Rao Lab Group Members:
Prof. Jianghong Rao, Ph.D., Professor of Radiology and Chemistry (courtesy), Member of the Molecular Imaging, Bio-X, Cancer Biology, and Biophysics Programs
jrao@stanford.edu
Prof. Rao did his Ph.D. with George M. Whitesides and his postdoc with Roger Y. Tsien. He became an Assistant Professor at UCLA before joining Stanford. Prof. Rao enjoys playing with his little daughter Angela and working in the backyard mowing grass and cutting trees.
Faculty Profile NIH Biosketch PDF
Zhen Xiao, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
xiaozhen@stanford.edu
Zhen received his B.S. at Beihang University. He then did his PhD in chemistry with Prof. Vicki Colvin at Brown University working on magnetic nanomaterials and their biomedical applications. He specialized in the preparation of various magnetic nanoparticles with superior magnetic responses. Working with multidisciplinary collaborators, Zhen has achieved many in vitro and in vivo studies applying magnetic nanomaterials and demonstrated excellent cell separation efficiency, drug delivery, hyperthermia cancer treatment, and contrast agent for imaging. At Stanford, Zhen joined Dr. Jianghong Rao's lab and is working on the detection and imaging of pathogens and cancers with nanomaterials. It is Zhen’s desire to push nanotechnologies for broader applications in biomedicines.
Irene Lim, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
il3@stanford.edu
Irene received her B.A. in Chemistry from Williams College in 2016. She then received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from UCLA in 2022 under the mentorship of Prof. Ellen Sletten. Her graduate work focused on developing fluorescent dyes to study perfluorocarbons in cellulo and in mice. Under the mentorship of Prof. Rao at Stanford, she plans to extend this interdisciplinary work towards understanding the immune response in tumors using PET and fluorescence imaging.
Ting Wang, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
twang23@stanford.edu
Ting received her B.A. in Applied Chemistry from East China University of Science and Technology. Then, she did her Ph.D. under the mentorship of Prof Zhang at Fudan University. During this, she focused on the development of NIR-II fluorophores for in vivo high-contrast bioimaging and high-capacity multiplexed detection.
In Dr. Rao’s lab, she continues with the research in NIR-II intravital fluorescence imaging and sensing to reveal how tumor-infiltrating immune cells contribute to the metastatic cascade in cancer metastasis. She is also looking to study a copper-metabolism metastasis axis with the potential to enrich patient populations in next-generation therapeutic trials.
Qunfeng Fu, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
fqf1994@stanford.edu
Qunfeng is a postdoctoral fellow from China who received his Bachelor of Science from Nanjing University. He completed his Ph.D. in applied chemistry under the guidance of Prof. Liu at Peking University in 2021, where he focused on developing controlled release strategies for prodrug activation in radiotherapy. Following his Ph.D., he continued his research with Prof. Liu, investigating the application of radiotherapy-activation prodrug strategies for platinum(IV) activation in concurrent radiochemotherapy.
In 2023, Qunfeng joined Prof. Jianghong Rao's lab to further his research in radiotherapy-induced chemotherapy through a self-assembly strategy to enhance the retention time of prodrugs and amplify the radiotherapeutic effects. Qunfeng is dedicated to advancing the radiotherapy-activation prodrug strategy to clinical trials and hopes to improve the lives of cancer patients through his work.
- Sheng-Yao Dai, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
sydai@stanford.edu
Sheng-Yao did his Ph.D. with Prof Dan Yang. During this, he developed a photoactivatable small-molecule fluorescent probe for covalent labeling of proteins, which also demonstrated that this method allows visualization of endogenous proteins in living cells. He was also involved in the development of novel synthetic ion transporters for killing cancer stem cells and mechanistic exploration of ROS species generation from drug-like small molecules.
Charles Yen, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
tinyoyen@stanford.edu
Charles received his B.Sc. in Biotechnology from University of British Columbia in 2013. He finished two masters degrees from University of Tokyo and University of Washington in Natural Product Chemistry and Material Sciences and Engineering, respectively, and completed his Ph.D. study in Pharmaceutical Sciences from University of Toronto in 2023 under the mentorship of Prof. Shirley Wu. His graduate work focused on developing ROS-responsive MnO2 nanoparticles for improved therapeutic efficacy of MRI-guided radiation therapy against solid tumors, with special emphasis on glioblastoma. He plans to continue his interest in nanoparticle-based theranostic designs under Dr. Rao’s guidance and develop new generations of cancer theranostics for precise cancer treatment and post-operative disease management and tracking.
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- Jiyao Yu, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
jyu913@stanford.edu
Jiyao was born and raised in Shanghai, China. He pursued his undergraduate studies in Atlanta, where he was trained in synthesis of glycoconjugates for point-of-care immunochromatography assays. After completing his undergraduate studies, Jiyao pursued his Ph.D. in Chemistry under the mentorship of Prof. Christoph J. Fahrni at GT. His graduate work focused on bioinorganic chemistry. For his doctoral thesis, Jiyao was dedicated to developing state-of-the-art organic molecular tools for investigating the functions of labile Cu(I) and Zn(II) in complex biological systems. He extensively characterized the Cu(I)- and Zn(II)-selective probes using advanced analytical techniques in aqueous solutions and applied these probes for live cell imaging experiments.
Given the platform in Prof. Rao’s lab at Stanford, he plans to further his training in bioinorganic chemistry towards investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which labile copper is regulated in cells with an emphasis on systems relevant to cancer attenuation and intervention.
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- Kimberly Trevino, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
trevinok@stanford.edu - Kim began her research endeavors at Sonoma State University where she received her B.S. in Chemistry in 2015 under the guidance of Dr. Carmen Works. In 2023, she received her PhD in Chemistry at UC Davis under the mentorship of Dr. Angelique Louie. Her graduate work focused on synthesizing a series of spiropyran derivatives that were utilized as sensors for the detection of copper(II), glutathione or as an activatable contrast agent for MRI. She is currently a SMIS postdoctoral fellow under the mentorship of Dr. Jianghong Rao, where she is excited to apply her chemistry background while diversifying her knowledge and skills in understanding the tumor microenvironment, specifically employing molecular imaging as a method to achieve this.
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- Jeffrey L. Qiu, M.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
jeffqiu@stanford.edu
Jeff received a B.S. in Biochemistry from UC Berkeley, and M.D. from Temple University School of Medicine. He is currently a Resident Physician in General Surgery at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Previously, he worked under Prof. Roger Kornberg developing bioconjugated gold nanoparticles for electron microscopy. Current research with Prof. Rao includes rapid detection of treatment response to immunotherapy.
- Chu Zhang, B.S.
Visiting Graduate Student
chuzhang@stanford.edu
Chu received his B.S. in Chemistry from Tsinghua University. He is now finishing his Ph.D. under the mentorship of Prof. Tong and Prof. Xiang at Tsinghua University. He is working on the development of AIE fluorophores for detecting trace gas species and functional DNA-based nanocarriers for high-contrast bioimaging. In the Rao lab, he hopes to learn about in vivo imaging for cancer models.