Members

Julie Chen, Undergraduate
jchen80@stanford.edu
 

Julie is an undergrad studying computer science but also incredibly fascinated by the wonder that is the biological world. Previously, she worked in the Abu-Remaileh lab at Stanford studying proteins involved in lysosomal lipid metabolism and in the Gladyshev and AbuGoot labs studying DNA methylation, aging and cellular reprogramming. She is broadly interested in understanding how cells make decisions and how environmental cues and intracellular crosstalk regulate cell identity. In her free time, Julie enjoys reading, writing and going running around Stanford campus. Julie was recognized by the Goldwater Scholarship, New Science Research Fellowship, and Time Initiative Fellowship.

Rayyan Jokhai, MD/PhD Student
rtjokhai@stanford.edu
BA, Johns Hopkins University

Rayyan is from Queens, New York and is pursuing an M.D./Ph.D. from Stanford School of Medicine. He is fascinated by the complexity of the central nervous system, consisting of the brain and spinal cord, and is interested in understanding how it develops. He hopes to apply this knowledge clinically to inform neuroregenerative treatments and create new platforms for disease modelling. Rayyan completed his undergraduate degree in chemistry at the Johns Hopkins University, where he worked in the lab of Dr. Thomas Lectka to develop novel fluorination methods for biologically-relevant compounds. Outside of lab, Rayyan enjoys doing Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Rayyan's support comes from the Stanford Medical Scientist Training Program and Stanford Medical Scholars Research Program, and he has been recognized by the Stanford Chi-Li Pao Foundation-AOA Student Research Fellowship.

Ella Soohee Kim, Undergraduate Student
ellakim@stanford.edu 
 

Ella is an undergrad interested in developmental and regenerative biology. In the past, she studied transgenesis in Seung Kim's lab at Stanford characterizing novel enhancer-trap lines in Drosophila melanogaster. Ella is hoping to apply her research background to a future in medicine. In addition to taking her pre-med science courses, Ella is exploring her interests in anthropology, modern languages, and education. Outside of the classroom, she is inspired by music, food, hiking and her cats.

Kyle Loh, Faculty
kyleloh@stanford.edu
PhD, Stanford University; BA, Rutgers University (CV)

Kyle enjoys learning about developmental biology and using this knowledge to exert control over stem cells. He was a beneficiary of public schools (County College of Morris and Rutgers University) and conducted research at the Genome Institute of Singapore (with Bing Lim) and Stanford University (for his Ph.D., with Irv Weissman), with fellowships from the Hertz Foundation, U.S. National Science Foundation and Davidson Institute for Talent Development. He then continued as a Siebel Investigator and later, as an Assistant Professor and The Anthony DiGenova Endowed Faculty Scholar, at Stanford. Kyle is a Packard Fellow, Pew Scholar, Human Frontier Science Program Young Investigator and Baxter Foundation Faculty Scholar, and has been recognized by the NIH Director's Early Independence Award, Forbes 30 Under 30, Harold Weintraub Graduate Award, Hertz Foundation Thesis Prize and the A*STAR Investigatorship. In his spare time, Kyle goes road biking, enjoys science fiction, and indulges his new fascination with biosafety level 4 viruses. 

Aaron McCarty, Laboratory Services Manager (joint with Irv Weissman's lab) 
mccartya@stanford.edu 
BS, University of California, Davis 

Aaron received his BS in Animal Science & Aquaculture from University of California, Davis (GO AGS!!). He then went on to cut his teeth in molecular biology and transgenic mouse production and management at several Bay Area biotech companies (Anergen, Deltagen, Sunesis Pharmaceuticals). In 2008, he joined the Stanford Veterinary Services Center before taking a position in Dr. Irving Weissman’s lab in 2012. He now splits his time as Lab Manager for Dr. Kyle Loh’s lab and Colony/in vivo resources manager for the Weissman lab. Aaron is a Bay Area native having been born and raised in San Carlos. He loves his Bay Area sports teams and is an unapologetic Dodger “disliker”. In his free time, he can be found exploring San Francisco with his family, attending his kids’ numerous school and sporting events, or working on his short game at the golf course.

Andrew Petkovic, CIRM Bridges Intern 
andrewp4@stanford.edu
BS, University of California, Davis

Andrew received his BS in biotechnology from UC Davis and began a new journey to pursue his master's degree at San José State University as a Stem Cell Internships Laboratory-based Learning (SCILL) student after discovering his passion for stem cells. He started his internship in Dr. Loh's lab as a CIRM intern to further his knowledge about neural stem cells under the guidance of Rayyan Jokhai. Andrew's interests include skiing, finding cafés to study at, and eating. Also be careful about mentioning Metal Gear Solid, he might not stop talking about it for a while. Andrew is supported by the CIRM Bridges Program. 

Yimiao Qu, Postdoctoral Fellow
yimiao.qu@stanford.edu
PhD & MS, Peking University; BA, Shandong University

Yimiao obtained her Ph.D. from Peking University where she discovered a molecular mechanism whereby a cell evaluates and keeps a memory of its environment to make a better decision for when to subsequently proliferate. From then on, she has been fascinated by the molecular mechanisms underlying how a cell’s environmental history could reprogram its behavior. A cell’s environmental history also shapes its identity during development. She is now beginning to study whether and how the history of environmental signals can direct the trajectory of the cell differentiation over time during mammalian development. Yimiao believes her research will unveil the molecular mechanisms underlying the landscape of cell differentiation trajectories during early mammalian development. Outside of the lab, she enjoys watching movies (Marvel movies are the best) and travelling around. Yimiao has also developed a new hobby of observing wild animals since she moved to the Bay Area. Yimiao is supported by the Stanford School of Medicine Dean's Postdoctoral Fellowship and Stanford MCHRI Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Qingqing Yin, Postdoctoral Fellow
qingqyin@stanford.edu
PhD, Peking University; BS, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University

Qingqing received her Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics at Peking University, where she focused on cancer nanomedicine. Mentored by Yiguang Wang, she developed a binary ratiometric nanoreporter that converts pH changes during cellular endocytosis into digitized signal output, enabling the quantitative imaging of nanoparticle internalization in vivo. As a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford, she first worked in Tanya Stoyanova's laboratory, where she learned about cancer biology. Now, she is excited to start a new journey in molecular biology and virology. Outside of the lab, Qingqing enjoys cooking Chinese cuisine and playing Lego. Qingqing is supported by the Stanford School of Medicine Dean's Postdoctoral Fellowship.