PEOPLE

Principal Investigator


Hao Yuan Kueh
Associate Professor, Bioengineering

Research Interests: Systems, synthetic and quantitative biology; quantitative biology, cell fate decision making, immunology

Contact: kueh [at] uw [dot] edu

Lab Members



Morgan Bean
Graduate Student, Bioengineering

Research Interests: Manipulating T cell circuitry to engineering new T cell functions.

Hobbies: Going to concerts, skiing, camping, watching movies, house planting

Cell Type: I would be a hair cell because I love listening to music.

Contact: mmr34 [at] uw [dot] edu



Kathryn Denecke
Graduate Student, Bioengineering

Research Interests: Kathryn is studying the biological mechanisms of T cell lineage commitment.

Hobbies: Climbing, hiking, rollerblading, skiing, and painting

Cell Type: I would be a stem cell because I’m indecisive.

Contact: kdenecke [at] uw [dot] edu



Yufei Gao
Graduate Student, Bioengineering

Research Interests: Yufei is interested in engineering T cells for learning and treating diseases like cancer.

Hobbies: Dance, badminton, traveling, eating nice food, watching TV shows

Cell Type: I would be a chondrocyte (cells in cartilage) because I like to dance.

Contact: yug016 [at] uw [dot] edu



Linda Guo
Undergraduate Student

Research Interests: Linda is working with grad student Madeline Wong on blood cell differentiation / lineage analysis.

Hobbies: reading, swimming, crocheting

Cell Type: I would be a macrophage because I like eating and trying new foods.

Contact: lindag26 [at] uw [dot] edu



Arjun Kumar
Graduate Student, Molecular & Cellular Biology

Research Interests: Arjun is interested in engineering gene circuits for controlling T-cell differentiation in cell therapy.

Hobbies: Basketball, climbing, hiking, concerts

Cell Type: I would be an enteroendocrine cell because I’m always thinking about food.

Contact: ajkumar [at] uw [dot] edu



Paul Leanza
Research Scientist

Research Interests: Paul is interested in exploring the role of T cell function/dysfunction in cancers, chronic infections, and autoimmune disorders.

Hobbies: cooking, walking my dogs, swimming, and drawing

Cell Type: I would be a dendritic cell because I sometimes like to walk around aimlessly sampling the environment for something that looks interesting.

Contact: pjleanza [at] uw [dot] edu


William White
Graduate Student, Bioengineering
Co-mentored with David Baker, Biochemistry

Research Interests: William is studying the signaling dynamics of T-cell activation by creating in silico models that can accurately recapitulate real T-cell activation behaviors.

Hobbies: William enjoys gymnastics, skiing, and board games.

Cell Type: I would be a fibroblast because I am flexible from all the gymnastics that I do.

Contact: wlwhite [at] uw [dot] edu



Madeline Wong
Graduate Student, Chemistry
Co-mentored with Joshua Vaughan, Chemistry

Research Interests: Maddie is interested in using new microscopy-based methods to study hematopoietic stem cell differentiation.

Hobbies: Cooking, Traveling, Napping in the sun like a cat

Cell Type: I would be a gustatory receptor cell (taste buds) since I like to eat.

Contact: mwong86 [at] uw [dot] edu


Rebecca Wu
Graduate Student, Bioengineering

Research Interests: Rebecca is interested in how peptide information is decoded in T cells.

Hobbies: Hiking, soccer, ultimate, cooking, reading

Cell Type: I would be a neuron because I am easily excited and amused.

Contact: rebw25 [at] uw [dot] edu



Selena Yeung
Undergraduate, Bioengineering

Research Interests: Selena is just starting in the lab and is being trained in the techniques of molecular and cellular biology.

Hobbies: Swimming, playing tennis, baking, and traveling

Cell Type:  I would be a macrophage because I like eating and trying new foods.

Contact: selenay1 [at] uw [dot] edu



Hailemikael Yirdaw
Undergraduate, Bioengineering

Research Interests: Hailemikael is working with grad student William to create in silico models of T-cell signaling that can accurately recapitulate real T-cell activation behaviors.

Hobbies: Soccer, Doing Taekwondo and spending time with family

Cell Type:  I would be white blood cell so I can defend the body against harmful Parasites.

Contact: hailey5 [at] uw [dot] edu

Lab Alumni

Elisa Clark, PhD – Graduate student (now Technical Specialist @ McNeill Baur PLLC)
Matthew Wither, PhD – Graduate student (now Research Scientist III @ Seattle Children’s)
Kathleen Abadie, PhD – Graduate student (now Scientist @ Allen Institute of Immunology)
Marcus Woodworth, PhD – Graduate student (now Postdoc @ University of Pennsylvania)
Nicholas Pease, PhD – Graduate student (now Postdoc @ University of Pittsburgh)
Jon Chu, PhD – Graduate student (now MD candidate @ University of Washington)
Sam Nguyen, PhD – Graduate student (now Postdoc @ University of California San Diego)
Lihua Chen, Lab manager/Research Scientist
Kenneth Ng, Lab manager/Research Scientist (now Research Associate II @ City of Hope)
Maya Singh, Rotation student
Kira Olander, Rotation student
Eric Yang, Rotation student
Issa Yousif, Rotation student
Jumana Fathima, Undergraduate student
Allan Wang, Undergraduate student
Hyeon Jin Kim, Undergraduate student
Jonathan Lim, Undergraduate student
Jamie Santos, Undergraduate student
Leonard Chen, Undergraduate student
Blythe Irwin, Undergraduate student