Zhaoxia Sun, PhD, Associate Professor
Zhaoxia received her bachelor’s degree from Nankai University in China. Her Ph.D. thesis was focused on cell cycle control in the budding yeast, under the mentorship of Dr. David Stern at Yale. She joined Nancy Hopkins’ lab at MIT as a postdoc and participated in a large-scale insertional mutagenesis screen in zebrafish. She then returned to Yale and joined the Genetics Department as a faculty member.
Vanessa Gonzalez-Rivera, Senior Administrative Assistant
Vanessa Gonzalez was born in Puerto Rico and moved to United States in 2003. Vanessa has a passion for social justice and believes in the words of Mandela, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world". She joined the Yale community in 2023. She is happy and excited to support the operations of the Sun Lab so they can focus on changing the world while she takes care of everything else!
Yuanyuan Li, PhD, Associate research scientist
Yuanyuan obtained her PhD degree from Chinese Academy of Sciences, followed by a Postdoc training at Yale University School of Medicine. Her research focus is the genetic causes and developmental mechanisms underlying ciliopathies with a focus on the function of cilia in kidney disease and primary ciliary dyskinesia. Outside of the lab, she likes watching movie, listening to music and staying with her family.
Gizem Goles, Research Associate
Gizem completed her BSc. in Genetics and Bioengineering at Yeditepe University, Turkey then received her MSc. in Molecular Medicine at Yeditepe University, Turkey. She received her PhD. in Cancer Genetics at Istanbul University, Turkey. She is currently working with zebrafish and will soon work with mouse.
Seiji Nakanishi, Postgrad
Seiji graduated from Osaka Prefecture University. He has experience in biochemistry and analytical chemistry from his master's studies at Kyoto University. He is currently studying early zebrafish development. Seiji also holds a Master of Music degree and enjoys playing the piano.
ChuZhi (Louise) Zhuang, Postgrad
Louise graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, followed by a Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Yale. Her past research experience includes developing innovative cancer therapies and exploring novel genetic engineering techniques. Currently, her research focuses on cilia-related genes. Outside the lab, her hobbies include singing and participating in tabletop role-playing games.
Alumni:
Ying Cao, PhD, Postdoc, currently Professor, Tongji University, China
Linda DiBella, PhD, Postdoc, currently Scientific Project Leader, ExoGrade
Audrey Dellert, Postgrad, currently medical student, UConn
Neil Duldulao, PhD, Graduate Student, currently Professor, Green River College
Chia-Ling Hsieh, PhD, Associate Research Scientist, currently Development Scientist, Alexion
Stefanie Jerman, PhD, Postdoc, currently Senior Imaging Scientist, Indica Labs
Sowjanya Kallakuri, PhD, Postdoc, currently Associate Director, Future Health Technology, Singapore
Santeri Kiviluoto, PhD, Postdoc, currently CEO and co-founder: FenoMark Diagnostics, Sweden
Jade Li, PhD, Graduate Student, currently Senior Director, Anumana
Zhao Lu, PhD, Graduate Student, currently Associate Professor, Zhejiang University, China
Shiaulou Yuan, PhD, Graduate Student, currently Assistant Professor, Harvard
Emmanuel Nedoschill, Visiting Student, currently Physician, University Hospital Erlangen, Germany
Elizaveta Lavrova, KUH summer student, currently medical student, Columbia University
Nicole Semanchik: Research Assistant, currently Research Associate, Yale