Members

Zhiyong Bai
Research scientist
zhiyong.bai@northwestern.edu

Zhiyong Bai earned his Ph.D. in the Rutgers University-New Brunswick, New Jersey. His graduate work focused on using C.elegans as a model to study intracellular trafficking. After graduation, he mainly worked with Dr. Loren Runnels at Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School to study the TRPM7 and TRPM6 channels in mammalian cells. In the September of 2022, he joined Wei & Juan’s lab at Van Andel Institute as a research scientist. His current research project aims to understand the structure and function relationship of TRPM channels.

Jinhong Hu
AHA Postdoctoral fellow
jinhong.hu@northwestern.edu

Jinhong Hu earned his Ph.D. in the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. His graduate work focused on structural analysis of the bacteria Type 3 Secretion System. In the May of 2022, he joined Wei & Juan’s lab at Van Andel Institute as a postdoc. His current research project aims to understand the structure and function relationship of TRPM members. Outside of the lab, he enjoys playing games and swimming.

Sofia Ievleva
PhD student
Sofia.Ievleva@vai.edu

Sofia was born in Voronezh, Russia. She attended Voronezh State University for two years where she started her research career with studying oxoglutarate dehydrogenase activity in plants that led to her first publication. She then started her journey towards BS degree in Biology with a minor in Molecular Biology at Alcorn State University where she was involved in researching effects of natural medication (curcumin) vs metformin on ovarian cancer. She joined Van Andel Institute graduate school program in 2021 and after rotating in various labs within VAI, found that her interests lie in the structural biology field, and she joined the labs of Dr. Juan Du and Dr. Wei Lü in the summer of 2022. Outside the lab, Sofia enjoys weightlifting, tennis, painting, video games, and photography. 

Sarah Keuning
Assistant research technician
sarahkeuning2024@u.northwestern.edu

Sarah grew up in Grand Haven, MI and graduated with a BS in Biochemistry from Calvin University in Grand Rapids, MI in April 2022. As an undergraduate student, she worked in the lab of Dr. Stephanie Grainger at Van Andel Institute studying Wnt signaling and its effect on stem cell development using zebrafish and cell culture. Sarah joined the Du and Lü lab in August 2022 as an assistant research technician. Outside of the lab, she enjoys traveling, reading, hiking, and playing the piano.

Sushant Kumar
Postdoctoral fellow
sushant.kumar@northwestern.edu

Sushant was born in a small village of Nalanda in the state of Bihar, India. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture from G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, India and Master’s degree in Life Sciences from Jawaharlal Nehru University, India. From 2011-17, he pursued his Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. His graduate work focused on studying the structure of DNA damage-inducing protein 1 from protozoans and exploring the strain and pH-dependent structural changes in rotaviral enterotoxin NSP4. In 2018, he joined the lab of Dr. Aravind Penmatsa in Indian Institute of Science as a postdoctoral fellow and started working on integral membrane proteins. He employed X-ray crystallography to solve the structure of a secondary active transporter from Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in complex with a camelid nanobody. Since 2021, he has been working as a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Juan Du and Dr. Wei Lü to understand the structural and functional aspects of ion channels employing cryo-EM, electrophysiology, and computational tools. He enjoys traveling, running, cooking, and reading novels and philosophical books in his leisure time.

Junuk Lee
Senior research scientist
junuk.lee@northwestern.edu

Junuk obtained his Ph.D. from Seoul National University, where he used a slice patch-clamp technique to investigate synaptic changes associated with fear memory. During his postdoctoral period at Princeton University, he used both in vivo calcium imaging and patch-clamp to study the role of cholinergic interneurons in cocaine learning and the inputs from the locus coeruleus to the cerebellum in associative motor learning. In August 2023, Junuk joined the Du & Lü Lab at the Van Andel Institute as a Senior Research Scientist. He is currently working on a project to explore the relationship between the structure and function of TRPM channels. Outside of the lab, Junuk enjoys spending time at home and in nature with his wife and three children.

Yangyang Li
Postdoctoral fellow
Yangyang.Li@vai.org

Yangyang Li earned her Ph.D. in Fudan university. Her graduate work focused on structural and functional analysis of precursor tRNA 5’-end processing by prokaryotic minimal protein-only RNase P. In the May of 2023, she joined Wei & Juan’s lab at Van Andel Institute as a postdoc. Her current research project aims to understand the structure and function relationship of TRPM members.

Richard Massimino
Assistant research technician
Richard.Massimino@vai.org

Richard grew up in the small town of Clearfield Pennsylvania and graduated with a B.S. in Microbiology from The Pennsylvania State University in the Spring of 2023. During his undergraduate studies he worked on a multitude of projects and was trained in several labs while also being a lab assistant and teaching assistant for many of his professors. During his final year of undergraduate studies, he worked under the mentorship of Dr. Jean-Paul Armache on a myriad of structural biology projects related to chromatin remodelers. Richard joined the Du and Lü lab in July 2023 as an assistant research technician. Aside from research, he enjoys working out, video games, music, and reading. 

Garrett O’Dea
Assistant research technician
Garrett.ODea@vai.org

Garrett was raised in Ann Arbor, MI. He attended Grand Valley State University, where he pursued a major in Cell and Molecular Biology. His undergraduate research was concentrated on detection of the SARS CoV-2 virus in Grand Rapids wastewater as an early detection method for outbreaks of COVID-19. Under the guidance of Dr. Sheila Blackman and Dr. Pei Lan Tsou, he developed a novel method of detection of different variants of SARS CoV-2 using RT-qPCR. Garrett joined the Du lab in May of 2022 as an assistant research technician. Outside of the lab, Garrett enjoys reading, cooking, playing videogames, and brewing his own beer.

Sung Jin Park
Senior research scientist
sungjin.park@northwestern.edu

Sung Jin Park received M.S and Ph.D in medicine from Seoul National University in Seoul, Korea. After completing his biophysics & physiology training, he carried out post-doctoral training in neurophysiology and gastroenterology at McMaster University, ON, Canada. He studied ion channel mechanisms underlying the development of obesity at Queens University, ON, Canada. He continued to study molecular mechanisms accounting for osmoregulation at the University of Saskatchewan, SK, Canada. He joined Du & Lü Lab, Van Andel Institute in Sep 2022 as Sr. research scientist. He has expertise in patch clamp electrophysiology and knowledge in biophysics and physiology. He is interested in studies contributing to deeper understanding of ion channels by combining his electrophysiology with the structure biology in Du & Lü Lab.

Jiangnan Sheng
Undergraduate research assistant
jiangnansheng2027@u.northwestern.edu

Jiangnan grew up in Suzhou, China. He spent his first year of undergraduate study at Grinnell College in Iowa and transferred to Northwestern University as a Biological Science major student. He joined Pascal Lafontant’s Lab in his time at Grinnell and was involved in research on Zebrafish lateral line development and cardiac regeneration. In September 2024, he joined Du & Lü Lab as an undergraduate student. Outside the lab, he enjoys music, novels, piano, and tennis.

William Xia
Undergraduate research assistant
williamxia2027@u.northwestern.edu

William is a second-year undergraduate student at Northwestern from Diamond Bar, California. He is pursuing a major in biological sciences on the pre-medical track. He is particularly interested in exploring the ties between molecular biology and its implications in medicine. William joined the Du and Lü lab in September 2024 as an undergraduate research assistant. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball and the saxophone.