Meet Our Team

Mingxia Gu, MD, PhD

mgu@mednet.ucla.edu

Associate Professor

MD, PhD: Peking University, Beijing, China and joint-training at Stanford University (2013)       Fellowship: Stanford University, CA (2016) Instructorship: Stanford University, CA (2019)
Key Words: Cardiopulmonary disease, human induced pluripotent stem cells, organoid, vasculature, drug development, snowboard, scuba diving (learn more from UCLA BSCRC Member Spotlight)

Yunpei Zhang, PhD

yunpeizhang@mednet.ucla.edu

Project Scientist

PhD: Peking University, Beijing, China (2017)       Fellowship: Penn State University, PA (2020) Fellowship: Oregon Health & Science University, OR (2025)
Key Words: Vascular Biology, Neurovascular Biology, Perivascular niche biology, Yoga, Traveling

Maihemuti Wusiman, PhD

WMaihemuti@mednet.ucla.edu

Postdoc Fellow

PhD: Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan (2025)       
Key Words: human iPSCs, engineered heart tissue, biophysical training and maturation, directed differentiation, vascular organoids, soccer, swimming

Anmin Wang, PhD

amwang13@g.ucla.edu

Postdoc Fellow

PhD: University of Science and Technology of China (USTC, 2024)
Key words: Human pluripotent stem cells, lymphatic development, innate immune response, bioinformatics, enterovirus infections, food, music, dog lover, chelonian expert

Jiyu Hyun, PhD

guswldb97@gmail.com

Postdoc Fellow

BE, PhD: Sungkyunkwan University,  Seoul, South Korea (2025)
Key words: Tissue Engineering, Regenerative Medicine, Artificial Heart Valve, Organoid, Tennis, Weight Training

Postdoc Fellow

MD: Peking University, Beijing, China (2013)
Key words: Structural heart disease, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), valvular heart disease, interventional cardiology, translational research, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)

Nicole Pek, BS

Nicole.pek@cchmc.org

Graduate Student

BS: National University of Singapore (2016)

Key Words: Human pluripotent stem cells, Directed differentiation, Cardiovascular biology, Regenerative Medicine, Cell and Transplantation Therapy, Hiking, Mountaineering, Sports, Fitness, Cooking.

Undergraduate Student

BS: UCLA Bioengineering, Biochemistry
Key words: Stem Cell Biology, Tissue Engineering, Organoids, Regenerative Medicine, Rock Climbing, Hiking

Undergraduate Student

BS: UCLA Human Biology and Society
Key words: Stem cells and organoid development, regenerative medicine & new approaches to medicine, women’s health, sustainability, translational research, music, traveling, cooking

Undergraduate Student

BS: UCLA Bioengineering

Key Words: Organoid Development, Tissue Engineering, Bio computation, Translational Therapy, Basketball, Percussion

Kaylee Hsieh

kmhsieh5@g.ucla.edu

Undergraduate Student

BS: UCLA Psychobiology
Key words: Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells, Organoids, Cardiovasculature, Interventional Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Patient-Physician Relations, Preventative Medicine, Translational Research, Snowboarding, Tennis, Food

Alumni & Current Positions

  • Alyssa Klein

    Medical Student, Tufts University

  • Bethel Bayrau

    Medical student, UCLA

  • Romy Mastel

    Mechanical Engineer, Applied Materials

  • Emily Chen

    Software Engineer, Amazon

  • Neil Wary

    PhD Student, University of Oxford

  • Victor Pastrana-Gomez

    MSTP Student, Case Western Reserve University

  • Simon (Yifei) Miao

    PI, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Science.

  • Zhiyun Yu

    Scientist, Bio-Techne

  • Ziyi Liu

    Research Associate, University of Cincinnati

  • Cheng Tan

    Physician, Peking University Peoples’ Hospital

  • Vidhya Ravichandran

    Resident Pediatrician, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

  • Justin Freking

    Medical Student, University of Cincinnati