Ela Knapik

From left, graduate student Taylor Nagai, Ela Knapik, MD, senior research scientist Dharmendra Choudhary, PhD, and research assistant Cory Guthrie in Knapik’s lab surrounded by tanks of zebrafish, the model organism that drives their research. (photo by Erin O. Smith)
June 12, 2025

Tiny zebrafish aid discovery of rare, fatal genetic disease

The children were born in Turkey with a smaller-than-normal head size, cataracts, severe developmental delay, intellectual disability and epilepsy.

By Bill Snyder
January 13, 2020

Vanderbilt-led team discovers new genetic disease and defines underlying mechanism

An international research team has discovered a new genetic syndrome caused by mutation of a single gene and named it CATIFA, an acronym for its core symptoms.

By Leigh MacMillan
April 24, 2019

Study merges big data and zebrafish biology to reveal mechanisms of human disease

In a series of studies that volleyed between large databases and research in zebrafish, Vanderbilt investigators have discovered a link between vascular biology and eye disease.

By Leigh MacMillan
July 29, 2015

In a zebrafish’s eye

Vanderbilt investigators demonstrate that a certain eye lens protein is evolutionarily conserved between zebrafish and rat, suggesting that zebrafish can be used as a model system to understand eye lens disorders such as cataracts.

By Sanjay Mishra
illustration of cholesterol blockage
April 23, 2015

VU team explores new cholesterol processing pathway

A zebrafish model of a rare genetic disease has revealed an unexpected regulatory pathway for cholesterol absorption and processing.

By Leigh MacMillan
December 18, 2013

Targeting tumor “supply lines”

A metabolic enzyme plays a crucial role in vascular development and may be a good target for cancer therapies.

By Leigh MacMillan
December 16, 2011

Clues to skeletal form in ‘feelgood’ fish

Ela Knapik, associate professor of medicine, and colleagues are using zebrafish to explore the molecular and cellular mechanisms that cause birth defects of the face and skeleton.
By Leigh MacMillan