Alumni
Alumni
Where our scientists have gone.
Over the past fifteen years, the lab has trained more than sixty scientists, and their trajectories speak to the depth of the program. Alumni have established independent research groups at UCSF, Yale, Stanford, UCLA, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, the University of Pennsylvania, Ohio State University, the University of Colorado, Roswell Park, Charité Berlin, the University of Bergen, and the National Cancer Institute, among others. In industry, our graduates lead translational research at Genmab, AstraZeneca, Merck, Intellia, and Biosplice, hold senior roles at biotech companies including TFC Therapeutics and Nuevocor, and have moved into venture and consulting at Polaris Partners and McKinsey. Our earlier-career trainees — research assistants, undergraduates, and visiting medical students — have continued into MD-PhD and PhD programs at Rockefeller, the University of Massachusetts, and Washington University, and into competitive residency and fellowship programs across the country. We are proud of where our scientists go and remain in close contact with them as they build their careers.
Faculty
Postdoctoral alumni in faculty positions
Hani Goodarzi, PhD
Associate Professor · UCSF · Core Member, Arc Institute
Postdoctoral training 2012–2016. Leads a research program in RNA biology and cancer at UCSF and is a core member of the Arc Institute.
Claudio Alarcon, PhD
Associate Professor · Yale School of Medicine
Postdoctoral training 2009–2017. Department of Pharmacology, Yale School of Medicine.
Nils Halberg, PhD
Associate Professor · University of Bergen
Postdoctoral training 2009–2015. Leads a research group at the University of Bergen, Norway.
Dennis Hsu, MD
Assistant Professor · Ohio State University
Postdoctoral training 2017–2021. Physician-scientist at Ohio State University.
Ryan Moy, MD PhD
Assistant Professor · Columbia University
Postdoctoral training 2018–2021. Physician-scientist at Columbia University in New York.
Xuhang Liu, PhD
Assistant Professor · Roswell Park
Postdoctoral training 2014–2022. Assistant Professor at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY.
Veena Padmanaban, PhD
Assistant Professor · Johns Hopkins
Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins Medical Institute.
Jose Ledo, PhD
Assistant Professor · University of Colorado
Postdoctoral training 2019–2022. Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado.
Benjamin Ostendorf, MD PhD
Group Leader · Charité, Berlin
Graduate student and postdoctoral training, completed 2021. Leads an independent research group at Charité University in Berlin.
Nori Yamaguchi, MD PhD
Head of Laboratory · NCI/NIH
Clinical scholar and postdoctoral training, completed 2022. Head of the Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute, NIH.
Ethan Weinberg, MD
Assistant Professor · Penn
Postdoctoral training 2012–2016. Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
Graduate alumni in faculty positions
Alexander Nguyen, MD PhD
Assistant Professor · UCLA School of Medicine
Graduate student 2011–2015. Physician-scientist at UCLA.
Jason Barzel Ross, MD PhD
Assistant Professor · Stanford
Graduate student 2010–2015. Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at Stanford University.
Paul Furlow, MD PhD
Faculty · MGH / Harvard
Graduate student 2011–2015. Faculty in the Department of Thoracic Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard.
Industry & Biotech
Nora Pencheva, PhD
Director, Translational Medicine Lead · Genmab
Graduate student 2010–2014. Leads translational research efforts at Genmab in the Netherlands.
Jia Min Loo, PhD
Senior Director · Nuevocor
Graduate student 2009–2015. Senior Director at Nuevocor, Singapore.
Kim Png, PhD
Principal · Polaris Partners
Graduate student 2009–2013. Principal at Polaris Partners (Singapore / NYC).
Lisa Fish, PhD
Director of Research · Exai Bio
Graduate student 2009–2015. Director of Research at Exai Bio in San Francisco.
Elizabeth McMillan, PhD
Director, Target Discovery · Biosplice
Postdoctoral training 2017–2019. Director of Target Discovery at Biosplice Therapeutics, San Diego.
Jizi Ren, PhD
Senior Scientist · Intellia
Postdoctoral training 2016–2018. Senior Scientist at Intellia Therapeutics in Boston.
Maria Liberti, PhD
Clinical Scientist · Merck
Postdoctoral training 2018–2020. Clinical Scientist at Merck.
Mira Patel, MD
Medical Director, Oncology R&D · AstraZeneca
Clinical scholar 2020–2024. Medical Director for Early Global Development in Oncology R&D at AstraZeneca.
Bernardo Tavora, PhD
Principal Scientist · TFC Therapeutics
Postdoctoral training 2013–2020. Now Principal Scientist at TFC Therapeutics.
Caitlin Sengelaub, PhD
Consultant · McKinsey & Company
Graduate student 2011–2015. Healthcare and biotech management consultant at McKinsey, Boston.
Yuehyi Gloria Wu, MD PhD
Consultant · McKinsey & Company
Graduate student 2013–2017. Healthcare and biotech management consultant at McKinsey, San Francisco.
Clinical & Physician-Scientists
Christopher Rouya, PhD
Medical Student · Harvard Medical School
Graduate student 2015–2022. Now a medical student at Harvard Medical School.
Maria Passarelli, MD PhD
Resident · Boston Children’s / Harvard
Graduate student 2017–2021. Pediatrics Research Track at Boston Children’s Hospital / Harvard.
Nneoma Adaku, MD PhD
Intern · Brigham and Women’s / Harvard
Graduate student 2018–2022. Internal medicine intern at Brigham and Women’s Hospital / Harvard.
Lisa Noble, PhD
Otolaryngology Surgery · Duke
Graduate student 2014–2019. Otolaryngology surgical training at Duke University.
Doowon Huh, PhD
Ophthalmology Fellowship · Pittsburgh
Research assistant 2010–2012, graduate student 2014–2019. Ophthalmologic surgery fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh.
Ethan Ravetch, MD
Breast Surgery Fellow · Mount Sinai
Clinical scholar 2017–2019. Breast surgery fellowship at Mount Sinai Medical Center, NY.
Baris Boyraz, MD PhD
Assistant Professor · Weill Cornell
Clinical scholar 2017–2019. Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Alexis Scherl, MD PhD
Research Pathologist · Genentech
Clinical scholar 2011–2012. Research pathologist at Genentech.
Hien Tran, MD PhD
Dermatologic Surgeon · UC Irvine / Kaiser Permanente
Clinical scholar 2009–2010. Dermatologic surgery practice.
Hyeseung Lee, PhD
Postdoctoral Associate · MIT
Graduate student 2009–2015. Postdoctoral associate in the Heiman lab at MIT.
Ilana Pollack, MS
Medical Student · Emory
Graduate student 2015–2018. Medical student at Emory University.
Research Assistants & Early-Career Trainees
Research assistants and early-career trainees who have gone on to medical school, residency, graduate programs, and biotech careers.
Jana Bilanovic
PhD Student · Rockefeller
Pre-doctoral training 2019–2021. PhD student at The Rockefeller University.
Ji-Young Kim
Postdoctoral Fellow · MSKCC
Pre-doctoral training 2018–2019. Postdoctoral fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Jenny Gao
MD-PhD Student · UMass
Research assistant 2018–2020. MD-PhD program at the University of Massachusetts.
Mahan Sadjadi, MD
Clinician-Scientist · Münster
Medical student trainee 2015–2016. Clinician-scientist in critical care at University Hospital Münster.
Mark Derbyshire
Resident Physician · University of Vermont
Research assistant 2017–2019. Residency at the University of Vermont.
Mitsukuni Yoshida
Anesthesiology Resident · WashU
Research assistant 2009–2012. Completed MD-PhD at Washington University; anesthesiology resident there.
Helen Tian
Pediatric Oncology Fellow · UCSF
Research assistant 2014–2016. Pediatric oncology fellowship at UCSF.
Hoang Nguyen
Otolaryngology Resident · MGH / Harvard
Research assistant 2014–2016. Otolaryngology physician-scientist resident at MGH / Harvard Medical School.
Colin Buss
Biotech IP · Wolf Greenfield
Research assistant 2011–2013. Biotech intellectual property specialist at Wolf Greenfield Law Firm.
Julia Berthet
Scientist · Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Research assistant 2010–2011. Stem cell research scientist at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, MA.
Fung Ying Man, MD
Vascular Surgeon · Charité Berlin
Research assistant 2010–2012. Vascular surgeon at Charité University Hospital, Berlin.
Visiting & International Trainees
Visiting medical students and short-term trainees who completed research in the lab and continued in clinical or research careers.
Juliane Brauer
Medical Student · Albert-Ludwigs University
Tobias Mederer
Medical Student · University of Regensburg
Kimia Tafreshian
Medical Student · Charité Berlin
Mathias Yuan
Medical Student · University of Hamburg
Simon Ruffing
Medical Student · University of Münster
Marc Missmahl, MD
Anesthesiology Resident · Argentina
Raissa Tanqueco, MD
Psychiatrist · Hawaii
Steven Zhang
Spine Surgery Fellow · WashU
Logan Mendez
General Surgery Resident · Rush University
Lab Administration
Emily Mandel
Award-winning novelist
Lab Administrator 2009–2015. Emily Mandel — Emily St. John Mandel — is the author of Station Eleven and Sea of Tranquility.
Are you a Tavazoie Lab alumnus and your entry is missing or out of date? Please email us at stavazoie@rockefeller.edu — we’d love to keep this list current.