Lab Members

Ledong Wan, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator

After a Bachelor's degree in Pharmacology and a Master's degree in Medicinal Chemistry at China Pharmaceutical University, Ledong pursued his PhD in Pathology, focusing on RNA regulation in cancer. He completed his postdoctoral research in Adrian Krainer's lab at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, concentrating on pathological RNA splicing in pancreatic cancer.

Xin Zhang, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Xin completed his PhD at the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, where he focused on the total synthesis of oligosaccharide natural products. After obtaining his PhD, he joined the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he worked on the design and synthesis of inhibitors and bifunctional molecules, such as Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras (PROTACs) and Deubiquitinase Targeting Chimeras (DUBTACs), specifically targeting oncogenic proteins. He is currently working on elucidating and targeting aberrant RNA splicing in pancreatic cancer. 

Benteng Ma

Graduate student 

Benteng is a graduate student from the Molecular and Cellular Biology program. He obtained his Bachelor's degree from Wuhan University and Master's degree from New York University. In the lab, he is currently studying the impact of alternative RNA splicing on acinar cell plasticity and pancreatitis progression. Outside the lab, he enjoys fishing and eating.

Kevin Coughlin

Master's Student

Kevin is a Master's student in the Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology Program. He graduated from Stony Brook university with a B.S. in Biochemistry and Applied Math. In the lab, he is currently studying the impact of splicing factors on maintaining homeostasis and cell plasticity in tumor cells at both the tumor-wide and single-cell levels. Outside the lab, he enjoys reading and spending time with friends.

Wonjeong Lee

Research Assistant

Wonjeong graduated from Stony Brook University with a B.S. in Biochemistry and a minor in Art History. In the lab, she supports ongoing research on RNA splicing and pancreatic disease, assisting with experiments and data analysis. Outside the lab, she enjoys visiting museums and galleries, and has a novel scheduled for publication in 2026.

Christopher Luo

Undergraduate Student

Chris is currently a sophomore studying Biological Sciences at Cornell University. He is on a pre-medical track with interests in both orthopedics and pediatrics. In addition, Chris is interested in computational biology, and his work within the lab involves studying RNA splicing mechanisms using RNA sequencing and microarray data. In his free time, Chris enjoys playing basketball, going to the gym, and spending time with friends and family.

Ivan Yang

Undergraduate Student

Ivan is currently a freshman studying Biological Sciences at Stony Brook University. In the lab, he is currently studying mechanisms of RNA splicing regulation in pancreatic disease. Ivan is also on the pre-med track with interests in oncology and neurology. Outside of the lab, Ivan enjoys playing tennis and volunteering as an EMT.