Lab Members

Juan M. Melero-Martin, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator
Associate Professor of Surgery

Dr. Melero-Martin holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Seville, Spain, and completed his Ph.D. in Tissue Engineering at the University of Birmingham, UK. Following a postdoctoral fellowship in the Vascular Biology Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, he was appointed to the Department of Cardiac Surgery at the same institution in 2008. In 2018, Dr. Melero-Martin was honored with the inaugural Chair in Cardiac Surgery, named after John Mayer, Jr., MD.

Umji Lee, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Dr. Umji Lee earned her B.Eng from Seoul National University of Science and Technology and obtained her M.S in life sciences at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) in 2016. After she earned her Ph.D. at EPFL under the supervision of Dr. Jerome Feige and Dr. Benjamin Cosgrove at Cornell University, she joined the Melero-Martin Lab as a postdoctoral fellow in 2021. Her current research focuses on developing effective ex-vivo gene therapy for hemophilia patients with a tissue engineering approach.

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Liyan Gong, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Dr. Liyan Gong earned her B.S. degree in Biotechnology from Jilin University and obtained her Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. She then conducted a short postdoctoral training at Tongji University to study important signaling transducers’ basic regulatory mechanisms and post-translational modifications. In 2022, she joined the Melero-Martin Lab as a postdoctoral fellow. She is currently involved in several projects in vascular biology and regenerative medicine.

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Xiang (Grace) Li, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Dr. Xiang (Grace) Li earned her B.S. in China Agricultural University and M.S. in The Ohio State University in Animal Sciences. She then worked on stem cell therapy for diabetes in Dr. Jon Odorico’s lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 2021, Grace obtained her Ph.D. degree with studies on cellular senescence, aging, and liver diseases, mentored by Dr. Scott Lowe in Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center/Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences. She joined the Melero-Martin Lab in 2022 and focuses on the studies of vascular biology in bone regeneration and tissue engineering.

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Gwang-Bum Im, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Dr. Gwang-Bum Im earned his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Sungkyunkwan University in 2017. In 2022, Gwang-Bum obtained his Ph.D. degree with studies on cell and tissue engineering based on a variety of biomaterials under Dr. Suk Ho Bhang’s guidance at Sungkyunkwan University. He joined the Melero-Matin Lab as a postdoctoral fellow in 2022 and is currently working on projects related to vascular biology and tissue engineering.

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Yonglin Zhu, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Dr. Yonglin Zhu earned his B.S. in Biology and Pharmacology from Jilin University, China. He then joined Dr. Jie Na’s lab at the School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, to study the genetic and epigenetic regulation of vascular cell differentiation from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). After he obtained his Ph.D. in Cell Biology, Dr. Zhu joined the Melero-Martin Lab in 2022 as a postdoctoral fellow and continues to pursue his interest in vascular biology and regenerative medicine using hPSCs.

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Daniel Tremmel, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Dr. Daniel Tremmel received his B.S. in Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Genetics from the University of Wisconsin (UW) and worked for several years as a research assistant in the Bacteriology and Genetics departments at UW. Dan continued on to do his graduate studies at UW in the Department of Surgery, studying the extracellular matrix of pancreatic islets under the supervision of Dr. Jon Odorico and Dr. Sara Sackett. He received his Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology in 2022, and joined the Melero-Martin lab shortly afterward as a postdoctoral research fellow working to engineer the vasculature of stem cell-derived islets.

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Alex Barutis, B.S.

Research Assistant

Alex earned his B.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University in 2023. His prior work under Dr. Chris Chen at BU investigated NOTCH signaling and its role in angiogenesis. In the summer of 2023, he joined the Melero-Martin lab to further pursue his interests in tissue engineering, stem cell biology, and regenerative medicine.

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Shih-Yen Wei, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Dr. Shih-Yen Wei obtained her B.S. degree in Applied Science and her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan. After completing her Ph.D., she joined the Melero-Martin Lab in 2024 as a postdoctoral fellow. In this role, Dr. Wei is continuing her research in tissue engineering, vascularization, and regenerative medicine.

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JinJu Kim, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Dr. JinJu Kim earned her B.S. in Biology from Hallym University. In 2024, she obtained her Ph.D. in stem cell-based regenerative medicine, focusing on myocardial infarction and limb ischemia, under the supervision of Dr. Hun-Jun Park at the Catholic University of Korea. She joined the Melero-Martin Lab as a postdoctoral fellow in 2024 and is currently exploring the use of iPSC-derived vascular cells for regenerative medicine in ischemic diseases.

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Youlu Chen, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Dr. Youlu Chen earned her B.S. degree in Biopharmaceuticals from Shenyang Pharmaceutical University in 2017. In 2022, she received her Ph.D. from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, where she focused on constructing nano drug-delivery systems and therapies for lower limb ischemia. Following her doctoral studies, Dr. Chen began working at the School of Pharmacy at Fujian Medical University. In 2024, she joined the Melero-Martin Lab as a research fellow. Currently, she is involved in research on angiogenesis and nanoparticles.

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Hyunjung (Emily) Kim, B.S.

Visiting Graduate Student

Hyunjung (Emily) Kim earned her B.S. degree in Genetics and Biotechnology from Kyung Hee University in 2022. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Bioengineering at Seoul National University, where she is mentored by Professor Nathaniel Hwang. To enhance her expertise in material-based cell biology and immunology, Emily joined the Melero-Martin lab as a visiting researcher.

Alumni

Victoria Ji Gong
Summer Research Internship (2024)
Undergraduate student, UCLA

Maliha Tasnim
Summer Research Internship (2024)
Undergraduate student, CUNY Hunter College

Allen Chilun Luo, M.Sc.
Research Technologist (2021-2024)
Currently: Ph.D. graduate student, Rice University

Andrew Lynch
Co-op Internship (2024)
Undergraduate student, Northeastern University

Dave Mansaray
Spring semester research (2024)
Undergraduate student, Harvard University

Seh Ri (Sally) Oh
Visiting graduate student, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea (2024)
Currently: PhD Graduate Student, Seoul National University

Kush Patel
Summer Research Internship (2023)
Medical student, Central Michigan University, College of Medicine

Ruei-Zeng Lin, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (2009-2015)
Instructor in Surgery (2015-2023)
Currently: Principal Scientist, Myeloid Therapeutics, Inc.

Giulia Galaverni, Ph.D.
Visiting graduate student, University of Modena, Italy (2022)
Currently: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Modena, Italy

Victoria Villarreal
Summer Research Internship (2022)
Undergraduate student, Stanford University

Daniel Brito
Graduate Student, Northeastern University (2021-2022)
Currently: BlueRock Therapeutics LP

Xuechong Hong, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (2017-2021)
Currently: Associate Principal Scientist, AstraZeneca, Sweden

Xi Wang, Ph.D.
Visiting graduate student, Cornell University (2021)
Currently: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Harvard University

Daniel Sherman
Spring semester research (2021)
Undergraduate student, Harvard University

Jean Lee
Summer Research Internship (2021)
Undergraduate student, Cornell University

Seth Ack
Summer Research Internship (2021)
Undergraduate student, University of Puget Sound

Kai Wang, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (2016-2021)
Currently: Assistant Professor, Peking University, China

Hwan Drew Kim, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (2018-2021)
Currently: Assistant Professor, Korea National University of Transportation

Joseph Neumeyer
Research Assistant (2016-2019)
Currently: Research Associate, Editas Medicine

Chin-Nien Lee, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (2015-2018)
Currently: Research Fellow, University of Pennsylvania

Rocío Muñoz-Hernández, Ph.D.
Visiting Ph.D. Student (2012-2013), Research Fellow (2016)
Currently: Research Fellow, Institute of Biomedicine of Seville (IBiS), Spain

Rafael Moreno-Luna, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (2011-2013)
Currently: Research Fellow, National Hospital Paraplegic, Toledo, Spain

Alexandra Dreyzin, M.D.
Research Assistant (2009-2010)
Currently: Resident, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh

Kristie Aamodt, M.D., Ph.D.
Research Assistant (2008-2009)
Currently: Resident, Boston Children’s Hospital