Prof. Jean Fan

Assistant Professor

Jean Fan is a member of the faculty of Biomedical Engineering in the Center for Computational Biology at Johns Hopkins University. Her research team, the JEFworks lab, is interested in understanding the molecular and spatial-contextual factors shaping cellular identity and heterogeneity. She develops new open-source computational software for analyzing single-cell multi-omic and imaging data that can be tailored and applied to diverse cancer types and biological systems. Prof. Fan is the founder, director, and lead software developer for the non-profit organization CuSTEMized, which provides personalized STEM picture storybooks to encourage young girls to see themselves as scientists. She currently serves as an editor for PLoS Computational Biology. The impact of Prof. Fan's work has been recognized by several awards and honors, including the Forbes 30 Under 30, the Nature Research Award for Inspiring Science, and the NSF CAREER Award.

[CV]

Lab Members

Adina Jailova

Undergraduate Student

I am an undergraduate student at Johns Hopkins University, majoring in Applied Math and Statistics with a minor in Computational Biology. With prior experience in a transcriptomics dry lab, I am currently interested in exploring the field of spatial omics. Outside of the lab, I enjoy reading, baking, and playing board games with friends.

Caleb Hallinan

Graduate Student

I am currently a second-year PhD student in the Biomedical Engineering Department at Hopkins. My research focuses on exploring the connection between spatial gene expression and tissue architecture in 2D, with the aim of extending these insights to 3D applications. I am also excited to develop my teaching ability in the hope of one day teaching the next generation of students. Outside of research, I enjoy playing and watching sports, spending time with friends, and watching movies :)

Chloe Sheen

Rotation Student

I am a first-year PhD student in the XDBio program at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. I am excited to pursue research developing practical computational methods to analyze biomedical data with translational impact. In my free time, I enjoy throwing pottery and trying new recipes.

Dee Velazquez

Post-Bacc Student

I majored in computer science and chemical & biomolecular engineering at Johns Hopkins. I have had previous lab and research experience in cellular biology, computational chemistry, and deep learning. I am currently interested in using my technical background to anaylyze data and solve biomedical problems. Outside the lab, I enjoy working out, listening to music, cooking, and watching movies/anime.

Julie Xian

Rotation Student

I am currently a first-year MD/PhD student at Hopkins. My research interests are in leveraging computational approaches to understand the role of genetics and gene expression in human disease. Outside of the lab, I enjoy running, soccer, climbing, anything outdoors, reading, coffee :)

Kalen Clifton

Graduate Student

I am a PhD student in the biomedical engineering program at Hopkins. I am interested in using math and programming to study biological spatial organization. As an undergraduate at William & Mary, I majored in computational and applied math while pursuing research in biology. For a research project in synthetic biology, I characterized the increase in gene expression that can result from using ribozyme insulators in genetic circuits. Currently, I am involved in supporting STEM education and career development through mentoring the Hopkins iGEM team and serving on the executive board of JHU BME EDGE. Also, I enjoy volleyball and visual arts (infrequently via painting; frequently via television).

Lyla Atta

Graduate Student

I am currently an MD-PhD candidate pursuing my PhD in Biomedical Engineering. I am interested systems biology and data science and am excited about how computational and mathematical methods can be used to understand complexity in disease. In my free time, I like to read, paint, and go to art and history museums.

Manjari Anant

Graduate Student

I am a Neuroscience PhD student, coadvised by Dr. Justus Kebschull. I am interested in understanding how the genetic and connectivity patterns of cells in the brain change during development and across species, with a focus on the cerebellar nuclei. In my spare time, I like hiking and exploring Baltimore!

Mayling Chen

Undergraduate Student

I'm a first-year Biomedical Engineering student at Johns Hopkins University. I have previously worked in this lab to learn how to increase the scalability of spatial omics data analysis and I'm excited to help make this method more accessible to others. Outside of school, I enjoy listening to music, watching documentaries, and making matcha latte for my friends.

Rafael dos Santos Peixoto

Graduate Student

I am a Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. candidate at Hopkins. My current project is CRAWDAD (https://github.com/JEFworks-Lab/CRAWDAD), an R package that analyzes cell-type spatial relationships (colocalization and separation) at different spatial scales. In my personal time, I play sports and watch the Palmeiras soccer team!

Remy

Mascot

Bork bork. Bork bork bork. Grumble grumble. Bork bork bork bork.

Srujan (Sami) Singh

Postdoctoral Fellow

I am a recent PhD from the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering program at Johns Hopkins University. My expertise lies in the field of bone tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. As a postdoctoral fellow, I want to work at the intersection of advanced imaging and computational biology, and understand how cell-cell/cell-material interactions and spatio-temporal gene regulation play a role in the context of diseases and tissue regeneration. Outside of lab, I like to run, hike, explore new places and cuisines.

Vivien Jiang

Undergraduate Student

I am an undergraduate studying Biomedical Engineering with a concentration in Data Science. I am excited to learn more about how machine learning and mathematical models can be applied make inferences on the data that we have. In my free time, I like to read and play ping pong.