Juan M. Melero-Martin, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Vanessa García-Fernández, M.S.
Visiting Graduate (Ph.D.) Student
Vanessa García-Fernández earned her degree in Basic and Experimental Biomedicine from the University of Seville, Spain, in 2021, and completed her M.S. in Biomedical Research at the University of Seville in 2022. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at the Institute of Biomedicine of Seville (IBiS) – University of Seville, as a member of the SeLiver Group. Supported by a Fulbright grant, she joined the Melero-Martin Lab in 2025 as a Visiting Ph.D. student.
Dominic Recco, M.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr. Dominic Recco earned his B.S. in biomedical engineering from The Pennsylvania State University and obtained his M.D. at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University in 2020. He is currently a General Surgery Resident at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, with a dedicated focus on research. After completing 3 years of clinical-translational research under the supervision of Dr. David Hoganson at Boston Children’s Hospital, he joined the Melero-Martin Lab as a postdoctoral fellow in 7/2025. His current research focuses on evaluating the efficacy of hiPSC-derived therapies in animal models of myocardial infarction.
Alumni
Youlu Chen, Ph.D.
Visiting Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Fujian Medical University, China (2024-2025)
Currently: Associated Research Fellow, Fujian Medical University, China
Liyan Gong, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (2022-2025)
Currently: Assistant Professor, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, China
Ziyan Liu
Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Summer Research Internship (2025)
Undergraduate student, Johns Hopkins University
Hyunjung (Emily) Kim, B.S.
Visiting graduate student, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea (2024-2025)
Currently: M.Sc. Graduate Student, Seoul National University
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: Senior Principal Scientist, Novo Nordisk, Denmark
Xi Wang, Ph.D.
Visiting graduate student, Cornell University (2021)
Currently: Assistant Professor, Peking University Third Hospital, China
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: Associate Professor at Seoultech, South Korea
Joseph Neumeyer
Research Assistant (2016-2019)
Currently: Scientist, Typewriter Therapeutics
Chin-Nien Lee, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (2015-2018)
Currently: Senior Research Investigator, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Rocío Muñoz-Hernández, Ph.D.
Visiting Ph.D. Student (2012-2013), Research Fellow (2016)
Currently: Profesora Titular, University of Sevilla, Spain
Rafael Moreno-Luna, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow (2011-2013)
Currently: Team Leader, National Hospital Paraplegic, Toledo, Spain
Alexandra Dreyzin, M.D.
Research Assistant (2009-2010)
Currently: Assistant Research Physician/Staff Clinician, The National Institutes of Health
Kristie Aamodt, M.D., Ph.D.
Research Assistant (2008-2009)
Currently: Instructor in Pediatric Endocrinology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center