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The Queen's Medical Center
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The Queen's Center for Biomedical Research (QCBR) functions as the translational research arm of the Queen's Medical Center, located in downtown Honolulu, Hawaii. Queen's is a private, non-profit, acute medical care facility. As the leading medical referral center in the Pacific Basin, it offers a comprehensive range of primary and specialized care services. 

​Queen's Mission is to fulfill the intent of its founders Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV to provide in perpetuity quality health care services to improve the well-being of Native Hawaiians and all of the people of Hawaii. Queen's envisions this by being the preeminent health care system of the Pacific, providing superior patient care that is continually advanced through education and research.

Biomedical research is a critical component of patient care excellence. At Queen's, this is accomplished through groundbreaking findings at the molecular level, through research translating these findings into clinical trials, and through incorporation of evidence-based practice across the medical center.
​

Since its establishment in 1998, the Queen's Center for Biomedical Research under the directorship of Reinhold Penner, MD PhD, has made seminal contributions to our understanding on how disease can occur at a molecular and cellular level. QCBR has identified several novel and fundamental proteins, and with this unraveled new cellular signaling mechanisms that, if not controlled carefully by the human body, can lead to diseases such as diabetes, autoimmune disease and cancer.

Scientists at QCBR push the boundaries of knowledge as evidenced by repeated publications in the best international peer-reviewed journals, such as Nature, Science and Cell, and as reported in local and national news.
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Our Researchers

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Reinhold Penner
Director of Research
Tel: 1 (808) 691-5366
Fax: 1 (808) 691-5377
rpenner@hawaii.edu
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Andrea Fleig
Associate Director
Tel: 1 (808) 691-7931
Fax: 1 (808) 691-7939
afleig@hawaii.edu
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Mahealani Monteilh-Zoller
Manager
Tel: 1 (808) 691-7936
Fax: 1 (808) 691-7939
mzoller@queens.org
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Clay Wakano
Scientist
Tel: 1 (808) 691-7925
Fax: 1 (808) 691-7939
cwakano@queens.org
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​Carissa Kim
Associate Scientist
Tel: 1 (808) 691-7933
Fax: 1 (808) 691-7939
carkim@queens.org
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Malika Faouzi
Scientist
Tel: 1 (808) 691-7926
Fax: 1 (808) 691-7939
mfaouzi@queens.org
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Sayuri Suzuki
Scientist
Tel: 1 (808) 691-7930
Fax: 1 (808) 691-7939
sasuzuki@queens.org
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Aaron Cullen
Research Chemist
Tel: 1 (808) 691-7924
Fax: 1 (808) 691-7939
acullen@queens.org
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John Starkus
Senior Scientist
Tel: 1 (808) 691-4261
Fax: 1 (808) 691-7939

jstarkus@queens.org​
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Ivana Pilchová
Scientist
Tel: 1 (808) 691-7930
Fax: 1 (808) 691-7939
ipilchova@queens.org
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Brandon Johnson
​Scientist
Tel: 1 (808) 691-4261
Fax: 1 (808) 691-7939
brajohnsong@queens.org


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Michael Ortega
Scientist
Tel: 1 (808) 691-7902
Fax: 1 (808) 691-7939
​miortega@queens.org
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Jonas Nordhoff
Undergraduate Summer Researcher
Tel: 1 (808) 691-7902
Fax: 1 (808) 691-7939
​jnordhof@hawaii.edu


Former members


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Krystin Wong
Intern
(2019)

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Aaron Yamasaki
Intern
(2018)
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Ram Neupane
Postdoctoral Scientist
(2021)
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Jayanti Neupane
Associate Scientist
(2021)

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Amity Tran
Intern
(2018)

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Chad Jansen
Graduate Researcher
(2015)

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Rebecca Kim
Laboratory
Technician/Intern

(2014)

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Adriana Sumoza-
Toledo

Scientist
(2012)

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Cody Sia
Intern
(2012)

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Dawn Tani
Laboratory Manager
(2011)

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George Myers
Graduate Researcher
(2010)

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Lynda Addington
Research Assistant
(2009)

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Ingo Lange
Graduate Researcher
(2008)

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Suhel Parvez
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2008)

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Alexander Stokes
Senior Scientist
(2007)

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Theresa Kurise
Graduate Student
(2007)

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Britta Sievert
Intern
(2006)

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Zengqiu Li
Graduate Student
(2006)

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Ramon Go
Intern
(2005)

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Martin Kolisek
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2005)

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Andrea Small-Howard
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2004)

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Teresa Samson
(2002)

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Glenn Magyar
Laboratory Manager
(2001)
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Masakatsu Kanazawa
Researcher
(2017)​

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Kishan Tsang
Research Internship
(2015)

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Lori Tsue
Research Associate
(2013)

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Jae Won Kim
Research Assistant
(2012)

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Lahaina Zoller
Intern
(2012)

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Annette Lis
Scientist
(2011)

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Morten Larsen
Graduate Researcher
(2009)

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Niloufar Ataie
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2009)

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Teresa Kreye-Azevedo
Intern
(2008)

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Angela Love
Research Assistant
(2007)

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Helen Turner
Associate Director
(2007)

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Prerna Passad
Graduate Student
(2007)

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Linden Doescher
Laboratory Technician
(2006)

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Philippe Demeuse
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2006)

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Ayako Kurashima
Intern
(2005)

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Matthew Pitts
Rotation Student
(2005)

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Mike Dionne
Graduate Student
(2003)

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Michelle Tripp
IT Coordinator
(2002)

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John McEnerney
Laboratory Technician
(2001)
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Melissa Gozun
Intern
(2017)

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Karl Yandoc
Intern
(2015)

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Christopher Maggio
Research Assistant
(2013)

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Marius Woitok
Graduate Student
(2012)

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Jessica Swonger
Rotation Student
(2012)

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Stephanie Johne
Research Associate
(2010)

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Emerson Kerwin
Intern
(2009)

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Christie Munn
Intern
(2009)

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​Shekinah Euginio
Intern
(2008)

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Christine Peinelt
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2007)

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Scott Henderson
Graduate Student
(2007)

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Lori Shimoda
Research Associate
(2007)

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Mikela Yarawamai
Intern
(2006)

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Cora Rillero
Graduate Student
(2005)

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Valerie So
Intern
(2005)

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Helena Morris
Intern
(2004)

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Jeffrey Squires
Rotation Student
(2003)

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Leigh Anne Bagley
Graduate Student
(2002)

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Meredith Hermosura
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2001)
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Bulan Wu
Assistant Professor
(2017
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Connor Murakami
Intern
(2015)

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Zheng Zhang
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2013)

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Haijie Yu
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2012)

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Lisa Janzon
Intern
(2011)

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Maurice Needham
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2010)

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Sara Phillips
Intern
(2009)

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Jun-Ichi Goto
Visiting Scientist
(2008)

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Andreas Beck
Scientist
(2008)

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Kimberly Cochrane
Graduate Researcher
(2007)

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Jason Barnhill
Graduate Student
(2007)

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Miyoko Bellinger
Research Assistant
(2007)

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Martin Liss
Visiting Researcher
(2006)

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Ling Cordova
Laboratory Technician
(2005)

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Kaohimanu Dang
Laboratory Technician
(2005)

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Henrique Cheng
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2004)

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Donna Deng
Intern
(2003)

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Ashlee Nekoba
Laboratory Assistant
(2002)

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Jens Doutheil
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2000)
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Quinton Muronaga
Intern
(2016)

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Tatiana Kilch-Di Rosa
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2014)

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Junhao Huang
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2013)

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Maxmilian Wei
Intern
(2012)

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Markus Thiel
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2011)

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Susanna Zierler
Scientist
(2010)

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Michelle Regis
Intern
(2009)

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Nora Chen
Intern
(2008)

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Christian Schwindling
Intern
(2008)

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Marifel Barbasa
Intern
(2007)

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Janos Molnar
Graduate Student
(2007)

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Dana Ko'omoa
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2006)

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Kimberly Del Carmen
Postdoctoral Fellow
(2006)

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Stefan Gross
Diploma Student
(2005)

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Bret Bessac
Graduate Student
(2005)

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Carolyn Oki
Research Associate
(2004)

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Murielle Huberson
Research Associate
(2003)

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Ryuichi Takezawa
Scientist
(2002)

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Peder Hill
Laboratory Technician
(1999).

04-28-2022


Telephone

+1-808-691-5366

Email

rpenner@hawaii.edu