Our Team

Principal Investigator

Erica Heinrich, PhD

Assistant Professor
UC Riverside School of Medicine
Division of Biomedical Sciences

Dr. Erica Heinrich is an assistant professor in the Division of Biomedical Sciences at the UC Riverside School of Medicine at UC Riverside. She completed her PhD at the University of California, Irvine where she studied comparative respiratory physiology with Dr. Timothy Bradley. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine where she studied the genetic underpinnings of the neural control of breathing, as well as the impact of environmental exposures on ventilatory control with Dr. Frank Powell and Dr. Tatum Simonson. Her current research examines the integrative physiology of hypoxic stress in humans, with a specific focus on the impact of hypoxemia on immune function and the neural control of breathing.

Email: erica.heinrich@medsch.ucr.edu
Office: School of Medicine Research Room 101
Phone: (951) 827-9198

UCR Faculty Profile

Google Scholar

Graduate Students

Abel Vargas - PhD Candidate

Abel is a fifth year PhD student. His dissertation research examines the impact of hypoxia and environmental stress on immune function.

Office: School of Medicine Research Building Room 130
Email: abel.vargas@email.ucr.edu

Victoria Rojas, MS

Victoria is a recent Masters graduate interested in how epigenetic mechanisms contribute to adaptations in high-altitude environments.

Office: School of Medicine Research Building Room 130
Email: victoria.rojas@email.ucr.edu

Hannah Pagliero, MS

Hannah is a recent Masters graduate who studies hypoxia-induced changes in calcium concentrations in peripheral immune cells following short-term high-altitude exposure.

Office: School of Medicine Research Building Room 130
Email: hannah.pagliero@email.ucr.edu

Eileen Rueff, MS

Eileen is a recent Masters graduate who is beginning her medical school studies at UC Riverside. She studies how high altitude exposure impacts platelet function.

Office: School of Medicine Research Building Room 130
Email: eileen.rueff@email.ucr.edu

Undergraduate Students

Allyson Phan

Allyson is a recent graduate from UC Riverside. She is studying adaptations to vascular shear stress in high-altitude adapted populations. She is particularly interested in the genetic and epigenetic regulation of VCAM1 in high-altitude groups with Chronic Mountain Sickness.

Shimriah Woo

Shimriah is a recent graduate from UC Riverside. She is studying the impact of hypoxia on platelet function in vivo as well as the mechanisms underlying innate immune activation at high altitude.

Donna Amaya

Donna is studying the effects of occupational exposures on lung health and the immune system in farmworker populations in Inland Southern California.

Jennifer Fan

Jennifer is studying the effects of high-altitude exposure on the human immune system. She is also interested in the integrative physiological response to hypoxia, including the detection of dyspnea in clinical settings.

Lab Alumni

Postdoctoral Alumni

Kristina Bergersen, PhD

Krissie investigated the impacts of COVID-19 on immune function and disparities in COVID-19 health outcomes across populations in Inland Southern California in collaboration with Dr. Meera Nair's lab.

Graduate Alumni

Karapet Mrktchyan, PhD

Karapet's dissertation research examined the physiological and psychological mechanisms underlying the sensation of dyspnea, or shortness of breath.

On the Individual Variations in Dyspnea and its Prediction Using Non-Invasive Methods

Kathy Pham, PhD

Kathy's dissertation research examined the impact of high-altitude exposure on inflammation and immune function.

Inflammatory Profiles and Immune Responses to High-Altitude Acclimatization

Shyleen Frost, PhD

Shyleen's dissertation research examined epigenetic mechanisms of high-altitude adaptation.

Exploring Physiological Plasticity and Epigenetic Mechanisms in High-Altitude Adaptation

Sunny Virk, MS

Sunny's masters thesis investigated the epigenetic mechanisms by which hypoxia impacts immune function. He used in vitro and in vivo high-altitude exposure models to determine the impact of hypoxia on DNA methylation and histone modifications.

Hypoxia Modulates Histone H3 Modification Patterns in Human Peripheral Immune Cells

Veronica Penuelas, MS

Veronica's masters thesis examined the long-term impact of COVID-19 on the neural control of breathing and the role of systemic inflammation in changes in ventilatory chemoreflexes.

Systemic Inflammation and Control of Breathing Patterns in Humans with History of COVID-19 Infection