illuminating altered metabolic signaling in cancer

People

 

 

Liron Bar-Peled

LBAR-PELED@mgh.harvard.edu

Liron received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from the University of Georgia in 2004. Liron received his PhD in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he used advanced cellular and molecular techniques to uncover how nutrients are sensed by the mTORC1 pathway in the laboratory of David Sabatini. In 2013 as a Damon Runyon Postdoctoral fellow, he joined the laboratory of Ben Cravatt at the Scripps Research Institute to understand how cancer cells respond to oxidative stress. Employing chemical, proteomic and biochemical approaches, Liron revealed new druggable components of the NRF2 antioxidant response pathway uncovering new mechanisms by which NRF2 regulates metabolic pathways. In early 2019, Liron joined the Center for Cancer Research at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine in Biological and Biomedical Sciences.

 

Instructor

 

Maolin Ge

MGE1@mgh.harvard.edu

Maolin grew up in Wuhan, where he received his Bachelor of Science and Master’s degrees from Wuhan University. Maolin received his PhD in biology from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, where he focused on the pathogenesis and drug resistance of hematologic cells during his doctoral research. Now, Maolin’s research program aims to study signaling pathways regulated by oxidative stress using next-generation proteomics and sequencing technologies. In his spare time, Maolin enjoys watching movies, soccer, cooking, and spending time with family and friends.

 

Postdoctoral Fellows

 

Huicheng Chen

Hchen70@mgh.harvard.edu

Huicheng received his PhD from the CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences/Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology. He studied Ciliogenesis in C. elegans and mammalian cells during his PhD. He then worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology. Now he is interested in applying chemical proteomic approaches to study metabolism in cancer. In his free time, he likes to spend time with his family and watch movies.

Li Kang

lkang6@mgh.harvard.edu

Li received her PhD from East China Normal University in Shanghai. Her previous research aimed to investigate the mechanisms leading to SOX2 overexpression and its metabolic and epigenetic role in tumorigenesis. In the Bar-Peled lab, she is interested in exploring chemical proteomic approaches to target transcription factors. In her spare
time, she enjoys sports, reading and music.

Yifan Chen

ychen166@mgh.harvard.edu

Yifan received her PhD from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, where she focused on the mechanisms of drug resistance in AML and research on intervention strategies. In the Bar-Peled lab, she is interested in using chemical proteomic approaches along with functional genomics to identify druggable vulnerabilities in chemoresistance. In her free time, Yifan enjoys traveling, watching movies, and cooking.

Md Yousuf Ali

MALI1@mgh.harvard.edu

Yousuf received his PhD from The University of Iowa where he worked in Dr. Corinne Griguer’s lab studying how cellular and mitochondrial iron metabolism regulates redox homeostasis in radioresistant gliomas. In Bar-Peled lab, he will be studying redox metabolism in cancer cells, by utilizing high throughput genomic and proteomic techniques, to decipher vulnerabilities that can be exploited as druggable targets to develop novel cancer therapeutics. In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer.

 

Neha Khandelwal

Shan Jiang

NKHANDELWAL@mgh.harvard.edu

Neha Khandelwal received her PhD from National Chemical Laboratory, Pune in Plant Molecular Biology where she was working on proteins and peptides involved in plant immunity. She joined Dr. Siddhesh Kamat’s Lab at IISER-Pune, India as a postdoctoral fellow where she was involved in understanding the fatty acid-driven immunomodulatory role of a lipid signaling molecule, lysophosphatidylserine. In the Bar-Peled lab, she works on the characterization of the druggable targets involved in the Multiple Myeloma progression. She enjoys her free time playing with her kid and exploring new places.

sjiang@mgh.harvard.edu

Shan received her Ph.D. from the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Germany, where she focused on the mechanisms of kinase inhibitors and the study of protein conformational changes. In the Bar-Peled lab, she is focusing on developing and employing new approaches to measuring changes in protein dynamics. In her free time, Shan enjoys traveling, photography, and trying out different restaurants with friends.

Stefan Harry

SHARRY@mgh.harvard.edu

Stefan was raised in the crossroads of rural America – Parker City, Indiana. He received his bachelors in Chemistry from Ball State University and performed his graduate research in Johns Hopkins University under Prof. Thomas Lectka, researching radical-based fluorination reactions while developing several directed methods for functionalizing complex natural products. Currently, he aims to develop and use small molecules inhibitor to target critical cancer drivers traditionally considered ‘undruggable’.

Violeta

Stojalnikova

vstojalnikova@mgh.harvard.edu

Violeta has a BA and an MSci in Natural Sciences from University of Cambridge and a PhD in Organic Chemistry from University of Oxford, where she developed a new asymmetric Suzuki-Miyaura coupling and applied it in synthesis of bioactive molecules. In the Bar-Peled lab, she is developing small molecule inhibitors for 'undruggable' cancer targets and leveraging chemical proteomics to systematically map drug-protein interactions.

 
 
 
 

Research Technicians

 

Magdy Gohar

MGOHAR@mgh.harvard.edu

Magdy earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry at the University of Massachusetts Boston. His research focuses on exploring the role of ROS signaling in cancer cell proliferation. In his free time, he enjoys lifting, running, and spending time with family and friends.

Sufian Ibrahim

sibrahim4@mgh.harvard.edu

Sufian graduated from the University of Georgia with a BS in Biology and performed his undergraduate research on identifying Lipid A modifications in gram-negative bacteria. He is now leveraging chemical proteomics to characterize druggable targets in cancer cells and the effects of various cellular states on the ligandability of those targets. When not in the lab, he enjoys riding his motorcycle, trying new foods, and playing sports.

Reilly Stevens

rcstevens@mgh.harvard.edu

Reilly graduated with BS in Biology from the University of Georgia, where she conducted research on the biosynthesis of glycans in gram-negative bacteria. Currently, her research focuses on chemical proteomics in targeting cancer drivers. In her free time, Reilly enjoys traveling, running, watching sports, and reading.

 

Graduate Students

Yukako Suzuki

Ben Weinstein

Nicholas Chen

ysuzuki3@mgh.harvard.edu

Yukako received her Master’s degree from the Graduate School of Media and Governance at Keio University in Japan. In the Bar-Peled Lab, she is conducting research to better understand redox regulation in cancer. In her free time, she enjoys running, listening to music, and watching movies.

jmao5@mgh.harvard.edu

Ben received his B.S in Biology from Cornell University. He enjoys outdoor activities like skiing, hockey, and hiking in his free time.

nicholaschen@g.harvard.edu

Nicholas is from Phoenix, Arizona. He attended Northwestern University for a B.A. in Molecular & Cell Biology, Chemistry, and Integrated Science Program (ISP). At Northwestern, he worked for Richard Silverman on neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) inhibitors. In collaboration with Dr. Brian Liau at Harvard Dept. of Chemistry, Nicholas is developing chemical probes against traditionally ‘undruggable’ cancer targets. In his free time, Nicholas enjoys playing tennis and eating hot pot.

 
 
 

Undergraduate Students

Yuchen Huang

yuchenhuang@college.harvard.edu

Yuchen is a junior at Harvard College studying Molecular and Cellular Biology and Psychology. In the lab, she focuses on studying the effects of redox stress on the metabolism of cancer cells. In her free time, she likes to read, take walks, and dance. 

Chau Le

CHLE3@mgh.harvard.edu

Chau is a junior at Harvard College, majoring in Neuroscience on the pre-med track. In the lab, she assists in exploring redox metabolism in cancer cells to discover druggable targets. During her free time, she enjoys cooking, lifting, traveling, and spending quality time with friends and family. 

Herman Xin Yang Leong

hleong@meei.harvard.edu

Herman is a junior studying Chemistry at Harvard University. His lab work involves proteomics and chemical synthesis. When he is free, he plays chess (chess.com username: hlxy) and listens to game OSTs.

 

Hector Martinez Luna

hectormartinezluna@college.harvard.edu

Héctor is a sophomore at Harvard College studying Molecular and Cellular Biology. His research focuses on chemo proteomics as a means to detect off-target small molecule interactions. In his free time, he enjoys reading, going to museums, and bowling with friends.

Zander Chearavanont

zander_chearavanont@college.harvard.edu

Zander is an undergraduate at Harvard University studying Chemistry. His research revolves around the synthesis of a variety of small molecules such as molecular staples or probes for chemoproteomics. In his free time, he enjoys judo, lifting, hiking, and exploring abandoned man-made structures and vehicles.

 

ALUMNI

Jingxuan Mao, Undergraduate Student, Zhejiang University

Anica Bischof, Undergraduate Student, University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland

Jay Fonticella, Graduate Student, Tufts University

Janice Wong, Undergraduate Student, Harvard University

Pei-Chieh (Patrick) Tien, Postdoctoral Fellow, Purdue University

Junbing Zhang, Instructor, National Institute of Biological Science and Institute of Biophysics

Samay Trivedi, Undergraduate Student, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Siwen Zhang, Postdoctoral Fellow, Fudan University

Seungjun Lee, Undergraduate Student, Boston University

Matthew Lazarov, Research Technician, University of Georgia

Harrison Chong, Data Analyst, University of Georgia

Farah Makram, Undergraduate Student, Northeastern University

Yingfei Huang, Undergraduate Student, Zhejiang University

Christine Lee, Undergraduate Student, Harvard University

Mariko Hara, Senior Scientist, University of Tokyo

James Woods, Master’s Student, Harvard University

Lina Fellah, Master’s Student, Radboud University

Zhuanglin (Eileen) Dai, Master’s Student, University of Michigan

Gess Kelly, Computational Scientist, Brandeis University

George Popoola, Undergraduate Student, Harvard University

Jonathan Assaad, Undergraduate Student, Tufts University

Nicolò Vivori, Master’s Student, University of Verona

Atharva Mahale, Master’s Student, IISER Kolkata

Tommy Weiss-Sadan, Postdoctoral Fellow, The Hebrew University

Jacqueline Berner, Master’s Student, University of Tübingen

Marianne Richter, Research Technician, University of Georgia

Peiwen Shi, Rotation Student, Harvard University

Sanne van den Ouweland, Master’s Student, Radboud University in Nijmegen

Alexander Carlin, Research Technician, University of Georgia

Tzu-Yi Yang, Senior Research Scientist, Purdue University

Himani Patel, Research Technician, University of Georgia

Ricardo Pinto, Senior Research Scientist, Max-Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems in Germany

Tristan Vornbäumen, Master’s Student, University of Tübingen

Tevis Vitale, Rotation Student, Harvard University

Kira Vordermark, Medical Student, University of Bonn

Hanna Griesshaber, Master’s Student, University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland

Ramon Ranka, Master’s Student, TUM

Franzi Bemmmann, Master’s Student, TUM

Adriaan De Groot, Master’s Student, Radboud University Nijmegen

Bennedikt Dürr, Master’s Student, LMU

Jiafeng Fang, GI Surgeon, Sun Yat-Sen University, China

Hannah Fischer, Master’s Student, LMU

Tobias Hosp, Medical Student, University of Heidelberg

Ben Jiang, Master’s Student, TUM

Dominick Riken, Master’s Student, University of Heidelberg

Marion Schweiger, Master’s Student, TUM

Abby Smith, Research Technician, University of Georgia

Nina Wichmann, Master’s Student, TUM

Konstantin Wolf, Master’s Student, ETH Zürich

Mengyao Xu, Graduate Student, Nankai University School of Medicine