Lab Members
Associate Professor
LMa4@MDAnderson.org
Dr. Li Ma received her bachelor¡¯s degree in biology from Peking University in 2001. After completing her Ph.D. study with Dr. Pier Paolo Pandolfi at Sloan-Kettering Institute and Cornell University Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences in 2006, she became a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Bob Weinberg at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. She joined the faculty of MD Anderson as an Assistant Professor in 2010 and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2015. Dr. Ma focuses on studying the molecular mechanisms of tumor progression, metastasis, and cancer therapy resistance. Besides her long-term interest in non-coding RNAs, she and her lab are also studying deubiquitinating enzymes and developmental regulators.
Fan Yao, Ph.D.
Instructor
FYao@MDAnderson.org
Dr. Fan Yao received his bachelor¡¯s degree in biotechnology from Wuhan University in 2006 and Ph.D. degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2012. He joined the Ma Lab in 2014 as a postdoc and became an instructor in 2019. Dr. Yao focuses on studying the dysregulation mechanisms of key cancer proteins and pathways in inflammation and tumorigenesis.
Qinglei Hang, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
QHang@MDAnderson.org
Qinglei Hang obtained his Ph.D. degree from Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University in Japan, working with Jianguo Gu on the glycobiology of cancer. He identified important functional N-glycosylation sites on integrin alpha5. In the Ma Laboratory, Qinglei is following up on the lab's interest in chemo- and radio-resistance. He is currently using cell biological and screening methods to explore the mechanisms involved in DNA damage repair and radioresistance.
Shannon Yap, B.S.
Research Assistant I
SSYap@MDAnderson.org
Shannon received her B.S. in biomedical sciences from Texas A&M University in December 2018. She joined the Ma Lab in March 2019. Shannon is also currently the lab manager for the Ma Lab and assists on experiments and cell culture work, as well as managing the rodent colony. She is incredibly excited to work on non-coding RNA projects and learn about the latest research in understanding the molecular mechanisms of tumor progression. She plans to attend law school to pursue a career as an intellectual property lawyer.
Yang Zhao, M.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
YZhao18@MDAnderson.org
Dr. Zhao received his M.D. degree from Southern Medical University, China. During this time, his studies mainly focused on the role of long-noncoding RNAs in tumor metabolism. Dr. Zhao joined the Ma Lab as a postdoctoral fellow in August 2019. He is mainly interested in the regulatory mechanisms of long non-coding RNAs and their roles in tumor progression.
Youming Guo, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
YGuo5@MDAnderson.org
Youming obtained her Ph.D. degree from the Medical University of South Carolina in May 2018. Dr. Guo worked on endothelial senescence, vascular aging and C. elegans longevity during her Ph.D. studies. She joined the Ma Lab in March 2019 with focus on long non-coding RNA Malat1 in regulating melanoma cell migration. She is also trying to explore the role of Malat1 in stress response using cancer cells and mouse embryonic fibroblasts.
Ying Mei, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
YMei@MDAnderson.org
Yaman Albittar
College Student
YAAlbittar@MDAnderson.org
Hilla Janjua
Administrative Assistant
Email: HAJanjua@MDAnderson.org