Fangzhou Xiao [postdoc, 2022-][email][website]
[Ph.D. in bioengineering, John Doyle group, California Institute of Techlonogy]

My career goal is to push for a scaled-up mature engineering of biological cells as bio-machines that fully realizes the unique potential of biotechnology: adaptation, survival, growth, and dominance. My PhD work developed a theoretical foundation for biomachines with biomolecular reactions as components. Namely, binding and catalysis as core structures of biomolecular systems, like mass and force for mechanical systems; and biological cells are metabolic machines that control fluxes through exponents, like the Lagrangian formulation of mechanical machines as controlling position and velocity through applied forces. In my postdoc at Jun lab, I want to develop a theory-driven design-test-build cycle to engineer bacterial cells' dynamic functions on survival and growth by engineering their regulatory architecture, rather than by engineering single genes or molecules.

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Ryan Thiermann [graduate student, UCSD physics, qBio, 2017-]
[B.S. in physics, the University of Chicago] [email]

Before coming to the Jun lab, I studied physics and mathematics at the University of Chicago. Here, I am investigating how bacteria coordinate ribosome synthesis with growth as conditions vary. More generally, I’m intrigued by whether and how cellular resource allocation serves to maximize fitness in different environments.

Saransh Umale [graduate student,  UCSD biology, qBio, 2018-]
[B.S. in bioengineering, IIT Madras][Ray Thomas Edwards fellow][email]

I studied Biological Engineering (Bachelors & Masters) at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in Chennai, India. There, I briefly worked on retroactivity in synthetic gene networks. At the Jun lab, I will study the growth of metazoan cellular systems.

Haochen Fu [graduate student, UCSD physics, 2019-]
[B.S. in physics, Peking University]

I received my BSc in Physics from Peking University in 2019. In Jun lab, I am widely interested in looking for physical laws and principles in biological systems by quantitative approaches. Currently, I am studying the noise control of the chromosome replication initiation.

Aaron Ren [graduate student, UCSD physics, 2020-]
[B.S. in physics, UCSD]

I started my undergraduate study at UCSD as a biophysics major student, and fell in love with looking into biological systems through the lens of simple and intuitive physics. I started to work as a lab assistant in Suckjoon's lab when I was a junior, exploring the behavior of division proteins in E. coli cells. Now, my graduate path is a continuation of my passion on biophysics and quantitative biology, and my first markstone on my graduate program will be on the topic of mitochondria topology within yeast cells. Utilizing digital micro mirror device and other microscopic techniques, I'm looking forward to unveiling the pattern of internal connection within mitochondria and to understanding the topology-physiology relation.

Aman Sharma [graduate student (UCSD physics, 2020-)]
[B.S. in physics, IIT Bombay] [email]
I received by bachelors in Engineering Physics from IIT Bombay. I am interested in understanding how interesting biological features emerge from the underlying physical laws..

Michael Sandler [graduate student (UCSD physics, 2021-)]
[B.S. in physics and CS & math; previously at Google/YouTube] [email]
Towards the end of my four years at the University of Illinois, I fell in love with statistical mechanics and realized that I could use my quantitative background to study living systems. From there, my path was set. Broadly, I am interested in using tabletop science to understand biological systems through the lens of mathematics. At the Junlab, I am currently looking into the strategies that bacteria use to regulate their morphology.

Cara Jensen [undergraduate (UCSD physics/biophysics)]

After spending several years as a professional in the music and art industry, unexpected events shifted my creative energy toward biophysics. Here I have found a true passion for biological systems and how multidisciplinary approaches can further our understanding of them.

Taylor Rytlewski [undergraduate (UCSD physics/biophysics)]
I am currently completing my undergraduate degree in physics. As a pre-medicine student, I have taken many biology courses alongside my core physics classes. I became fascinated by the ways in which math and physics could be used as tools to understand biological systems. At the Jun lab, I am currently investigating how bacteria allocate their resources and what molecules play a major role in growth rate regulation.