Group Members
Fengzhu Xiong
Group Leader
I earned my BS of Biological Sciences at Tsinghua University in Beijing, and my PhD at Harvard University with Sean Megason, followed by Postdoc training with L. Mahadevan and Olivier Pourquie. I started the lab in Cambridge in 2019.
Susie McLaren
Postdoctoral Fellow
I am interested in understanding how symbiotic interactions develop and the consequences of these multi-species interactions for organism biology. In particular, this work seeks to inform our understanding of the interplay between corals and their symbionts during morphogenesis and in developing a stable symbiotic relationship that underpins organism function.
Previously, I earned a Natural Sciences BSc from UCL and my PhD at the University of Cambridge with Ben Steventon investigating early embryo head-to-tail elongation in zebrafish embryos. My recent postdoc work uncovered differences in tissue mechanics that lead to the divergence of embryonic brain and spinal cord shape under fluid pressure.
Lakshmi Balasubramanian
Postdoctoral Fellow
I am an EMBO and Herchel Smith fellow working on the mechanics of cell migration and tissue development. I obtained my PhD degree at Université de Paris, CNRS with Benoît Ladoux.
Fengtong Ji
Postdoctoral Fellow
I received my Ph.D. in Mechanical and Automation Engineering from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, B.E., and M.E. from the Harbin Institute of Technology. Now I am focusing on promoting developmental mechanics and microrobotic engineering at Cambridge as a Herchel Smith Fellow and a Wellcome Early Career Fellow, aiming at developing new paradigms to better understand development.
Emily Holmes
Research Assistant / Lab Manager
Emily (she/her/hers) graduated with honors from Fordham University in 2023 with a BSc in Chemistry. She joined the Xiong group as a research assistant later that same year. Her previous research involved investigating DNA replication in Gram-positive bacteria on a molecular level using single-molecule fluorescence imaging.
Lauren Moon
PhD Student (Wellcome Trust Studentship)
Ren graduated from King's College London with a Bachelors degree in Anatomy, Developmental and Human Biology. She is currently undertaking the Wellcome Trust PhD Developmental Mechanisms Programme at Downing College, Cambridge. Ren is investigating the cellular mechanisms of neural tube morphogenesis combining modeling and imaging.
Yisha Lan
PhD Student (Cambridge International Scholarship)
Yisha got her undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Tongji University. She was a recipient of Cambridge International Scholarship for a PhD programme. In the lab, Yisha developed image analysis algorithms and learned molecular biology and embryology of both zebrafish and chicken. Currently, Yisha is investigating Nodal organized tissue shape change with collaborators.
Ana Hernandez-Rodriguez
PhD Student (Gurdon-VC studentship)
Ana earned her degree in Biology from Cambridge. She worked as a Research Assistant in Oxford and the Crick before joining us as a SBS-Gurdon funded PhD student. Ana works on cell fate decisions in the mechanical environment using both chicken embryos and stem cell culture. She enjoys a variety of sports including rowing and badminton.
Yixin Dai
PhD Student (Gurdon-ZJU joint training program)
I am a joint PhD student (with Prof. Peng Xia at LSI, Zhejiang University). I have a dual degree with BSc in Biomedical Sciences of Zhejiang University and also honored BSc in Integrative Biomedical Sciences of University of Edinburgh. I am investigating the role of cell junctional changes during morphogenesis, with a focus on the Septins.
Alex Sutherland
Research Assistant
I graduated with an MPhil in Biochemistry from the University of Cambridge in 2023, where I studied the mechanisms of SNX9 in cell motility of PI3K-driven breast cancer cells under the guidance of Dr. Jenny Gallop. Currently, I am working as a research assistant supporting Dr. Susie McLaren in investigating the formation of coral-plankton symbiosis during coral morphogenesis, with the goal of aiding ecosystem recovery.
Kiara Kok
MPhil Student (Developmental Biology track)
Kiara got her undergrad degree from UCL. She enjoys volleyball and other competitive activities!
Ruoheng Li
PhD student (Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholarship)
Ruoheng earned her BS degree in life sciences from Tsinghua University. After a summer placement with the lab, she now plans to return to continue pursuing her interest in mechanics of morphogenesis in a diversity of life forms
Yuxin Gu
PhD student (Gurdon-ZJU joint training program)
Yuxin is a joint student with Prof. Minxin Guan at Zhejiang University. Yuxin is interested in the role of mechanics in cochlear patterning and regeneration
Alumni
Joana Marujo Do Nascimento Vidigueira (RA/Lab manager/MPhil - current: PhD student, TU Dresden)
Xinyi Li (Summer student, Tsinghua Univ. - current: Biology student, Tsinghua)
Brendan Chiong (Summer student, UCL - current: Biomedical sciences student, UCL)
Yuchi Guo (Summer student, Cambridge - current: Physics student, Cambridge)
Harvey Williams (Summer student, Cambridge - current: Physics student, Cambridge)
Ho Sin Yiu, Venus (Summer student, HKU - current: Biology student, HKU)
Ameera Cunningham (Part II student, Cambridge - upcoming: PhD student, CTR, Cambridge)
Shaarukkan Kankeyan (Part II student, Cambridge - current: medical student, Cambridge)
Vivian Wang (Summer student, Cambridge - current: engineering student, Cambridge)
Samantha Burley (Summer student, Cambridge - current: medical student, Cambridge)
Dr. Daniele Kunz (Postdoc - current: researcher, Department of Biochemistry, Cambridge)
Krithi Muli (Part II student, Cambridge - current: veterinary student, Cambridge)
Vithusan Kuganathan (Part II student, Cambridge - current: medical student, Cambridge)
Yiyuan Huang (Summer student, Tsinghua Univ. - current: PhD student, MIT)
Shanker Narayan (Summer student, Cambridge - current: medical student, Cambridge)
Shreya Dwarakacherla (Summer student, Cambridge - current: medical student, Cambridge)
Anfu Wang (MPhil, Developmental Biology, Cambridge - current: PhD student, McDole lab, LMB)
Dr. Changqing Lu (CSC scholar- current: faculty of human anatomy, Sichuan Univ.)
Oscar Baldwin (Part II student, Cambridge - current: medical student, Cambridge)
Siyuan (David) Ding (Part II student, Cambridge - current: medical student, Cambridge)
Kathy Oswald (Admin)
Zher Yee Ooi (Summer student, Imperial - current: PhD student, HKU)
Melissa Yuan (Part II student, Cambridge - current: medical student, Cambridge)
Alicja Maksymiuk (Summer student, Cambridge - current: PhD student, Oxford)
Yifan (Stephen) Wang (Undergrad, ZJU and U. Edinbrough - current: PhD student, NUS)
Melinda M. V. Kerckvoorde (MPhil, Developmental Biology, Cambridge - current: Associate Consultant, Scendea)
Chris Chan (Part III student, Systems Biology, Cambridge - current: PhD student, Priya Lab, Crick)
Ziqi Dong (Rotation student, Wellcome - current: PhD student, Rawlins Lab, Gurdon Institute)
Arianna Pezzuolo (Admin)
Rae Wong (Summer student, U. Liverpool - current: PhD student, Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência Portugal)
Elisa Terenzani (Summer student, U. Pavia - current: PhD student, IMPRS, Germany)
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