Lab Members

Harpriya Chugh, BE, has been working with data for over 25 years, and for the past 15 years, she has been managing and designing databases and processes for the Oregon Sudden Unexpected Death Study (SUDS) as well as the Ventura (PRESTO) study at the Center for Cardiac Arrest Prevention (CCAP).

Audrey Uy-Evanado, MD, is a cardiologist and project scientist at the CCAP at the Smidt Heart Institute. She leads the patient recruitment and phenotyping efforts for the Oregon Sudden Unexpected Death Study (SUDS).

Liz Heckard, BS, MS, graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor's in human biology in 2022 and a master's in community health & prevention research (CHPR) in 2023. Her past work includes roles as a research assistant in the Department of Pediatric Endocrinology and Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Stanford’s School of Medicine. Her master's thesis also focused on childhood obesity and caregiver stress during the COVID-19 pandemic (“Changes in Children’s Weight Status, Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviors, Dietary Patterns, and Caregiver’s Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic“).

Marco Mathias, BS, graduated from UCLA with a degree in neuroscience. As an undergraduate, he examined the effects of stress on astrocyte activity and morphology in the David Geffen School of Medicine physiology department.

Marita Knudsen Pope, MD, PhD, did her medical training at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, and has since worked as a resident physician in Norway. Alongside her clinical work, she earned a doctorate in cardiology from the Institute of Clinical Medicine at the University of Oslo. Her PhD research focused on the treatment and outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation utilizing data from the large, international GARFIELD-AF registry. She is currently a visiting postdoctoral scientist at Smidt Heart Institute, where her research is centered on prediction of sudden cardiac death.

Arayik Sargsyan, MD, MPH, obtained his master’s degree in public health from the American University of Armenia (affiliated with Johns Hopkins University) and is a foreign MD with international experience in hospitals in Vienna and Salzburg and clinical research centers in Warsaw, Stockholm, and Vienna.

Thien Tan Tri Tai Truyen, MD, is a cardiologist from Vietnam. He was trained in Global Clinical Scholars Research Training at Harvard Medical School. His research focuses on predicting sudden cardiac death and flow abnormalities in coronary artery disease.