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. 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 immunology, cell biology, 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

shannon.townsend@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 and is now 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 undergraduate student from 2019-2021 and now a 4th 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 start our lab and is now working independently.

conway@luc.edu

Self-employed

We are so proud of where everyone has gone

Xinhang was our Biongineering masters student from 2023-2025. She pioneered expansion microscopy techniques for the lab.

PhD Student, UCLA

xinhangd@ucla.edu

Xinhang Dong
Samantha Adamson, MD PhD

Samantha is a K-funded physician-scientist now heading her own lab to study 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.