members
principal investigator
Mingyi Xie, Associate Professor
Henry E. Innes Endowed Professor in Cancer Research
University of Florida Research Foundation Professor
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
UF Health Cancer Institute
University of Florida
Office phone: 352-273-8171
Lab phone: 352-273-8198
Email: mingyi.xie@ufl.edu
C.V.
Experience: Postdoc training. Yale University with Joan Steitz
Education: Ph.D. Arizona State University with Julian Chen
B.Sci. Xiamen University, China
Research scientists
Peike Sheng
(started in Jan. 2017)
Email: peike.sheng@ufl.edu
Lab Phone: 352-273-8198
Education:
Ph.D. Hunan University/ Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
B.Sci. Hunan University, China
Lu Li
(started in Jul. 2018)
Email: luli1@ufl.edu
Lab Phone: 352-273-8198
Education:
Ph.D. Nanjing Agricultural University, China
B.Sci. Nanjing Agricultural University
postdoctoral associates
Vikas Dongardive
(started in Jun. 2024)
Email: vikas.dongardive@ufl.edu
Lab Phone: 352-273-8198
Education:
Ph.D. National Centre for Cell Science, India
M. Tech. National Institute of Technology, India
B.E. MGM’s Jawaharlal Nehru Engineering College, India
Yanyan (Ryan) Liu
(started in Oct. 2024)
Email: yanyanliu@ufl.edu
Lab Phone: 352-273-8198
Education:
Ph.D. Jinan University, China
B.E. Henan Institute of Science and Technology, China
Yue Han
(started in Jul. 2025)
Email: yue.han@medicine.ufl.edu
Lab Phone: 352-273-8198
Education:
Ph.D. Bejing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
B.Sci. Henan Normal University, China
Wenyan Han
(started in Sep. 2025)
Email: wenyan.han@ufl.edu
Lab Phone: 352-273-8198
Education:
Ph.D. ShanghaiTech University
B.S. Huazhong Agricultural University, China
Yubo Wang
(started in Jan. 2026)
Email: yubowang1@ufl.edu
Lab Phone: 352-273-8198
Education:
Ph.D. China Agricultural University
B.S. China Agricultural University
graduate students (ph.d.)
Conner Traugot
(started in Aug. 2021; joined the lab in Apr. 2022)
Email: connertraugot@ufl.edu
Lab Phone: 352-273-8198
Education:
B.Sci. Duke University
Matthew Gibbons
(Joint with Dr. Jorg Bungert)
Email: matthewgibbons@ufl.edu,
Lab Phone: 352-273-8198
Education:
M.Sci. University of Florida
Tyler Kopf
(started in Aug. 2024; joined the lab in Feb. 2025)
Email: tyler.kopf@ufl.edu
Lab Phone: 352-273-8198
Education:
B.Sci. Jacksonville University
Olivia D’Agati
(started in Aug. 2025; joined the lab in Dec. 2025)
Email: dagatio@ufl.edu,
Lab Phone: 352-273-8198
Education:
B.Sci. University of Florida
Denise Hernandez
(started in Aug. 2025; joined the lab in Apr. 2026)
(Joint with Dr. Zhipeng Li)
Email: Denise.Hernandez@surgery.ufl.edu
Education:
B.Sci. University of Florida
medical student
Ricardo Steward
(started in June. 2025)
Email: stewart.ricardo@ufl.edu
Lab Phone: 352-273-8198
Class of 2028
Undergraduate students
Helena Almeida
(started in Jan. 2024)
as lab technician (Started in Apr. 2024)
Email: helena.almeida@ufl.edu
Lab Phone: 352-273-8198
Major: Biochemistry
Lavi Madjar
(started in Aug. 2024)
as lab technician (Started in Sep. 2025)
Email: l.madjar@ufl.edu
Lab Phone: 352-273-8198
Major: Biochemistry
Tyler Jang
(started in Sep. 2024)
Email: tjang@ufl.edu
Lab Phone: 352-273-8198
Major: Biology
Shea Baran
(started in Nov. 2024)
Email: sheabaran@ufl.edu
Lab Phone: 352-273-8198
Major: Biology/Spanish
Kaylie Hurtado
(started in Nov. 2024)
Email: khurtado@ufl.edu
Lab Phone: 352-273-8198
Major: Biochemistry
Clarence Ta
(started in Sep. 2025)
Email: clarenceta@ufl.edu
Lab Phone: 352-273-8198
Major: Health Sciences
Mahd Bilal Younus
(started in Sep. 2025)
Email: mahdbilalyounus@ufl.edu
Lab Phone: 352-273-8198
Major: Biochemistry
Alec Alarakhia
(started in Sep. 2025)
Email: alarakhia.a@ufl.edu
Lab Phone: 352-273-8198
Major: Psychology
Aaditya Manami-Ratan
(started in Sep. 2025)
Email: a.manamiratan@ufl.edu
Lab Phone: 352-273-8198
Major: Biology
Alexandra Rubin
as lab technician (Started in Apr. 2026)
Email: rubin.ga@ufl.edu
Lab Phone: 352-273-8198
Major: