Meet Our Dedicated Research Team

We are a passionate group of scientists exploring the role of primary cilia in islet cell function and their impact on endocrine communication and diabetes.

Hughes Lab

Update July 2025: the lab has moved to Yale School of Medicine. Come visit us in New Haven!

Current Members

Mavericks and misfits, us all, united by our love for cilia

Jeong Hun is a Research Scientist from South Korea. In his rare moments outside of lab, he likes to swim and watch movies.

Scientist

jeonghun.jo@yale.edu

Jing is a physician-scientist trained in cell biology, immunology, and endocrinology. She likes solving biological questions using microscopes.

Lab head

jing.hughes@yale.edu

Jeong Hun Jo, PhD
Jing Hughes, MD PhD

Shannon is a postdoctoral scholar studying paracrine signaling in islet cells.

Postdoc

st2287@yale.edu

Shannon Townsend, PhD
Bella Melena

Bella is an MSTP student who wants to understand how GLP-1 works in beta cells.

MSTP Student

i.l.melena@wustl.edu

Lab Alumni

Lifei was a postdoctoral fellow from 2020-2022. She is currently a resident in Radiation Oncology at Montefiore/Albert Einstein.

Resident, Rad Onc, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

lifeizhu@wustl.edu

Lifei Zhu, MD PhD
Eun Young Lee, MD PhD

Eun Young was a visiting scholar from 2021-2023. She is currently focusing on clinical and stem cell diabetes research in South Korea.

Associate Professor, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul St Mary's Hospital

leyme@catholic.ac.kr

Henry was our WashU undergraduate student from 2019-2021. He is now a 3rd year MD-PhD student at UT Southwestern.

MSTP, UT Southwestern Medical School

henry.roseman@utsouthwestern.edu

jing.hughes@wustl.edu

Henry Roseman
Alex Li

Alex was our WashU undergraduate student from 2019-2023. He is now an MSTP student at WashU jointly mentored with Remedi and Urano Labs.

MSTP, Washington University

alex.li@wustl.edu

Hannah Conway

Hannah was our research assistant from 2019-2020. She helped build our lab from the start and is now working independently.

conway@luc.edu

Self-employed

We are so proud of where everyone has gone

Xinhang was our Masters and Post-bacc student from 2023-2025. She is an engineer-turned biologist and pioneered expansion microscopy techniques for the lab.

PhD Student, UCLA

xinhangd@ucla.edu

Xinhang Dong
Samantha Adamson, MD PhD

Samantha is a K-funded scholar who opened her own lab in 2025 to study the regulation of beta cell calcium signaling.

sadamson@wustl.edu

Assistant Professor, Washington University School of Medicine

Rotation & summer students

Jon Beirne, rotation student (Aug-Nov 2023) - currently PhD candidate in Sergej Djuranovic Lab, WashU Cell Biology & Physiology

Michelle Phan, rotation student (Jan-Apr 2024) - currently PhD candidate in Fumi Urano Lab, WashU Endocrinology

Harshita Jain, MD, NIDDK summer student (May-Aug 2019) - currently Internal Medicine Resident, Emory University

Taylor Gemperline, MD, NIDDK summer student (Jun-Aug 2018) - currently Ophthalmology Resident, University of Virginia

Angie Zhang, high school student (May-Aug 2024) - undergraduate, Cornell University

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Contact Us

Reach out to our team for collaboration and inquiries.