The Illustrious Members of the Myong Lab
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR, Sua Myong ([email protected])
Sua obtained her B.S in Molecular Cellular Biology and Ph.D in Nutrition/Biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. She received biophysics training in her postdoctorate years. She loves being a scientist! Her research interest is driven by unsolved biomedical problems including cancer and neurodegeneration. If she did not become a scientist, she would have chosen a path in medicine, music or engineering. In her spare time, she enjoys singing, playing piano, painting and cooking.
POSTDOCTORATE, Tapas Paul ([email protected])
Tapas obtained his B.Sc and M.Sc in chemistry from Calcutta University and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, West Bengal, India. He joined Prof. Myong’s lab as a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University in 2018. His research interests included DNA breathing and looping dynamics, but he now focuses on telomere overhang folding, specifically G-quadruplexes (G4) and the telomere binding accessory shelterin proteins. Additionally, he worked on different G4 binding and unwinding helicases. In his free time, he likes to play cricket, football, and badminton and enjoys cooking
POSTDOCTORATE, Laura Ganser ([email protected])
Laura obtained her B.S. in Chemistry from UNC-Chapel Hill and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Duke University. Her Ph.D. work applied NMR methods to develop structure and dynamics based approaches to target RNA with small molecules. In 2019, Laura joined the Myong lab as postdoctoral researcher to study the dynamic RNA-protein interactions that lead to phase separation using single molecule techniques. Outside of lab, Laura loves travel, yoga, board games and cuddling her cat.
POSTDOCTORATE, Jihee Hwang ([email protected])
Jihee obtained her B.S. in Chemistry from Han-yang University and her Ph.D. in Biophysical Chemistry from Seoul National University, South Korea. Her Ph.D works focused on the development of advanced super-resolution imaging techniques and understanding the protein-nucleic acid interactions using single-molecule techniques. She joined Prof. Myong’s lab as a postdoctoral researcher in 2020 and started her research on the effect of G-rich sequence/R-loop in gene expression. In her free time, she loves cooking and travel.
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POSTDOCTORATE, Chun-Ying "Jim" Lee ([email protected])
Jim obtained his B.S. and M.S. degree in Chemistry from National Taiwan University. He has joined Dr. Myong’s group since 2014, and he earned his Ph.D in 2021. His research is focused on a special nucleic acid secondary structure, called G quadruplex (G4) and its mysterious role in the central dogma. Combining both in vitro and in vivo methods, he has systematically investigated the effect of G4 in the transcription and translation processes. Currently, he has applied single-molecule technique to dissect each transcription stage and investigate how G4 forming sequences are involved in the regulation of transcription.
POSTDOCTORATE, Abhishek Gupta ([email protected])
Abhishek obtained his Ph.D. in Biomaterials from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi India in October 2017. His Ph.D. works focused on the synthesis of multicolor fluorescent probes for the specific and sensitive detection of small biomolecules using various spectroscopic techniques. After his Ph.D., he joined AIIMS New Delhi India as a NPDF scholar and Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel as a BCSC Postdoctoral fellow for exploring the plasmonic effect and bioimaging of carbon-based graphene nanomaterials, respectively. He joined Prof. Myong's lab as a postdoctoral researcher in mid-June 2021 and started his research on the biomolecular interaction, imaging bio surfaces and investigation of sub-atomic spatial resolution of protein-nucleic acid binding using various microscopic techniques.
GRADUATE STUDENT, Kevin Rhine ([email protected])
Kevin is a Ph.D student from the CMDB program. He earned his BA with honors in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and his MA in Biotechnology from Boston University in 2017. His research focuses on how heterotypic interactions with the ALS-linked protein FUS drive liquid-liquid phase separation and disease outcomes. In his spare time, he enjoys playing with his cat, Zelda.
GRADUATE STUDENT, Gabby Vidaurre ([email protected])
Gabby is a graduate student co-mentored by Dr. Xin Chen in the CMDB program. She earned her BA in Biology from The College of William and Mary in 2017. Her project involves characterization of a Polycomb puncta that forms in Drosophila germ cells. She also has a bunny named Stouie.
GRADUATE STUDENT, Nathalie Djaja ([email protected])
Nathalie obtained her B.S. in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from the University of California, San Diego. She joined the Myong lab in the Summer of 2020 as a PhD student from the CMDB program. Her work focuses on co-existing liquid phases within the nucleolus and the dynamics of ribosome biogenesis. Nathalie loves to do yoga, run, read, and eat dessert in her free time.
GRADUATE STUDENT, Bradleigh Navalsky ([email protected])
Bradleigh is a Ph.D. student in the CMDB program. She obtained her B.S. in Biology from Washington and Lee University. She joined the lab in 2020 to study G-quadruplexes (GQs) and the role they play in translational regulation. She will explore how 5’UTR GQs affect protein expression levels in vivo. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, and baking.
GRADUATE STUDENT, Bersabel Wondimagegnhu ([email protected])
Bersabel is a graduate student from the CMDB program and she joined the Myong lab in 2020. She is originally from Ethiopia and obtained her BS in Biochemistry from University of Massachusetts Boston. Her research focuses on TERRA homeostasis and its interactions at telomeres. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, swimming and running.
GRADUATE STUDENT, Yingda Ge ([email protected])
Yingda is a Ph.D student in the Jenkins program. He obtained his B.S. degree in Physics from Peking University. He joined the Myong Lab in the Summer of 2020, and his project focuses on using single-molecule methods to probe the conformational change of FUS during its interaction with RNAs. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, skiing, and cooking.
GRADUATE STUDENT, Gemechu Mekonnen ([email protected])
Gemechu is a PhD student in the CMDB department. He is ethnically Oromo and was born in Ethiopia. He received a dual degree in Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development (BS) and Political Science (BA) from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. His interest generally lies in molecular genetics and how molecular interactions result in emergent biological properties and pathology. Gemechu is currently helping on one project concerning FUS interacting proteins and their impact on droplet formation and behavior. He is also looking forward to working on research into proteins involved in regulating alternative splicing and their role in diseases such as ALS.
GRADUATE STUDENT, Meera Joshi ([email protected])
Meera is a Ph.D student in the Jenkins Biophysics Program, and joined the Myong Lab in the summer of 2021. She obtained her BA in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Wesleyan University in 2020. Her research focuses on how G-Quadruplex, a nucleic acid secondary structure, can affect translation processes. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and long walks.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT, Sophie Skanchy ([email protected])
Sophie is an undergraduate Biophysics major at Johns Hopkins University. She joined Dr. Myong's lab group in the Fall of 2019 and is working with her mentor Kevin to study the FUS protein. She also practices karate and taekwondo.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT, Michelle Cho ([email protected])
Michelle is an undergraduate studying Biophysics and Public Health at Johns Hopkins. She recently joined Dr. Myong’s lab and works with her wonderful, awesome mentor Dr. Jihee Hwang to study how R-loop/GQ formation affects transcription in the human genome. In her free time, she loves to play the violin, run, and bake internet-certified, healthy recipes.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT, Ashley Wang ([email protected])
Ashley is an undergraduate Biophysics major and Space Science and Engineering minor at Johns Hopkins. She joined Dr. Myong’s research group in 2019, and is working with her fantastic mentor, Jim, to study how G-quadruplex (GQ) formation affects transcriptional and translational regulation. Ashley is a native Marylander and loves dark chocolate! In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis, hiking, and baking.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT, Joey Yoniles ([email protected])
Joey is a senior studying Biophysics at Johns Hopkins University. He joined the lab in the Spring of 2019, working under the patient, magnificent Kevin Rhine. His work revolves around a lesser-studied polymer, PAR: a potent aggregator of ALS-related proteins. Joey spends his free time writing or playing card games.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT, Wilson Liou ([email protected])
Wilson is a rising sophomore at Hopkins majoring in biophysics and planning to minor in computer science. He is from central Jersey. Outside of school he enjoys running and watching sports.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT, Matt Chang ([email protected])
Matthew is an undergraduate Biophysics major and Psychology minor at Johns Hopkins University. He joined the Myong lab in the Summer of 2021, and works with his amazing mentor Nathalie Djaja to study the nucleation of FUS aggregates using single molecule techniques. In his free time, he enjoys playing sports, guitar, and performing magic tricks.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT, Alanna Craig ([email protected])
Alanna is an undergraduate student studying Biophysics at Johns Hopkins University. She joined Dr. Myong’s lab in the summer of 2021 working with her mentor, Jihee Hwang, to study how G-quadruplex (GQ) and R-loop formation controls gene expression. Originally from Ellicott City, MD, Alanna plays for the Johns Hopkins women’s soccer team and enjoys skiing, hiking, and eating her mom’s chocolate chip cookies.
Gloria is a grad student at Harvard who designed the template of this website and hand drew all the avatar figures on the members page. We appreciate her artistic touches pervasive all throughout our website! Thanks, Gloria!!!
Alumni
Amirhossein Ghanbari Niaki -- Consultant, Bain & Company
Jesse Huang
Josh Choe
Xinyi Cai - Ph.D Student, Biopshysics Graduate Program, Harvard University
Hui-Ting Lee - Assistant Professor, University of Alabama - Birmingham
Ramreddy Tippana
Jaya Sarker
Peggy Billingsley - Research Director, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Hye Ran Koh - Chung-Ang University, Korea, Assistant Professor
Alex Kreig - The Climate Corporation, Senior Agronomic Data Scientist
Younghoon Kim - Genzyme, Staff Scientist
Shirley Wang - Lawyer, China
Jacob Calvert - University of Bristol, Mathematics graduate student
Mallory Shroeder - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Bioengineering undergraduate student
Blake Wilhelmsen - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Bioengineering undergraduate student
Partha Ryali - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Bioengineering undergraduate student
Janet Sanoica - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Bioengineering undergraduate student
Brendan Pullen - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Bioengineering undergraduate student
Emily Cullen - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Bioengineering undergraduate student
Sarthak Grover - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Bioengineering undergraduate student
Grace Kim - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Neuroscience graduate student
Lauren Grant - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Bioengineering undergraduate student
Helen Hwang - Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Resident Physician
Molly Imgruet - University of Chicago, MSTP student
Tiffany Sum - UCSF School of Dentistry student
Jason Xu - Bloomberg LP, Software Developer
Weikun Xiao - UCLA, Bioengineering graduate student
Amanda Hayward - University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Biochemistry graduate student
Alex Loiben - Cornell University, Molecular and Cellular Tissue Engineering graduate student
Justin Drawz - SIMnext, Simulation Engineer
Divya Srinivasan - Consultant, Inventiv Health
Jamie Kelly
Meghan McCleary - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Extension Educator
Shayan Guhaniyogi - Biotronik, Engineer
Ensun Kwon
Zita Hubler
Thomas Leslie Deleon
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PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR, Sua Myong ([email protected])
Sua obtained her B.S in Molecular Cellular Biology and Ph.D in Nutrition/Biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. She received biophysics training in her postdoctorate years. She loves being a scientist! Her research interest is driven by unsolved biomedical problems including cancer and neurodegeneration. If she did not become a scientist, she would have chosen a path in medicine, music or engineering. In her spare time, she enjoys singing, playing piano, painting and cooking. |
| POSTDOCTORATE, Tapas Paul ([email protected])
Tapas obtained his B.Sc and M.Sc in chemistry from Calcutta University and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, West Bengal, India. He joined Prof. Myong’s lab as a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University in 2018. His research interests included DNA breathing and looping dynamics, but he now focuses on telomere overhang folding, specifically G-quadruplexes (G4) and the telomere binding accessory shelterin proteins. Additionally, he worked on different G4 binding and unwinding helicases. In his free time, he likes to play cricket, football, and badminton and enjoys cooking |
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POSTDOCTORATE, Laura Ganser ([email protected])
Laura obtained her B.S. in Chemistry from UNC-Chapel Hill and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Duke University. Her Ph.D. work applied NMR methods to develop structure and dynamics based approaches to target RNA with small molecules. In 2019, Laura joined the Myong lab as postdoctoral researcher to study the dynamic RNA-protein interactions that lead to phase separation using single molecule techniques. Outside of lab, Laura loves travel, yoga, board games and cuddling her cat. |
| POSTDOCTORATE, Jihee Hwang ([email protected])
Jihee obtained her B.S. in Chemistry from Han-yang University and her Ph.D. in Biophysical Chemistry from Seoul National University, South Korea. Her Ph.D works focused on the development of advanced super-resolution imaging techniques and understanding the protein-nucleic acid interactions using single-molecule techniques. She joined Prof. Myong’s lab as a postdoctoral researcher in 2020 and started her research on the effect of G-rich sequence/R-loop in gene expression. In her free time, she loves cooking and travel. . |
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POSTDOCTORATE, Chun-Ying "Jim" Lee ([email protected])
Jim obtained his B.S. and M.S. degree in Chemistry from National Taiwan University. He has joined Dr. Myong’s group since 2014, and he earned his Ph.D in 2021. His research is focused on a special nucleic acid secondary structure, called G quadruplex (G4) and its mysterious role in the central dogma. Combining both in vitro and in vivo methods, he has systematically investigated the effect of G4 in the transcription and translation processes. Currently, he has applied single-molecule technique to dissect each transcription stage and investigate how G4 forming sequences are involved in the regulation of transcription. |
| POSTDOCTORATE, Abhishek Gupta ([email protected])
Abhishek obtained his Ph.D. in Biomaterials from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi India in October 2017. His Ph.D. works focused on the synthesis of multicolor fluorescent probes for the specific and sensitive detection of small biomolecules using various spectroscopic techniques. After his Ph.D., he joined AIIMS New Delhi India as a NPDF scholar and Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel as a BCSC Postdoctoral fellow for exploring the plasmonic effect and bioimaging of carbon-based graphene nanomaterials, respectively. He joined Prof. Myong's lab as a postdoctoral researcher in mid-June 2021 and started his research on the biomolecular interaction, imaging bio surfaces and investigation of sub-atomic spatial resolution of protein-nucleic acid binding using various microscopic techniques. |
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GRADUATE STUDENT, Kevin Rhine ([email protected])
Kevin is a Ph.D student from the CMDB program. He earned his BA with honors in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and his MA in Biotechnology from Boston University in 2017. His research focuses on how heterotypic interactions with the ALS-linked protein FUS drive liquid-liquid phase separation and disease outcomes. In his spare time, he enjoys playing with his cat, Zelda. |
| GRADUATE STUDENT, Gabby Vidaurre ([email protected])
Gabby is a graduate student co-mentored by Dr. Xin Chen in the CMDB program. She earned her BA in Biology from The College of William and Mary in 2017. Her project involves characterization of a Polycomb puncta that forms in Drosophila germ cells. She also has a bunny named Stouie. |
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GRADUATE STUDENT, Nathalie Djaja ([email protected])
Nathalie obtained her B.S. in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from the University of California, San Diego. She joined the Myong lab in the Summer of 2020 as a PhD student from the CMDB program. Her work focuses on co-existing liquid phases within the nucleolus and the dynamics of ribosome biogenesis. Nathalie loves to do yoga, run, read, and eat dessert in her free time. |
| GRADUATE STUDENT, Bradleigh Navalsky ([email protected])
Bradleigh is a Ph.D. student in the CMDB program. She obtained her B.S. in Biology from Washington and Lee University. She joined the lab in 2020 to study G-quadruplexes (GQs) and the role they play in translational regulation. She will explore how 5’UTR GQs affect protein expression levels in vivo. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, and baking. |
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GRADUATE STUDENT, Bersabel Wondimagegnhu ([email protected])
Bersabel is a graduate student from the CMDB program and she joined the Myong lab in 2020. She is originally from Ethiopia and obtained her BS in Biochemistry from University of Massachusetts Boston. Her research focuses on TERRA homeostasis and its interactions at telomeres. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, swimming and running. |
| GRADUATE STUDENT, Yingda Ge ([email protected])
Yingda is a Ph.D student in the Jenkins program. He obtained his B.S. degree in Physics from Peking University. He joined the Myong Lab in the Summer of 2020, and his project focuses on using single-molecule methods to probe the conformational change of FUS during its interaction with RNAs. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, skiing, and cooking. |
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GRADUATE STUDENT, Gemechu Mekonnen ([email protected])
Gemechu is a PhD student in the CMDB department. He is ethnically Oromo and was born in Ethiopia. He received a dual degree in Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development (BS) and Political Science (BA) from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. His interest generally lies in molecular genetics and how molecular interactions result in emergent biological properties and pathology. Gemechu is currently helping on one project concerning FUS interacting proteins and their impact on droplet formation and behavior. He is also looking forward to working on research into proteins involved in regulating alternative splicing and their role in diseases such as ALS. |
| GRADUATE STUDENT, Meera Joshi ([email protected])
Meera is a Ph.D student in the Jenkins Biophysics Program, and joined the Myong Lab in the summer of 2021. She obtained her BA in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Wesleyan University in 2020. Her research focuses on how G-Quadruplex, a nucleic acid secondary structure, can affect translation processes. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and long walks. |
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UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT, Sophie Skanchy ([email protected])
Sophie is an undergraduate Biophysics major at Johns Hopkins University. She joined Dr. Myong's lab group in the Fall of 2019 and is working with her mentor Kevin to study the FUS protein. She also practices karate and taekwondo. |
| UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT, Michelle Cho ([email protected])
Michelle is an undergraduate studying Biophysics and Public Health at Johns Hopkins. She recently joined Dr. Myong’s lab and works with her wonderful, awesome mentor Dr. Jihee Hwang to study how R-loop/GQ formation affects transcription in the human genome. In her free time, she loves to play the violin, run, and bake internet-certified, healthy recipes. |
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UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT, Ashley Wang ([email protected])
Ashley is an undergraduate Biophysics major and Space Science and Engineering minor at Johns Hopkins. She joined Dr. Myong’s research group in 2019, and is working with her fantastic mentor, Jim, to study how G-quadruplex (GQ) formation affects transcriptional and translational regulation. Ashley is a native Marylander and loves dark chocolate! In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis, hiking, and baking. |
| UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT, Joey Yoniles ([email protected])
Joey is a senior studying Biophysics at Johns Hopkins University. He joined the lab in the Spring of 2019, working under the patient, magnificent Kevin Rhine. His work revolves around a lesser-studied polymer, PAR: a potent aggregator of ALS-related proteins. Joey spends his free time writing or playing card games. |
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UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT, Wilson Liou ([email protected])
Wilson is a rising sophomore at Hopkins majoring in biophysics and planning to minor in computer science. He is from central Jersey. Outside of school he enjoys running and watching sports. |
| UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT, Matt Chang ([email protected])
Matthew is an undergraduate Biophysics major and Psychology minor at Johns Hopkins University. He joined the Myong lab in the Summer of 2021, and works with his amazing mentor Nathalie Djaja to study the nucleation of FUS aggregates using single molecule techniques. In his free time, he enjoys playing sports, guitar, and performing magic tricks. |
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UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT, Alanna Craig ([email protected])
Alanna is an undergraduate student studying Biophysics at Johns Hopkins University. She joined Dr. Myong’s lab in the summer of 2021 working with her mentor, Jihee Hwang, to study how G-quadruplex (GQ) and R-loop formation controls gene expression. Originally from Ellicott City, MD, Alanna plays for the Johns Hopkins women’s soccer team and enjoys skiing, hiking, and eating her mom’s chocolate chip cookies. |
| Gloria is a grad student at Harvard who designed the template of this website and hand drew all the avatar figures on the members page. We appreciate her artistic touches pervasive all throughout our website! Thanks, Gloria!!!
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