School of Medicine
Showing 1-10 of 11 Results
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Yunkyeong Lee
Postdoctoral Scholar, Endocrinology and Metabolism
BioYun is a postdoctoral research scholar in the Translational Genomics of Diabetes Laboratory under the mentorship of Dr. Anna Gloyn. Since joining the lab in August 2022, she has been investigating type 2 diabetes (T2D) susceptible genes and their molecular mechanisms in pancreatic β-cell dysfunction and the development of T2D. Her primary focus is on how T2D effector transcripts alter autophagy/mitophagy pathways in human pancreatic β-cells, contributing to β-cell failure, mitochondrial dysfunction, and T2D pathology. She also investigated the impact of genetic mutations underlying neonatal diabetes using CRISPR HDR knockin genome editing in human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) models and their derivatives.
During her PhD, she explored the role of an epigenetic regulator and its molecular machinery in the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), now termed metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). In parallel, she studied the interplay between endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-mediated unfolded protein response (UPR) signalling and autophagy, and examined how these processes are modulated by bioactive plant extracts in various cellular contexts.
She is particularly interested in exploring inter-organ communication, such as pancreas-liver crosstalk, and how these interactions influence systemic metabolism and contribute to the onset and progression of T2D, along with its complications. Her long-term research goal is to advance our understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms driving T2D and to identify novel therapeutic targets and strategies. -
Lu Zhang
Postdoctoral Scholar, Endocrinology and Metabolism
BioLu is a postdoctoral research scholar in Dr. Anna Gloyn's Translational Genomics of Diabetes Lab. During her master's and doctoral studies, she focused on epigenomics and single-cell multi-omics analysis, with an emphasis on 3D genomics. Her research included developing Hi-Tag, a chromatin conformation capture technique designed for use with small cell samples. This method provides valuable insights into the organization of chromatin in the cell. She has built strong expertise in combining different types of biological data, including RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, chromatin interaction data, and single-cell data. She has contributed to several research projects as a co-author, including studies that used genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and GTEX data to connect multi-omics data with functional genomics. These experiences have helped her gain a deep understanding of how to integrate different types of genomic data to solve complex biological problems. Currently, Lu is focused on applying her research skills to diabetes.
