Current Members
Dung-Fang Lee, Ph.D. (dung-fang.lee@uth.tmc.edu)
Principal investigator (CPRIT scholar in cancer research)
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Education: National Tsing Hua University (BS/MS), The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston (Ph.D.), Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (Postdoc)
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Research Fields: Li-Fraumeni syndrome, Hereditary Retinoblastoma, iPSC disease modeling
Ruiying Zhao, MD Ph.D. (ruiying.zhao@uth.tmc.edu)
Principal investigator
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Education: Peking University Health Science Center (MD), The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston (Ph.D.), Columbia University (Postdoc)
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Research Fields: Li-Fraumeni syndrome, p53, liver differentiation, liver cancer, ubiquitination, AI
An Xu, Ph.D.
Instructor
Education: Harbin Institute of Technology (BS), University of Science and Technology of China (Ph.D.), The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (Postdoc)
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Research Fields: Li-Fraumeni syndrome, mutant p53, epigenetics, osteosarcoma
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Award: CPRIT BIG-TCR postdoctoral fellowship, UTHealth IBP Best Poster Award
Yu-Wen Huang, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Education: I-Sou University (BS), China Medical University (MS), China Medical University (Ph.D.)
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Research Fields: Li-Fraumeni syndrome, mutant p53, cancer immune
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Trinh T. T. Phan, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (CPRIT BIG-TCR Postdoctoral Fellow)
Education: The University of Danang (BS), National Tsing Hua University (MS/PhD)
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Research Fields: mutant p53, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, and cellular senescence
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Award: CPRIT BIG-TCR Postdoctoral Fellowship, CPRIT BIG-TCR Affiliated Postdoctoral Fellowship
Mo-Fan (Elena) Huang, MS
GSBS Graduate Student (Rosalie B. Hite Fellow; Dr. John J. Kopchick Fellow)
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Education: National Tsing Hua University (BS/MS)
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Research Fields: Li-Fraumeni syndrome, Hereditary Retinoblastoma, 3D chromatin architecture, personalized therapeutics, and RNA splicing
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Awards: Rosalie B. Hite Fellowship, The third place GSEC Poster Competition Award, The Antje Wuelfrath Gee and Harry Gee, Jr. Family Legacy Scholarship, the first place Poster Presentation Award at the 2023 BCB Spring Symposium, GSEC travel award, GSBS travel award, G&E program travel award, the first place Poster Presentation Award in Post-Candidacy Group at the 2023 G&E Program Retreat, Dr. John J. Kopchick Fellowship, Dean's Research Scholarship, IBP Retreat Spectator Award, VAI Epigenomics Workshop Scholarship
Rachel Shoemaker, BS
GSBS Graduate Student (CPRIT BIG-TCR Predoctoral Fellow)
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Education: Rice University
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Research Fields: Li-Fraumeni syndrome, mutant p53, and RNA splicing
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Award: CPRIT BIG-TCR Predoctoral Fellowship, Investing in Student Futures Scholarship
Megan E Fisher, BS
GSBS Graduate Student (TIPS Predoctoral Fellow)
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Education: The University of Texas at Austin
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Research Fields: Li-Fraumeni syndrome, mutant p53, liver cancer
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Award: Training Interdisciplinary Pharmacology Scientists (TIPS) Predoctoral Fellowship, Andrew Sowell-Wade Huggins Scholarship in Cancer Research, People's Choice Award at the Cancer Biology Spring Symposium
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Emlyn A Joniec
Visiting Undergraduate Student
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Education: Rice University
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Research Fields: Li-Fraumeni syndrome, mutant p53, and RNA splicing
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Award: 2025 UTHealth Houston-CPRIT Innovation in Cancer Prevention Summer Undergraduate Research Summer Internship, Wings of Compassion – Houston Airports Scholarship
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