Members

Principal Investigator

Jerry Yingtao Zhao
Assistant Professor
yzhao47@nyit.edu

BS, Economics, Nanjing University (2005)
PhD, Bioinformatics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2010)
Postdoctoral Fellow, Brain disorders, University of Pennsylvania

Jerry was an undergraduate at Nanjing University, where he worked on models of economic growth. He was inspired by the Human Genome Project and moved to Beijing in 2005 to pursue his PhD in Bioinformatics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. There, he worked with Dr. Xiu-Jie Wang developing computational methods to characterize non-coding RNAs. In September 2011, Jerry joined Joe Zhou’s lab at the University of Pennsylvania, where he investigated the role of epigenetic mechanisms in the etiology of Rett syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Jerry started his independent career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at NYIT in July 2019.

Research Scientist

Sohyun Moon
Postdoctoral Fellow
smoon01@nyit.edu

BS, Daegu Hanni University, South Korea (2011)
PhD, Konkuk University, Seoul, South Korea (2016)

Sohyun got her PhD in molecular biotechnology from Konkuk University, South Korea. After graduation, she worked as a research professor at the Dongguk University and as a postdoc at the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB). Before joining NYIT, Sohyun was a postdoc at the SUNY downstate medical center studying ECM proteins, angiogenesis, and neovascular diseases. In the Jerry Zhao Lab, Sohyun is interested in integrating mouse genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics approaches to study the role of long genes in the brain.

Medical School Student

Laiba Ahmed

Laiba received her Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Psychology from Stony Brook University and is currently pursuing her medical degree at NYITCOM. With a passion for research, Laiba has joined this lab as part of the NYITCOM 2023 Summer Student Research Program. In the lab, Laiba is responsible for conducting experiments, analyzing data, and supporting other lab members. Although she has not decided on a specialty, Laiba hopes to pursue a career in academic medicine so that she may continue her involvement in mentorship and research. In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis, embroidering, and cooking.

Undergraduate Student

Moontachier Taseen

Rebecca Yusupov
Rebecca is a third-year undergraduate student at the New York Institute of Technology in the Old Westbury Campus. She is on the pre-med route, with anticipation of attending NYITCOM in 2024. In the Jerry Zhao lab, Rebecca is interested in studying the role of long genes in the expression of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. In her free time, she enjoys hobbies such as painting, cooking, and baking.

Alumni

Austin Meadows (Research Technician, 2020)

Matan Kadosh (NYITCOM Medical School Student, 2020-2021)

Brian Tang (NYITCOM Medical School Student, 2020-2021)

Saqib Chariwala (NYITCOM Medical School Scholar, 2021)

Ali Mian (NYIT Graduate Student, 2021-2022)

Samantha Mota (Research Technician, 2021-2022)

Sana Naeem (NYITCOM Medical School Student, 2022-2022)

Mansi Patel (NYIT Undergraduate Student, 2020-2022)

Christina Gonzalez (Research Technician, 2023-2023)

Mahima Parappurath (NYIT Undergraduate Student, 2022-2023)

Zainab Mubasher (NYIT Undergraduate Student, 2022-2023)

Tiffany Tran (NYIT Undergraduate Student, 2023-2023)

Rianna Pannikodu (NYIT Undergraduate Student, 2023-2023)