Lab Members

Current Lab Members:

	Linhao Li, Ph.D. Research Associate Linhao has a background spanning 5 years of pharmacology for his Ph.D. and working at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy for more than 15 years in regulating drug-metabolizing enzymes and drug transporters by orphan nuclear receptors in drug metabolism and diseases.
	Zhihui Li, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Scientist Dr. Zhihui Li has worked on elucidating the regulation and function of solute carrier family 13 member 5 (SLC13A5) in the human liver and has published a research article indicating that silencing of SLC13A5 disrupts energy homeostasis and inhibits the proliferation of human hepatocarcinoma cells. Additional research interests are centered on the biological function of constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). His research results suggest that human CAR plays a tumor-suppressive role in HCC development, which differs from rodent CAR and offers insight into the hCAR-HNF4α-EPO axis in human liver tumorigenesis.
	Kaiyan Liu, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Scientist Kaiyan is working on a project supported by the Food and Drug Administration; this program mainly focuses on Drug-induced liver injury. Drug-induced liver injury represents the primary cause of drug attrition during development and post-marketing. In this project, we will investigate potential metabolism-based drug-drug interactions (DDI), and human liver toxicity of drugs used for COVID-19 treatment and other viruses, using the state-of-art 3D human liver spheroid model. The success of the proposed research will provide critical human-relevant data that could eventually improve the therapeutic safety and efficacy of drugs for COVID-19 and other virus infections.
	Ritika Kurian, Graduate Student Ritika Kurian is a graduate student who has completed her master’s degree in pharmaceutical sciences from Northeastern University. Her research emphasizes exploring the utilization of an adjuvant drug to increase metabolic bioactivation of cyclophosphamide by employing advanced techniques such as liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in addition to cell and animal-based approaches.
	Sara Geriesh, Graduate Student Sara earned her master’s degree in pharmacology from Georgetown University and is now pursuing her Ph.D. Her research focuses on applying advanced in vitro liver models to study drug-induced hepatotoxicity, with a particular interest in the mechanistic evaluation of hepatotoxic drugs and their interactions with liver cells. She aims to improve in vitro methods for assessing hepatotoxicity and enhance drug safety evaluation.

Former Lab Members:

Sydney Stern Ph.D (graduate student, 2017-2022) Current position: Scientist, CEDR, FDA, Silver Spring, MD

Tao Hu Ph.D (postdoctoral scientist, 2017-2019) Current position: Director of Pharmacology, Evergreen Therapeutics, Bethesda, MD

Bryan Mackowiak Ph.D (graduate student, 2014-2019) Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, NIAAA, NIH, Rockville.

William Hedrich Ph.D (graduate student, 2013-2018) Current position: Research Scientist, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Princeton, NJ

Brandy Garzel Ph.D (graduate student, 2012-2017) Current position: Research Scientist, Becton Dickinson, Sparks, MD

Yuanfu Lu Ph.D (visiting professor, 2017) Current position: Professor and Vice Head of Key Lab. for Basic Pharmacology of Ministry of Education, Zunyi Medical University, China

Xiumei Xin Ph.D (postdoctoral scientist, 2015-2016) Current position: Research Associate, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

Daochuan Li Ph.D. (postdoctoral scientist, 2014-2016) Current position: Assistant Professor, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

Jingwei Xiao Ph.D. (postdoctoral scientist, 2014-2015) Current position: Research Scientist, Institute of Occupational Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China

Caitlin Lynch Ph.D. (graduate student, 2009-2014) Current position: Staff Scientist, NCATS, NIH, Rockville.

Hui Yang Ph.D. (postdoctoral scientist, 2012-2014) Current position: Research Scientist, Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China

Lan Fan Ph.D. (visiting scholar, 2014) Current position: Associate Professor, Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Central South University, Changsha, China

Duan Wang Ph.D. (graduate student, 2008-2013) Current position: Senior Scientist at Corning Incorporated, Boston.

Leslie Tompkins, Ph.D. (postdoctoral scientist, 2008-2010), currently holds the position of policy analyst at the FDA, Silver Spring.

Haishan Li Ph.D. (postdoctoral scientist, 2007-2010) Current position: Associate Director, Research Center for Import-Export Chemicals Safety, AQSIQ, Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine.

Antonia T. Baaqee Ph.D. (graduate student, 2007-2012) Current position: Chemical Engineer at FDA, Silver Spring.

Tao Chen MD. (lab technician, 2006-2010) Current position: Postdoctoral fellow at Penn State University