Ledong Wan, PhD
Principal Investigator
After a Bachelor's degree in Pharmacology and a Master's degree in Medicinal Chemistry at China Pharmaceutical University, Ledong pursued his PhD in Pathology, focusing on RNA regulation in cancer. He then joined Adrian Krainer's lab at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory for his postdoctoral research, concentrating on the pathological RNA splicing in pancreatic cancer.
Neelu Singh, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Neelu completed her PhD in Nanotoxicology from SES, JNU. In the lab, she is working on understanding the role of alternative splicing in the crosstalk between cancer cells and the tumor microenvironment. As a nature lover, she is excited to travel and visit new places.
Xin Zhang, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Xin completed his PhD at the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, where he focused on the total synthesis of oligosaccharide natural products. After obtaining his PhD, he joined the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he worked on the design and synthesis of inhibitors and bifunctional molecules, such as Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras (PROTACs) and Deubiquitinase Targeting Chimeras (DUBTACs), specifically targeting oncogenic proteins. He is currently working on elucidating and targeting aberrant RNA splicing in pancreatic cancer.
Benteng Ma
Graduate Student
Benteng is a graduate student from the Molecular and Cellular Biology program. He obtained his Bachelor's degree from Wuhan University and Master's degree from New York University. In the lab, he is currently studying the impact of alternative RNA splicing on acinar cell plasticity and pancreatitis progression. Outside the lab, he enjoys fishing and eating.
Kevin Coughlin
Undergraduate Student
Kevin is an undergraduate student in his senior year studying Biochemistry and Applied Mathematics. In the lab, he is currently studying the impact of splicing factors on maintaining homeostasis and cell plasticity in tumor cells at both the tumor-wide and single-cell levels. Outside the lab, he enjoys reading and being a part of the marching band here at Stony Brook.
Christopher Luo
Undergraduate Student
Chris is currently a sophomore studying Biological Sciences at Cornell University. He is on a pre-medical track with interests in both orthopedics and pediatrics. In addition, Chris is interested in computational biology, and his work within the lab involves studying RNA splicing mechanisms using RNA sequencing and microarray data. In his free time, Chris enjoys playing basketball, going to the gym, and spending time with friends and family.