Current Members
Mark A. Kay
Mark did an MD PhD at Case Western Reserve University and moved to Baylor College of Medicine in 1987 to pursue a residency and fellowship in Pediatrics, Medical Genetics and Inborn Errors of Metabolism. He started his work on Gene therapy during this period as a postdoctoral fellow. In 1993 he started his independent career at the University of Washington before moving to Stanford in 1998. His work encompasses many different fields including gene transfer vectors, genome engineering and non-coding RNA biology. His work spans basic research thru clinical trials. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his partner, adult children, photography, music and playing tennis.
Yuqian Jiang
Yuqian graduated from Zhejiang University in China with her B.E. degree in Bioengineering in 2016. She then started her PhD training in the Pennsylvania State University, working on human stem cell differentiation, genome editing and biosensing to treat diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and viral infections. In 2022, she completed her PhD and joined the Kay lab as a postdoctoral researcher. She is currently investigating the mechanisms of species-specific tropism of AAV vectors. Outside the lab, she loves spending time with her daughter.
Hagoon Jang
Hagoon received his PhD from Seoul National University in 2016 and started in the Kay lab in 2017. His research is focused on the functional role of primary transcripts of miR122 as an independent lncRNA in the liver using AAV-Crispr, AAV-Crispri and AAV-CrisprA for in vivo studies.
Francesco Puzzo
Francesco is a post-doctoral researcher in the Kay lab interested gene therapy. He earned a PhD at Genethon (France) working on gene therapies approaches for Pompe disease. In the Kay lab, he is developing novel AAV vectors by chemical modification of the capsid. He is also interested oin characterizing the mechanism behind the nuclease-free AAV-targeted integration. In his free time, Francesco loves watching sports and playing soccer on campus, listening to music, and playing his guitar.
Bo Kyoung Suh
Bo Kyoung completed her Ph.D. at POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology), where her research focused on the molecular mechanisms of mitochondrial transport in neurons. In the Kay Lab, she is exploring the role of lnc122 in liver metabolism. Outside of the lab, she enjoys hiking and engaging in various activities related to music.
Yiming Liu
Yiming completed his PhD at Penn State University in 2022. During his doctoral training, he developed multiple photoactivated metal-based miRNA mimic delivery systems for targeted cancer therapy. He is currently studying a lncRNA and its role in liver homeostasis and liver cancer. In his free time, he loves spending time with his daughter and playing Dota2.
Yuqing Jing
Yuqing is from China and received her PhD from Peking University. Her research is focused on studying the mechanisms of functional tsRNA (tRNA derived small RNA) in tumor generation and progression. She also enjoys reading, cooking and hiking.
Angela Lin
Angela earned her B.S. in Chemistry from Zhejiang University and M.S. in Computational Biology from Carnegie Mellon. She also earned a Master’s in Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine. Angela joined the Kay lab in 2023 working on developing new computational methods for AAV research. During her free time, she likes spending time with her partner and chatting with friends.
Stephen Trisno
Stephen is from the Bay Area and completed his B.S. in Bioengineering in 2012 at the University of California, Berkeley. He went on to pursue a dual-degree program at the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. There, he completed his PhD in Molecular and Developmental Biology in 2018, where he developed a method to generate human esophageal organoids from pluripotent stem cells to study early developmental process guiding esophageal versus respiratory development. He subsequently completed his MD in 2020 and is currently training at the Pediatric Residency Program at Stanford Health / Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and joined the Kay lab.
Ryan Setten
Ryan hails from Orange County, CA. He completed his B.S. in Biochemistry & Cell Biology at University of California – San Deigo. He performed his doctoral research on non-coding RNA-mediated gene regulation at the Irell and Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences at City of Hope, Duarte, CA under the supervision of Prof. John Rossi. During his first postdoc at UC – San Diego, he gained experience expressing VHH nanobodies and conjugating them to oligonucleotides. Ryan has a general interest in gene therapy and methods of delivering nucleic acid-based therapies. His current work in the Kay lab involves improving AAV gene therapy though alterations of capsid proteins, gaining a better understanding of epigenetic regulation of transgene expression, and non-viral vector delivery methods.
Yingying Jin
Yingying is a postdoctoral researcher at Kay Lab. She completed her PhD at Peking Union Medical College in China in 2024, under the supervision of Prof. De-Pei Liu. Her research focused on gene editing and ssDNA-protein interactions. During her PhD, she developed an innovative strategy to enhance HDR efficiency of ssDNA donors by incorporating HDR-boosting modules. In 2025, she joined Kay Lab, where her current work involves improving exogenous gene expression delivered by AAV through engineering the AAV genome.
Feijie Zhang
Feijie is a Life Science Research professional. She assists various researchers in the lab with their projects, especially in performing rodent experiments and procedures.
Karen Ruiz Corona
Karen earned her Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art from California State University, Long Beach. With a strong background in administrative coordination, event management, and project development, she has over five years of experience supporting operations in research, healthcare, and academic settings. At Stanford, she provides administrative support to the Human Gene Therapy Division, managing financial processes, scheduling, and operational logistics. Karen is currently a full-time student pursuing a law degree, aiming to integrate her legal education with her experience in research administration. Outside of work and school, she enjoys art, baking, and exploring creative projects.