People
Principal Investigator
Sheng Chih (Peter) Jin
Peter is Assistant Professor of Genetics and Pediatrics at the Washington University School of Medicine. He is interested in understanding how genetic variation affects disease biology and using genetic and genomic analyses to infer the molecular mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental and cardiovascular diseases. Peter’s CV could be found here.
NIH Grants
- R01NS131610: Molecular and Cellular Characterization of Congenital Hydrocephalus (Role: PI)(Active)
- U19NS130607: INTERCEPT: Integrated Research Center for Human Pain Tissues (Role: Project 1 Co-PI and Data Core PI) (Active)
- UM1DA058219: WashU-VAI Somatic Mosaicism across Human Tissues (SMaHT) Program Genome Characterization Center (Role: Co-Investigator) (Active)
- U24NS132103: WashU Somatic Mosaicism across Human Tissues (SMaHT) Program. Organizational Center (Role: Co-Investigator) (Active)
- R01NS127108: Genomic analysis of the Multiplex, Autozygous Populations in Cerebral Palsy (MAP CP) cohort: a focused approach to a complex disease (Role: Co-Investigator) (Active)
Selected Honors and Awards
- NIH Early Career Reviewer Program, 2023
- Pediatric Cardiac Genomics Consortium and Cardiovascular Development Data Resource Center Challenge Prize, 2022
- Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation Project Grant, 2022-2027
- Hydrocephalus Association Innovator Award, 2021
- Children’s Discovery Institute Faculty Scholar, 2021-2026
- Children’s Discovery Institute Zebrafish Models for Pediatric Research Services Cooperative Micro-Grant Award, 2021
- Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Research Funding Program Award, 2020
- K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, NHLBI, NIH
- American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship
- James Hudson Brown – Alexander B. Coxe Fellowship, Yale School of Medicine
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship, Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Yale School of Medicine
- Fellow, Lucille P. Markey Special Emphasis Pathway in Human Pathobiology, Markey Foundation, Washington University School of Medicine
Graduate Students
Jenna Ulibarri, Ph.D. Candidate and T32 CMB/IMSD Fellow (Molecular Genetics and Genomics)
Jenna is a 5th-year PhD student at Washington University in St. Louis. She completed her BS in Biology at the University of New Mexico-Albuquerque. She is focusing on the development of computational and functional genomic strategies within the context of studying Proteogenomics in peripheral neuropathy.
Emma Casey, Ph.D. Student and T32 CMB/T32 IMSD/NINDS Diversity Supplement/Precision Medicine Pathway Fellow (Molecular Genetics and Genomics)
Emma is a 4th-year PhD student at Washington University in St. Louis. She earned her BS in Environmental Science from DePaul University, followed by a master’s degree in Public Health from Emory University. Her research interests lie in utilization of human genetics and functional genomics to understand how mitochondrial and nuclear genomes, and their interactions, shape the molecular mechanisms of cerebral palsy and normal human tissue development.
Purva Patel, Ph.D. Student and Precision Medicine Pathway Fellow (Computational & Systems Biology)
Purva is a 4th-year PhD student at Washington University in St. Louis. She earned her BS in Biology from University of Missouri-Columbia, followed by a master’s degree in Bioinformatics from University of Missouri-Kansas City. Her research interests lie in utilization of human genetics and functional genomics to uncover the genetic underpinnings of congenital hydrocephalus.
Zefan (Vivien) Li, Ph.D. Student and Pivot 314/Precision Medicine Pathway Fellow (Molecular Cell Biology)
Vivien is a 4th-year PhD student at Washington University in St. Louis. She earned her BS in Biological Science from Peking University. Her research interests lie in utilization of human genetics and multi-omics genomics to uncover the genetic underpinnings of idiopathic peripheral neuropathy.
Wendy Dong, MSTP Candidate and T32 GATP Fellow (Computational & Systems Biology)(Joint with Jeff Milbrandt)
Wendy is a 4th-year MD/PhD student at Washington University in St. Louis. She completed her BS in Biomedical Engineering at the Duke University. She is co-mentored by Dr. Jeffery Milbrandt and Dr. Jin to elucidate comprehensive molecular/cellular phenotypes that underlie human pain transduction, transmission, and processing.
Yijia Wu, Ph.D. Student and Precision Medicine Pathway Fellow (Molecular Genetics and Genomics)
Yijia is a 2nd-year PhD student at Washington University in St. Louis. She earned her BS in Chemistry from the Nanjing Unversity of Finance & Economics, followed by a master’s degree in Biochemistry from Case Western Reserve University. Her research interests lie in utilization of human genetics and functional genomics to understand the role of short tandem repeats in peripheral neuropathy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Staff
Elvisa Mehinovic, Bioinformaticist
Elle completed her M.S. in Biomedical Informatics & Data Science at Washington University. Her favorite hobbies include cuddling with her cat and drawing.
Jason Bedwinek, Research Lab Supervisor
Jason earned his M.S. in biotechnologies at University of Missouri St. Louis. His main area of interest is nucleic acid chemistry, especially as it relates to sequencing technologies. His main focus is on using functional genomic assays to associate underlying genetic variants with neurological pathologies.
Rotation Students and Interns
Juichen Lu, Rotation Student (Molecular Cell Biology)
Cynthia Zhang, Rotation Student (Computational and Systems Biology)
Brian Yu, Undergraduate Student (U of Chicago Computer Science)
Jack Yu, Undergraduate Student and SURGE Fellow (Washington University Biology & Computer Science)
Lab Pets
Ziggy
Alumni
Faculty, Postdoctoral Researchers and Staff Scientists
Yung-Chun (David) Wang - Postdoc and then Instructor, 2021/07 - 2026/06
Graduate Students:
Zitian Tang - Graduate Student (Biomedical Informatics & Data Science), 2023/05 - 2026/08
Nahyun Kong - Graduate Student (Human and Statistical Genetics), 2022/01 - 2026/08
Julie Choi - Graduate Student (Molecular Genetics and Genomics), 2022/01 - 2025/07
Shujuan Zhao - Graduate Student (Molecular Genetics and Genomics), 2020/09 - 2025/08
Rotation Students:
Cassia Williams-Rogers - Rotation Student (WashU MSTP), 2026/01 - 2026/02
Wilber Palma - Rotation Student (Molecular Genetics and Genomics), 2025/01 - 2025/04
Sam Greenberg - Rotation Student (Molecular Genetics and Genomics), 2025/01 - 2025/03
Yu Liu - Rotation Student (Molecular Cell Biology), 2024/10 - 2025/02
Tingkuan Chu - Rotation Student (Molecular Genetics and Genomics), 2024/09 - 2024/11
Qichen Fu - Rotation Student (Molecular Genetics and Genomics), 2023/11 - 2024/01
Justin Chen - Rotation Student (Computational and Systems Biology), 2023/04 - 2023/07
Yu-Liang Yeh - Rotation Student (Biomedical Informatics & Data Science), 2023/01 - 2023/04
Ai Zhang - Rotation Student (Human & Statistical Genetics), 2022/09 - 2022/11
Vincent Gillespie - Rotation Student (Molecular Genetics and Genomics), 2022/07 - 2022/09
Yuxiao Xu - Rotation Student (WashU MSTP), 2022/05 - 2022/06
Lei Lu - Rotation Student (Computer Science & Engineering), 2022/01 - 2022/02
Mariam Khanfar - Rotation Student (Human & Statistical Genetics), 2021/09 - 2021/12
Kuangying Yang - Rotation Student (Human & Statistical Genetics), 2021/09 - 2021/12
Prashant Kumar Kuntala - Rotation Student (Computational and Systems Biology), 2021/09 - 2021/11
Changfeng Chen - Rotation Student (Molecular Cell Biology), 2021/02 - 2021/04
Jian Ryou - Rotation Student (Human & Statistical Genetics), 2020/11 - 2021/02
Undergraduate Students:
Andrew Ruttenberg - Undergraduate Student (WashU PreMed), 2022/09 - 2025/06
Tugce Iyiyol - Undergraduate Student (WashU PreMed), 2022/08 - 2024/05
Owen Limbrick - Undergraduate Student (WashU PreMed), 2024/09 - 2025/05
Summer Interns:
Aria Ma - McDonnell Genome Institute OGR Summer Student, 2024/06 - 2024/08
Athziri Marcial Rodriguez - McDonnell Genome Institute OGR Summer Student, 2022/06 - 2022/08
Cabria Shelton - McDonnell Genome Institute OGR Summer Student, 2022/06 - 2022/08
Max Wrubel - McDonnell Genome Institute OGR Post-Baccalaureate Extensive Study Student, 2021/11 - 2022/07
Kareena Joshipura - Mount Holyoke College’s Lynk Fellow, 2021/04 - 2021/09
Staff:
Po-Ying Fu - Bioinformaticist, 2020/06 - 2023/04
Devin Qiu - Research Assistant, 2022/07 - 2022/12
Master’s Students:
Xiaobing (Dean) Yu - Master’s student (Computer Science & Engineering), 2021/03 - 2021/11
Sam Peters - Master’s student (Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at SLU), 2020/05 - 2021/04
Spencer King - Master’s student (Computer Science & Engineering), 2020/05 - 2021/05