Guang Li
Guang received his Ph.D. training in the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai by studying the epigenetic regulations in plant organ development. After that, he joined the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute as a postdoc to study heart development in mouse and human iPSC systems. Combining single-cell mRNA sequencing, single molecular in situ hybridization, machine learning, and advanced imaging techniques, he systematically analyzed the temporal and spatial development of the heart at the single-cell level.
Yiting Deng
Yiting completed her Ph.D. at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, focusing on plant genetics. After graduation, she pursued postdoctoral research at Westlake University, investigating tumor genetics in Drosophila. In late 2022, Yiting joined the Li Lab to study heart development and regeneration in mice. Her research employs a variety of advanced methodologies, including transgenic mice, single-cell transcriptional analysis, single cell ATAC-seq, and tissue staining.
Zibei Gao
Zibei received her Ph.D. in 2024 from ShanghaiTech University, where she focused on cardiac development and strategies to alleviate cardiac fibrosis. She then completed her postdoctoral training at UCSF, studying the regulation of lipid metabolism. In June 2025, she joined the Li Lab, where she continues to pursue her strong interest in cardiac development and disease. Outside the lab, she enjoys traveling, exploring gourmet food, and spending time with her dog, Domi.
Yuanhang He
Yuanhang is a visiting scholar from Tsinghua university majoring in clinical medicine. He is interested in the mechanism of heart development and the culture and induction of heart organoid and expects to applying them in the study of CVD-related research. In his free time, he enjoys travelling, photography and cooking.
Junqi Hu
Junqi is a visiting scholar from Tsinghua University, majoring in clinical medicine. He is interested in using differentiated patient-derived iPSCs to simulate congenital heart disease. He also conducts research related to spatial transcriptomics, hoping to apply this new technology to the study of embryonic heart development. In his spare time, he loves badminton and hiking.
Payal Ghosh
Payal joined Li Lab as a doctoral student in 2025. She is interested in understanding the Endo MT process, which is a key mechanism in valve development defects related to Ebstein’s Anomaly. She aims to learn the molecular mechanisms behind the pathways responsible for congenital heart diseases. She aspires to become a translational research scientist in the future. Payal holds a bachelor's degree in Pharmaceutical Science from India and an MS from the University of South Florida, Tampa. After earning her degrees, she worked as a senior research specialist at Sanford Research in South Dakota. She enjoys traveling to different places and exploring other cultures.
Juan Xu
Juan did veterinary medicine ( M.D. program) training and got master’s degree at Yangzhou University in China. After graduated, she worked in Model Animal Research Center of Nanjing University as senior researcher. She has strong animal model expertise including embryonic microinjection, CRISPR mouse model, transverse aortic constriction surgery and mouse echocardiography. Juan joined the Li lab since September 2021. Her research study mainly focuses on using single cell sequencing state-of-the-art technology to study congenital heart defects in mouse model.
Haoting He
Haoting received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Pittsburgh by studying applied math and statistics.
He specifically analyze with next-generation sequencing data,
including single-cell mRNA-sequencing data, ATAC-seq data,
and spatial transcriptional sequencing data. He is interested in finding connections between the data and biological questions and gaining exposure to more real-life bio-statistical problem.
Undergraduate
Andy Cheng
Macy Yost