Principal Investigator

Arpita K. Vyas, MD, DCH

Arpita K. Vyas, MD, DCH

Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Endocrinology

Arpita K. Vyas, MD, is a board-certified Pediatric Endocrinologist at St. Louis Children Hospital and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Washington University. Vyas completed her medical education at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom and pediatric residency at the Case Western Reserve University, followed by a pediatric endocrine fellowship at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Her research expertise is in the field of maternal-fetal medicine and cardiovascular sciences. Her research addressing the impact of in-utero environment on offspring health outcomes is funded by the National Institute of Health.

In her free time, she likes to spend doing jigsaw puzzles with her two children, globe-trotting, reading Jane Austin and Charlotte Bronte’s novels.

Personnel

Bashar Alkhatib, PhD

Bashar Alkhatib, PhD

Staff Scientist

Bashar Alkhatib, was born in Montreal, Quebec. He completed his bachelor of science degree in biology at Purdue University in Indianapolis, IN and his doctoral degree at McGill University in Montreal. Alkhatib’s doctoral work was focused on investigating how components of the extracellular matrix are degraded during connective tissue disease and what functional consequences this had on the tissues. His postdoctoral work shifted focus to the role of TGF-beta in the development of the axial skeleton and the role of the immune response in tissue fibrosis. Currently, he is studying how maternal androgen excess during gestation can lead to fetal cardiac programming. His goal is to become an independent investigator in a research-intensive institution.

In his free time, he enjoys spending time with my wife and children, playing basketball, and trying new food.

Eylem Topaktas, MD

Eylem Topaktas, MD

Clinical Fellow

Eylem Topaktas is from Turkey. She completed her pediatric residency at Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine in Turkey. Continuing her career at Washington University in St. Louis as a pediatric endocrinologist, she has started her pediatric endocrinology fellowship. In joining the Vyas lab in 2022, she is interested in studying the cardiac effects of androgens. She has published “Evaluation of metabolic parameters and aortic elasticity in normotensive children with premature adrenarche” in the Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism. She is now working on testosterone’s effect on offspring’s growth and cardiac molecular signaling.

In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her three daughters and doing paper tole.

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