We have a multidisciplinary, collaborative and fun team! We are actively recruiting at all levels! Trainees with a background in single cell sequencing, bioinformatics, genetics, bioengineering, biophysics, imaging, or related disciplines are welcome! Email Chen if you are interested in developmental biology and cell type evolution!
We aim to build an inclusive environment to support our trainees. We encourage students from underrepresented groups to apply to our BE graduate program. We also welcome students from other graduate programs. Don’t hesitate to talk to us if interested!
Meet the Team
Chen Cao
Assistant Professor
Chen is a bioengineer and developmental biology researcher. She earned her Ph.D. in Biophysics from Peking University, along with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biomedical engineering from Southeast University in China. Chen completed her postdoctoral training in developmental biology at the Lewis-Sigler Institute of Integrative Genomics in Princeton. She was awarded Pathway to Independence Awards (K99/R00) by National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and was recruited to UT Dallas as the First-Time Tenure Track member by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT scholar).
Fangzhou Zhao
Postdoc Researcher
Fangzhou is a postdoctoral researcher with over 10 years of experience in molecular biology and biochemistry. He received his BS degree in Biological Science at the University of Science and Technology of China. He graduated from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center with a PhD degree in Integrative Molecular and Biomedical Sciences in 2020, followed by 3 years of postdoctoral research focusing on cancer biology. He is interested in AI/ML technology and applying them in biological studies.
Wanzhi Yang
Graduate Student
Wanzhi graduated from Huazhong University of Science and Technology with a master’s degree in biology. She is interested in how a fertilized egg develops into various cell types and uses programming languages like R and Python to interpret this interesting biological progress. She enjoys history, exploring cultures of different countries, and sports like table tennis and badminton.
Namyuktha Prakash
BME Undergraduate student
Namyuktha is originally from India but moved to Dallas in 2015 from Dubai and has called it home ever since. As a biomedical engineering student, her research interests are bioinformatics and imaging. Outside of academics, she enjoys drawing, watching movies, and spending quality time with friends and family. On campus, she is involved with the artificial intelligence society and freshman mentor program.
Daniel Luu
CS Undergraduate student
Being born and spending my entire life here in North Dallas, I can truly call myself a native Texan. Being part of the computer science department while pursuing the premed track has given me a different perspective about biology and medicine as a whole. I’m interested in machine learning and the role it can play in bioinformatics. Here at UTD I’m involved with the Association for Computing Machinery, specifically the projects side. Outside of school, I’m a medical scribe aiding doctors with patient documentation and I love playing pickleball with my friends.
Kirthika Mutthoju
BS Undergraduate student
Self intro coming soon
