration in zebrafish.”

  • Mateo Zevallos Undergraduate, Class of 2026

    Mateo joined the lab at the start of his freshman year in 2023. He contributed to two manuscripts including one where he was co-First author. He also won numerous awards for his presentations and was selected for talks at the Mid-West Regional Zebrafish Conference (2024) and the Midwest Regional Society for Developmental Biology Conference (2025) where he also won an award. Mateo is on his way to the Master’s program for Biomedical Engineering at Cite Internationale Universitaire de Paris.

  • Carson McNulty Undergraduate, Class of 2025

    Carson started in the lab in 2023. He contributed to two manuscripts and was President of the Zebrafish Research Student Organization for two years. He successfully defended his Honor thesis on, “Canonical mRNA binding proteins have distinct roles in regeneration from the fish specific ortholog eif4e1c”.

  • Charles Franz Undergraduate, Class of 2024

    Charles began in the lab in 2022. He contributed to one manuscript and won an award for a poster presentation. He made the Dean’s list every year and participated in Zebrafish Research Student Organization (ZRSO), BIOEYES biology instruction for elementary school children. He is currently in enrolled in Medical School at The Ohio State University, Class of 2029.

  • Andy Russell Undergraduate, Class of 2024

    Andy began in the lab in 2021 at the start of his sophomore year. He was an OSU Biomedical Science Scholarship recipient and contributed to a manuscript. Andy won several poster presentation awards and is currently enrolled in Medical School at Wright State University, Class of 2028.

  • Elizabeth Lopez Undergraduate, Class of 2023

    Lizzy joined the lab her Sophomore year. She worked on a project to develop a transgenic Cas9 for tissue-specific knockouts. Lizzy started at Medical School at University of Cincinnati, Class of 2027.

  • Jose Segura-Bermudez
    Undergraduate, Class of 2023

    Jose began in the lab just before starting his freshman year at OSU. During his four years in the lab he co-authored a paper, got a presentation award at the Society for Developmental Biology Conference and was selected to give a talk at the Midwest Regional Zebrafish Conference. Jose was also awarded a fellowship from SDB called Choose Development. Jose started medical school at UCLA, Class of 2027.

  • Baken Lyu
    Undergraduate, Class of 2022

    Baken started in the lab his sophomore year. He was the first undergraduate in the lab and set a high bar. He also co-authored a manuscript. Baken was selected to give a talk at the 2020 Ohio Zebrafish Undergraduate (OHZU) Research Conference which was unfortunately cancelled for Covid-19. Baken began dental school at Case Western Reserve University, Class of 2026.

How We Work

  • RIGOR

    Reproducibility First
    Every result is verified across multiple biological replicates and experimental conditions. We practice open science and make data freely available upon publication.

  • MENTORSHIP

    Career Development
    Weekly one-on-ones, structured training plans, and a collaborative environment designed to support researchers at every career stage — from undergrad to postdoc.

  • COLLABORATION

    Cross-Disciplinary
    We work closely with cardiologists, computational biologists, evolutionary biologists and structural biologists both at OSU and at partner institutions around the world.