Lab Members

Marcia C. Haigis, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA,  a member of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging, and the Ludwig  Center at Harvard Medical School. Following graduate training in Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Biochemistry, Dr. Haigis studied mitochondrial metabolism during her postdoctoral research at MIT. She has contributed to understanding the role that mitochondrial sirtuins play in metabolism and disease. She has received a number of honors, including the Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar Award, the Brookdale Foundation Leadership in Aging Award, and selection for the National Academy of Medicine's Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine Program. 

Shakchhi graduated from Creighton University with a bachelor's degree in Neuroscience and Psychology. As the Mass Spectrometry Director, she oversees instrument maintenance, coordinates run schedules, and provides supervision and training to lab members and collaborators across various scientific projects encompassing immunology, metabolism, oncology, neurology, and more, on three of the lab's LC-MS mass spectrometry instruments. As the Lab Manager, she is responsible for training new technicians, onboarding lab members, coordinating events, and overseeing inspections and lab safety protocols.

Known Aliases: Sha, Shakichi, Shak, Shakira, Joshi

Favorite Food: Momo 

Nicole graduated from the University of Miami with a Master's in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a Master's in Business Administration. As an Administrative Assistant, Nicole works directly with Dr. Marcia C. Haigis to schedule meetings, arrange travel accommodations, and organize laboratory finances. As a Research Assistant, Nicole works for Dr. Jaime Schneider, MD, PhD and helps her to perform translational research investigating the relationship between age and resistance in non-small cell lung cancer. In addition, she also assists Dr. Jamie O. Brett, MD/PhD and Dr. Ji Seul Han, PhD using several laboratory techniques to investigate fat tissue metabolism, as well as develop an effective treatment for dedifferentiated liposarcoma to improve clinical outcomes. 

Hobbies: Nicole enjoys the Peloton, traveling with friends, and exploring local history/art/science museums!

Favorite Song: Evergreen by Barbra Streisand

Jamie grew up in the Bay Area, Northern CA, where her high school biology teacher got her to read Loren Eiseley ("The Snout") and set her on the biology research path. Jamie went to Stanford for her undergraduate, where she worked in Anne Brunet’s lab on neural stem cell aging. She stayed at Stanford for her MD/PhD, and in Tom Rando’s lab she investigated skeletal muscle stem cell quiescence, aging, and rejuvenation by exercise. Jamie then traveled to Boston for residency at MGH and Heme/Onc fellowship at MGH/BWH/DFCI. She is interested in sarcomas and metabolism.

Fun fact: All of my dogs have had the same name!

Ji Seul completed his Ph.D at Seoul National University in the lab of Jae Bum Kim. In his doctoral research, he investigated roles of HIF in the regulation of lipid catabolism and thermogenesis in adipocytes. Ji Seul is interested in studying how adipocytes sense and control metabolites upon metabolic diseases.

Hobbies: Cooking, traveling

James is a co-mentored post-doctoral fellow in Drs. Marcia Haigis and Arlene Sharpe laboratories. He completed his BSc at McMaster University, and MSc and PhD at the University of Toronto. Under the supervision of Dr. Pamela Ohashi and mentorship/guidance from Drs. Tak Mak and Naoto Hirano, his doctoral research focused on developing strategies to overcome T cell tolerance in the tumor microenvironment. James joined the Haigis and Sharpe labs to further understand how tumor microenvironment and anti-tumor immunity change with aging. 

Favorite Food: K-bbq, KFC (Korean Fried Chicken), sushi 

Hobbies: investing (stocks, crypto, etc) & travelling

Annie is co-mentored post-doctoral fellow in Drs. Marcia Haigis and Bernardo Sabatini laboratories. She completed her M.D. at Tzu Chi University in Taiwan and then she pursued her Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University under the supervision of Dr. Chi Dang, where she studied MYC disruption of molecular clock in cancer cells. In collaboration with Dr. Amita Sehgal, she also found drosophila Myc is required in maintaining circadian behavior and metabolism in fruit flies. She then completed her neurology residency at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia and matched into the neuro-oncology fellowship program at MGH/DFCI/BWH. Annie is particularly interested in studying the mechanism of metabolic regulation of neurotransmitters in glioma.  

Hobbies: traveling, skiing, and trying interesting restaurants 

My childhood dream: Becoming a congresswoman 

Songhua completed his Ph.D at Fudan University in the lab of Shimin Zhao, studying how metabolites regulates metabolism through forming covalent modification to proteins. During his Ph.D, he found a novel protein lipidation, namely tryptophan polyunsaturated fatty-acylation. In his post-doc, Songhua is more interested in immunometabolism, and he also maintains a great interest in SIRT4, the last puzzle of mitochondrial Sirtuins.

Favorite Food: Hot Pot, sushi

Favorite Movie & Actors: King of Comedy, Stephen Chow

Born and raised in South Korea, Jun majored pharmacy in Chungbuk National University. Having decided to make a drug, rather than to dispense, he went to Germany to study mitochondria and obtained PhD degree at Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne. After tasting all the beer from Cologne, he joined the Haigis lab to study nucleotide metabolism in cancer to understand how it could promote oncogenesis. 

Fun fact: Jun’s favorites are football, beer, and classical music but he didn’t fit in Germany.

Nickname: Unorthodox, leaky glass.

Kiran completed his Ph.D at Mayo Clinic in the lab of Taro Hitosugi, studying how oncogenic signals modulate mitochondrial metabolism. Kiran's current work focuses on areas of immunometabolism, primarily investigating various cell-intrinsic metabolic processes that can influence the performance of immune cell function with the goal of exploiting these alterations for clinical intervention. Kiran is a Gilead Sciences fellow of the Life Sciences Research Foundation. 

Favorite food: chicken chihuahua from Taco Bell

Zongyu was born in Tianjin, China, and he believes that Tianjin has the best breakfast in the world. He completed his undergraduate degree at Tsinghua University in Beijing and his Ph.D. at Yale University as the first student in Dr. Rachel Perry’s Lab. He joined Haigis Lab because he is interested in LC/MS-based metabolomics, and he wants to apply this technique to various types of lymphocytes. 

Fun Fact: Zongyu is a black belt holder in Taekwondo, but now he totally forgets how to use this martial art.

Jaime was born and raised in Florida, completed her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at Northwestern University, and her MD and PhD degrees at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. After training in internal medicine at MGH, she matriculated into the hematology/oncology fellowship program at DFCI and is particularly interested in thoracic oncology. She joined the Haigis lab to study mechanisms of metabolic and proteostasis dysregulation in cancer and the interplay between oncogenesis and aging. 

Spirit animal: The Dachshund 

Conghui completed her PhD at Washington University in St. Louis, where she worked on LC/MS based metabolomics of cancer cells. In her postdoc, Conghui is interested in studying how immune cell functions are comprised in the tumor microenvironment.

Interested in but not good at: basketball 

Hyunji is a Ph.D. student in the BBS program and is co-mentored between Drs. Marcia Haigis and Miao Cui laboratories. Born and raised in South Korea, she completed her BSc and MSc at University of Seoul. She studied plasmonic nanoparticles for bio-sensing and bio-imaging during her master’s under the supervision of Dr. Inhee Choi. After that, she worked as a research trainee in the lab of Dr. Luke P. Lee at Harvard Medical School, where she developed her interest in biomedical research. She is currently interested in exploring heart regeneration from metabolic perspectives. Outside the lab, Hyunji writes books about city plants and enjoys bouldering, live music, playing board games, and being in nature. 

Fun fact: She majored in horticulture in undergrads, but her home plants never survive long. (Good with outside garden)

Yutong (Mary) received her bachelor’s degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She did her undergraduate research in the Johnson Lab, working on antibody-polymer conjugates for cancer treatments. She is currently interested in integrating chemical methods to study metabolite signaling.

Hobbies: traveling, playing board game!

Peter is a PhD student in the HMS Immunology program and is co-mentored between the Haigis and Sharpe laboratories. He is interested in understanding the metabolic determinants of effective anti-tumor immunity and metabolic usage of CD8⁺ T cells in the settings of cancer and aging. Previously Peter worked as an industry scientist at Merck Research Laboratories where he supported the pre-clinical development of several immunotherapeutic agents across the early discovery pipeline. In addition to immunometabolism, Peter is broadly interested in immune tolerance and cancer immunology.  When he is not doing science Peter enjoys spending time with his wife Tehya and daughter Sofia Belle.

Hobbies: Fishing

Favorite Food: Neapolitan Pizza

Sheila received her B.S. in Biochemistry from University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her undergraduate research in the lab of Dave Pagliarini was focused on identifying enzymes and precursors involved in coenzyme Q biosynthesis. She is currently interested in exploring how alterations in T cell metabolism improve antitumor immunity. 

Favorite show: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Liam did his undergraduate research in the laboratory of Bryan Ballif at University of Vermont, where he studied blood group systems. He is currently researching the interaction between tumor metabolism and urea cycle dysfunction in the context of hepatocellular carcinoma. In addition, he is interested in studying the contributions of proteomic changes to cancer metabolism.

Hobbies: Editing Wikipedia

Favorite protein: SrcASM

Sara received her bachelor’s degree for Colorado College. She is presently a Master of Public Health Candidate at Tufts University School of Medicine. As a visiting graduate student, she joined the Haigis lab to investigate the interactions between lifestyle factors and tumor metabolism. 

Fun Fact: “Sara once ran into Ed Sheeran, James Blunt and Bear Grylls all in the span of 30 minutes in a restaurant on a ski slope.”

Hobbies: Reading, Cooking, Traveling

Christian is an enthusiastic MD/PhD student at the University Medical Center Groningen, Netherlands. He is deeply engaged in the study of mitochondrial function and metabolic processes. His fascination with mitochondria and metabolism was kindled in the lab of experimental pharmacology during his bachelor's degree, where he investigated the protective mechanisms in hibernating species against cold-induced stress. Under the supervision of Dr. Leo Deelman and Dr. Rob Henning, his PhD research delves into the role of transsulfuration and hydrogen sulfide signalling in aging and the development of metabolic diseases. Recently, Christian joined the Haigis lab to further his studies in mitochondrial biology, focusing on the metabolic shifts in proliferative cells during aging.

Hobbies: Cooking and Chess.

Fun fact: In his leisure time, Christian enjoys exploring small breweries in the area, maintaining a connection to his German culture and counterbalancing his scientific endeavors.

Joe graduated with a BA in Biology with a Minor in Environmental Studies from College of the Holy Cross. As a research assistant in the lab, his focus is on mass spectrometry. He also assists multiple postdocs in their research through bench work and analysis, works as an animal technician, as well as other administrative duties.

Favorite Food: Squirrel

Hobbies: Archery, bicycling, hunting.

Ishita graduated with a BS in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology from Emory University. As a research assistant in the lab, her focus is on mouse colony management. She also assists several postdocs by maintaining cell cultures and assisting in other experimental techniques, as well as conducting some administrative duties.

Favorite Shows: Psych, Monk, Squid Game, Alex Rider

Favorite Food: anything spicy

Madiha graduated from Williams College with a BA in Biology and a concentration in Neuroscience. She collaborates with Dr. Annie Hsieh as a research assistant in the laboratory, investigating the metabolic regulation of neurotransmitters in glioma. She also spends part of her time working for the Sabatini lab.  

Hobbies: Watching true crime documentaries and online shopping  

Favorite Animal: Cats