People

Lay Teng Ang, Siebel Investigator & Instructor
layteng@stanford.edu

Ph.D., University of Cambridge; B.Eng., National University of Singapore

As a stem cell biologist, my overall goal is to understand the mechanisms through which stem cells differentiate into progressively-specialized cell-types and to harness this knowledge to artificially generate pure populations of desired cell-types from stem cells. My work over the past 13 years has centered on pluripotent stem cells (PSCs, which include embryonic and pluripotent stem cells), which have the remarkable ability to generate any of the hundreds of diverse cell-types in the body. However, it has been notoriously difficult to guide PSCs to differentiate into a pure population of a given cell-type. Current differentiation strategies typically generate heterogeneous cell populations unsuitable for basic research or clinical applications. To address this challenge, I have mapped the cascade of branching lineage choices through which PSCs differentiate into a variety of endodermal and mesodermal cell-types.
STANFORD PROFILES

Faith-Masong Njunkeng (Life Science Research Professional)
masong@stanford.edu 

B.S., Biology Pre-medical, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

Jiayi Wu (Alumni Rotation Student)
wujiayi@stanford.edu

B.A., Biology, Grinnell College

Liying Ou, Administrative Associate 3 (joint with Beachy, Loh, and Ang labs)

lou15@stanford.edu

Kevin Liu (Alumni) Research Professional

M.S., University of Southern California ; B.S., University of Southern California 

Kevin is interested in using stem cells to derive bladder epithelial progenitors for cell replacement therapy in patients with bladder cancer. In addition, he is interested in the mechanism behind how stem cells differentiate into pure liver cells for liver transplantation and effective drug testing. He is a graduate of the Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine Master’s Program at the University of Southern California, where he received the prestigious Discovery Scholar distinction. Fun fact, he is one the youngest to ever graduate from the Master’s program at USC. Prior to joining Stanford, his research was on understanding the tropism of circulating tumor cells towards the brain to form brain metastases.

Manali Begur (Alumni) Research Professional

M.S., University of Southern California ; B.S., University of Southern California 

I am interested in regeneration and aging - studying the liver is a perfect fit! In my previous research experience, I have explored pluripotency in embryonic stem cells, sensory hair cell regeneration and redox signaling in aging. I graduated from the University of Southern California with a master's in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine and a bachelor's in biochemistry. I also like jazz, contemporary art and gardening.