Min Jee Jang, PhD
Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor, Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Affiliated Faculty, Neuroscience Program
Dr. Min Jee Jang received her BS, MS and PhD in Bio and Brain Engineering at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), South Korea. After her short postdoctoral fellowship at Korea University College Medicine in South Korea, she moved to USA and received postdoctoral training under the mentorship of Dr. Viviana Gradinaru at California Institute of Technology as a Caltech BBE Divisional Fellow and NARSAD Young Investigator. In January 2024, she will start her new position as an Assistant Professor at UIUC BIOE.
Min has been fascinated by the fundamental question: “How does the network of individual components gives rise to complex functions?”. Her initial research interests were involved in Brain-on-a-Chip technologies, with the aim of designing and implementing simplified neural circuit models in a dish. She invented many cell patterning techniques to control neuronal growth and developed computational tools for quantitative analysis of large-scale calcium imaging data. After joining Caltech, she expanded her research into in vivo and tool development, including tissue clearing, viral vector engineering and spatial transcriptomics, and developed high-throughput in situ assays for engineered viral vectors for cell-type targeted gene delivery and therapy. With a broad range of experience and expertise, she is now pursuing a comprehensive understanding of the brain at the genetic level and the development of innovative technologies to access and manipulate genetic components in vivo for human health and disease.
Ari Belotserkovsky
Graduate Student
Bioengineering @ UIUC
Ari obtained an Honours BSc degree in Neuroscience & Immunology from the University of Toronto. There, Ari further pursued an MSc degree in Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, where he developed a preclinical AAV-based gene knockout therapy as a treatment modality for prion diseases. Currently, as a doctoral candidate, Ari’s research focuses on engineering evolved promoters that can drive the expression of AAV-delivered cargo selectively in specific cell types within the CNS.
Haoyu Li
Graduate Student
Bioengineering @ UIUC
Haoyu received BS in Materials Science and Engineering, from UIUC and MS in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University. Haoyu has previously worked with biomaterial-based gene delivery and immunoengineering. His current research interests are in the area of vector engineering and targeted gene delivery and therapy. In his life, he is a basketball lover and a fan of the Lakers team.
Aparna Chauhan
Graduate Student
Bioengineering @ UIUC
Bilal Karim
Undergraduate Student
Bioengineering @ UIUC
Neuroscience program @ UIUC
Bilal is a junior with hopes of pursuing an MD/PhD program. He is excited about the intersection of medicine, engineering, and innovation to develop robust therapeutics and point-of-care diagnostics, along with harnessing the combined power of multimodal optical microscopy and spectroscopy technologies alongside spatial transcriptomics to accelerate clinical care delivery and improve patient outcomes. Bilal is thrilled to be at the University of Illinois, a premier research institution that epitomizes multidisciplinary collaboration and interdisciplinary immersion.
Maddie Lawson
Undergraduate Student
Material Science and Engineering @ UIUC
Maddie is interested in developing biomaterials and tools that may be used in real world human healthcare. I’m also interested in developing my skills by conducting research with neurodegenerative diseases in Dr. Jang’s lab.
Natalie Witek
Undergraduate Student
Psychology @ UIUC
Abdullah Choudhry
Undergraduate Student
Bioengineering @ UIUC
Abdullah is a freshman with an interest in therapeutics. He is looking forward to learning more about genetics and genetic engineering, and developing his technical skills by working within the Jang Lab.