Zhe Ying PhD
Principle Investigator
Zhe Ying, PhD, is an Assistant professor in the Department of Cell, Developmental, and Regenerative Biology. Zhe got his PhD from Sun Yat-sen University in 2014, where he received the Ray Wu Prize. Before he joins Mount Sinai, Zhe was a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Slobodan Beronja at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. His postdoctoral work on epithelial cell fate change during tumor initiation was sponsored by the NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) and the Thomsen Family Breast Cancer Fellowship. In the lab, Zhe is obsessed with exploring epithelial biology using cutting-edge technologies that can test and visualize gene function in vivo. In addition, Zhe enjoys reading books of the history of science and technology as booster of curiosity and motivation since high school. Outside of the lab, Zhe loves cycling, hiking, kayaking, road trips and photography.
zhe.ying@mssm.edu
Qiwen Gan PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
AACR Bosarge Family Foundation-Waun Ki Hong Fellow for Regenerative Cancer Medicine
Qiwen got his PhD from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2018. He studied apoptotic cell clearance and lysosome homeostasis in Caenorhabditis elegans. Realizing his interest in cancer biology, Qiwen did a two-year postdoc in the Iavarone lab at Columbia University to study Glioma. In February 2022, Qiwen joined the Ying lab and initiated two exciting projects, one to understand how the combinations of patient derived genetic lesions drive the basal-like cell fate in breast cancer and the second to identify major barriers of salivary gland regeneration. In 2023 Qiwen received the AACR Bosarge Family Foundation-Waun Ki Hong Scholar Award for Regenerative Cancer Medicine. Qiwen enjoys playing badminton and spending time exploring New York City with his family outside of the lab.
qiwen.gan@mssm.edu
Ahuva Halpert
Undergraduate Volunteer
Ahuva is a dedicated undergraduate student at Touro University who is currently pursuing a degree in biology. A recipient of the Academic Merit Award from Touro, she is committed to academic excellence and lifelong learning. Ahuva is passionate about science and believes that research is the backbone of healthcare, fueling her aspiration to become a physician. As a student researcher, she is gaining hands-on experience and hopes to deepen her scientific knowledge and technical skills to bridge the gap between research and medicine. Beyond her studies, Ahuva serves as the Content and Interview Coordinator for AJES, an expanding nonprofit organization working to foster mentorship and collaboration among Jewish engineers and applied scientists. In her free time she enjoys traveling, baking, running, and spending quality time with her friends and family.