Members of the VIDE Group

About us

Our research group consists of scientists at all academic levels who work together towards developing the next-generation of rAAVs and other therapeutic platforms. Our researchers are diverse and hail from a range of training backgrounds.  Many of our research objectives are in collaboration with the Gao Lab and other prominent scientists in the Horae Gene Therapy Center and University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Phil Tai, PhD

Assistant Professor
phillip.tai2 at umassmed.edu

Phil graduated from UC Berkeley (BA, Molecular and Cellular Biology), and University of Washington (PhD, Biochemistry). His research focuses on the development of next-gen sequencing methodologies to profile AAV vector genome quality, and discovery and characterization of natural AAV capsid isolates for vectorization and gene therapy.

 

Mengtian Cui, PhD

Postdoc Associate
Mengtian.Cui1 at umassmed.edu

 

Sandhiya Ravi, PhD

Postdoc Associate
Sandhiya.Ravi1 at umassmed.edu

Sandhiya obtained her Bachelors and Masters in Information Technology, and her PhD in Information and Communication Engineering from Anna University, India. Her research areas include Machine Learning, Ontology, and Tele-Medicine Systems. Sandhiya is skilled in programming languages (C, Python & R), systems design, and modeling. She is passionate about problem solving and working in a multidisciplinary and challenging environment. 

 

Tam Tran, PhD

Postdoc Associate
NgocTam.Tran at umassmed.edu

 

 

 

Tom Leland, MSc

Graduate Student
Thomas.Leland at umassmed.edu

Thomas graduated from Hampshire College (BA, Environmental and Analytical Chemistry) and UMass Lowell (MS, Analytical Chemistry), and worked in Analytical Development and QC groups at two Boston area biotech companies before coming to UMass Chan Medical School. His research focuses on metabolic regulation of rAAV-transgene expression for rare diseases, and he is broadly interested in therapeutics that affect aging and longevity. Outside of the lab, Thomas likes to spend time with his family and his dog, and working on home improvement projects.

Sophia Liu, BS

Graduate Student
Sophia.Liu6 at umassmed.edu

Suk Namkung, ScM

Graduate Student
Suk.Namkung at umassmed.edu

Wei Zhan, BS

Research Associate
Wei.Zhan at umassmed.edu

Wei Zhan obtained her BSc in immunology with Honours from the University of Toronto. She is now in the Tai and Gao labs to study innate and adaptive immune responses toward AAV capsid proteins and therapeutic transgenes. 

Jackson McGowan, BS

Research Technician
Jackson.McGowan at umassmed.edu

Morgan Mooney, BA

Research Technician
Morgan.Mooney at umassmed.edu

Mitchell Yip, BA

Research Technician
Mitchell.Yip at umassmed.edu