Meet the Team

  • Jia Xu, Ph.D.

    Principle Investigator

  • Chang Liu, M.S.

    Chang Liu, M.S.

    Lab Manager

    A researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She has a Master's degree in Mechanical Electronic Engineering and a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering. She likes to use her interdisciplinary background to solve questions in the biomedical field.

  • Bohan Ning, M.D., M.S.

    Visiting Scholar

    A Visiting Scholar at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She got her MD degree from Southern Medical University in China, and then finished clinical residency in pathology at Peking University First Hospital. She loves pathology so much and is eager to find the subtle connection between science and clinical practice. Out of work, she is a marvelous chef (self-styled).

  • Kevin Graciano

    Rotation Graduate Student

    Kevin received his B.S. in biochemistry from the University of West Florida in 2023. After graduation, he took a gap year to work full-time in a cancer research lab at UAB, where he discovered his passion for cancer research. In his free time, he likes to spend quality time with his friends, read, and play with his dog Jasper.

  • Ella Sperier

    Undergraduate Student

    Ella is a pre-dental student at UAB majoring in Genetics and Genomic Sciences with a minor in Chemistry and Biology. In her free time, she loves to cook and spend time with her friends, family, and cat.

  • Sua Chung

    Undergraduate Student

    Sua is an undergraduate student at UAB majoring in neuroscience with a minor in psychology and chemistry. She enjoys photography and spending time with her friends.

  • Ke Xiang

    Undergraduate Student

    Ke is an undergraduate student of UAB. She is very interested in studying nutrition or amino acid regulated gene expression using biochemistry method and is very keen on biological research. In the spare time, she enjoys working out and researching nutritious meals.

Postdoc trainees:

Lab Alumni

Han Jing, Undergraduate student

Current status: Graduate student @UC Davis

Zhiqian Zhou, Undergraduate student

Current Status: Graduate student @University of Pennsylvania

Yuwei Zhang, Undergraduate student

Current status: Graduate student @University of Georgia

Taylor Hannon, Undergraduate student

UAB

Mann Niraj Dangarwala

Rotation Graduate student

Jonathan Moye

Rotation Graduate student

Undergraduate trainees:

Vivek Somasundaram

Rotation Graduate student

Ali Cem Kucukdagli, M.D., Postdoc Fellow

Current status: Hacettepe University hospital, Turkey

Graduate trainees:

Abigail Johnston

Master student

Kennedy A. Morman, SURE-GM program Undergraduate student

Miles College

Jiuyi Zhang, Undergraduate student

Current status: Graduate student @UCSF