Paul S. Mischel

Paul Mischel, M.D., is a physician scientist trained in pathology and cancer biology. He is Professor and Vice Chair for Research, for the Department of Pathology, Stanford Medicine, and an Institute Scholar in Sarfan ChEM-H, Stanford University. His laboratory has made a series of seminal discoveries published in Nature, Science, and Nature Genetics, that have identified a central role for ecDNA (extrachromosomal DNA) in cancer development, progression, accelerated tumor evolution and drug resistance. These findings have provided a new understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of oncogene amplification and the spatial organization of altered tumor genomes, launching a new area of cancer research that links circular architecture with tumor pathogenesis.  Paul leads Team eDyNAmiC, which was awarded one of the $25M Cancer Grand Challenges Awards from CRUK and the National Cancer Institute, to tackle the extrachromosomal DNA grand challenge. Paul’s lab has also uncovered actionable metabolic co-dependencies that are downstream consequences of oncogene amplification, including in the highly lethal brain cancer glioblastoma, that are poised for therapeutic exploitation. Paul is a member of the National Academy of Medicine. He is also an elected Fellow and Past-President of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. Fellow of the American Association of Physicians, and a Fellow of The American Association for the Advancement of Science. Mischel is also a founder of Boundless Bio., Inc. and was elected as a new fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research Academy 2025.

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Matthew Jones

I joined Stanford in 2022 as a Postdoctoral Scholar after receiving a PhD in Biomedical Informatics from UCSF. My research centers on expanding the toolkit for understanding tumor evolution. As a postdoc, I have focused on developing new techniques to enable us to study how ecDNA promote rapid tumor evolution.

Katerina Kraft

I did my PhD at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin, where I specialized in CRISPR/Cas9 induced structural variations, developmental biology, and 3D chromatin architecture. I then pursued postdoctoral research at Stanford in Chang lab focusing on RNA - Polycomb proteins interactions in stem cells. Currently, in Mischel lab, I am exploring extrachromosomal DNA and LINE elements in cancer.

Jun Tang

I joined the lab in 2018, right after I got my Ph.D degree in Chinese Academy of Science, Shanghai institutes for biological sciences. My research interests focus on understanding the interplay between extrachromosomal DNA and cancer metabolism. Besides that, I like watching movies and I would sometimes go for running.

Guiping Wang

I received my PhD in physical chemistry from Harvard University in 2021, under the mentorship of Xiaowei Zhuang. I came to Stanford in 2021 and later joined the Mischel lab, co-mentored by Howard Chang and William Greenleaf. My research interests are in ecDNA biology, epigenetic regulation and quantitative genomic technology development.

Yanbo Wang

I received my B.S. in Physics from Peking University, and Ph.D. in Biophysics from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine under the supervision of Taekjip Ha. I joined Paul’s lab in 2023 as a joint postdoc co-mentored by Howard Y. Chang. My research interest is epigenetic features of ecDNA.

Natasha Weiser

I received my MD, PhD from the University of Michigan in 2019. My graduate work with Dr. John Kim focused on elucidating the mechanisms by which endogenous small RNAs regulate chromatin structure and germline immortality in C. elegans. I joined the Department of Pathology at Stanford in as a clinical pathology resident in the physician-scientist incubator program. I am interested in the epigenetics of ecDNA.

Ivy Tsz-Lo Wong

I obtained my PhD from the University of Hong Kong in 2017 and joined Paul’s team in 2019. My research interest lies in the cancer biology of extrachoromosomal DNA, and its role in genome instability. Outside the lab I enjoy watching movies, sipping a nice cup of coffee and hiking.

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Xiaowei Yan

I received my Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in 2021. In 2025, I joined Paul’s lab after my previous mentor, Howard Chang, transitioned to Chief Scientific Officer at Amgen. My research focuses on cancer development and therapy, with a particular interest in extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA). Outside of my scientific work, I enjoy playing the qin (a traditional Chinese zither), painting and calligraphy, and indoor gardening.

Lu Yang

I received my MD/PhD from Washington University School of Medicine in 2020, completing my thesis in developmental biology under the mentorship of David Ornitz. I came to Stanford for residency in clinical pathology and joined Paul’s group in 2022 for postdoctoral training. My main research interests are in ecDNA biology and cancer evolution.

Hyerim Yi

Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dermatology

I received my Ph.D. in Biological Science from Seoul National University in 2019 under the supervision of V. Narry Kim. With expertise in RNA biology, I joined Paul S. Mischel in 2021 as a joint postdoc co-mentored by Howard Y. Chang. I am working to decipher the regulatory mechanisms of ecDNA-driven gene expression.

Shu Zhang

Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dermatology

I received my B.A. in Biotechnology from Beijing Normal University, and Ph.D. in Cell Biology from Peking University under the supervision of Fuchou Tang. I joined Paul’s lab in 2022 and co-mentored by Howard Y. Chang. My research interest is the correlation between tumor heterogeneity and ecDNA, especially related to immune regulation.

In my spare time, I like eating gourmet, photography and hiking.

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Aditi Gnanasekar

I graduated from UC San Diego with a BS in Bioengineering: Biotechnology and joined the Medical Scientist Training Program at Stanford University in 2022. My research interests lie in the maintenance and evolution of extrachromosomal DNA and how ecDNA uniquely contributes to cancer progression. Outside of the lab, I like to sing, swim, and spend time outside with family and friends.

Venkat Shankar

I graduated from MIT with a BS in Computer Science & Molecular Biology and joined the Genetics PhD program at Stanford in 2021. My research interests broadly focus on the intersection of regulatory genomics and cancer. I've spent 4 years studying the mitotic inheritance of ecDNA and episomes with Howard Chang and am now excited to continue this work in the Mischel lab. Outside the lab, I enjoy travel, trying new foods, and looking for rare plants and animals in the wild.

Vishnu Shankar

After receiving my BS with Honors in Mathematical & Computational Science from Stanford University in 2018, I completed my MS in Computer Science in 2020 also from Stanford. In 2021, I joined the PhD Program in Immunology and am co-mentored by Paul Mischel and Mark Davis.  My research interests broadly span immunity, metabolism, cancer, biological and analytical chemistry, applied statistics. Outside the lab, I enjoy spending time with family and friends, reading, and going on long walks.  

Huijun Yang

My role in the lab is to provide administrative and experimental research support and to help principal investigators create an environment where members of the lab can work together as an effective team. I aim to provide daily technical assistance for studies on the molecular pathogenesis of brain tumors; in the development of diagnostic molecular studies to select patients for brain tumor therapies; and in immunohistochemical analysis of signal pathways in brain tumor biopsies. I also am responsible for documenting all records and results.