Our cell culture room is up and running, and the hypoxia chamber is fully set up—what a milestone! To make it even better, we had the pleasure of welcoming Mohd Parvez Khan, Ph.D. this week. A good friend and former colleague from UPenn, Mohd is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Toledo, just 50 minutes from Ann Arbor.

Adding to the excitement, we also celebrated the first day of Christophe Merceron, Ph.D., who joins us as a Research Lab Specialist Senior. Christophe previously worked with Mohd in Schipani’s lab, and we’re beyond thrilled to bring his deep expertise in hypoxia and HIF biology into the lab.

Having Mohd help kickstart our hypoxia research by conducting a study for his upcoming grant was an incredible way to launch this next chapter. Fingers crossed for great results—and many more exciting collaborations ahead!

A big welcome to Christophe—we’re so lucky to have you on board. I’m more than excited to work alongside such an inspiring scientist. Let’s push some boundaries together. HIF-2 rulez!

The team is growing, and it’s truly amazing to see the lab come alive with energy, enthusiasm, and joy. We’re thrilled to welcome Kim Prakaimuk Saraithong, MS, Ph.D. (front), and Tina Xiaohua Gao, MD (back) to the lab! Both have joined as Research Lab Specialists, bringing with them a tremendous amount of research experience.

Having transferred from within Michigan, Kim and Tina hit the ground running. Their expertise and initiative have already made a big impact, and the lab is running smoothly thanks to their efforts. Kim is an expert in stem cell biology, with mastery in flow cytometry, single-cell sequencing, and cutting-edge in vitro cell culture models. Tina brings tremendous expertise in mouse surgeries, ranging from lung transplantation to wound healing, and will be leading our animal experiments unit. Her work ensures we uphold the highest standards of care and scientific rigor while minimizing unnecessary loss.

Looking back at the last few months, I feel incredibly fortunate to have brought such passionate and skilled scientists on board. Their dedication to learning and advancing science is inspiring, and I’m genuinely excited about the discoveries and fun that lie ahead.

I imagine many new PIs go through a similar phase—setting up a lab while wrapping up postdoc projects: finishing papers, sorting through data, addressing revisions, and managing resubmissions. That’s why it feels especially rewarding when those efforts finally bear fruit and the workload begins to ease.

Even after all this time, it never loses its magic to see a publication out in the world as a real print. So here we go, I'm excited to share that one of my postdoc papers (with Joel D. Boerckel @UPenn) was recently published:

"CYR61 delivery promotes angiogenesis during bone fracture repair"
👉 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41536-025-00398-y

This project, while appearing straightforward at first glance, was full of unexpected turns. We identified the YAP/TAZ target gene CYR61 as a potential therapeutic in fracture repair, delivering recombinant CYR61 (rCYR61) to bone fractures using hematoma-mimetic hydrogels. Although CYR61 delivery did not significantly affect bone or cartilage formation in this system, it robustly stimulated angiogenesis. In a vascularized in vitro chip model, we found that mechanical loading modulated angiogenesis in a timing- and CYR61-dependent manner. These results build on our previous findings on the mechanical regulation of CYR61 during angiogenesis:
👉 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abb6351

This project was especially fulfilling as I implemented a new 3D angiogenesis assay in collaboration with Riccardo Gottardi, helping reduce reliance on animal experiments. I also had the pleasure of working with Mouse, a Postdoc in Dan Huh's group at UPenn, whose work on cutting-edge MPS (microphysiological systems) continues to push the boundaries of biomedical research. Implementing their chip system was incredibly exciting and allowed a clear comparison between on-chip and mouse models, insights that will shape my future research directions, as they have for years. 3R in Action!