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PHNG Lab

PHNG Laboratory for Vascular Morphogenesis

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	Team Leader Li-Kun Phng , PhD likun.phng(at)riken.jp Li-Kun Phng received her B.Sc. in Pharmacology from the University of Bristol in 2002, her M.Sc. for Research in Life Science from the University of Edinburgh in 2004, and her Ph.D. from University College London in 2009, for her work on blood vessel development in the laboratory of Holger Gerhardt at the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute. She was awarded the EMBO and HFSP Long-term Fellowships to perform postdoctoral research at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Heidelberg in 2009, and in VIB/KU Leuven, Belgium in 2011. She next moved to the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center Research Institute, Osaka, in 2014, after receiving the JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Foreign Researchers. She was appointed to her current position as Team Leader at RIKEN CDB in October 2016.
	Research Scientist Igor Kondrychyn , PhD igor.kondrychyn(at)riken.jp Kondrychyn Igor graduated from the National University of Kyiv in Ukraine. He received his Ph.D. in Developmental Biology from the National University of Singapore in 2008 for his work on nervous system development in the laboratory of Vladimir Korzh at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB). He then continued to work as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in IMCB. In 2013 he moved to the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalore, India, where he studied the function of autism risk genes in zebrafish. In May 2017, Kondrychyn Igor joined the Laboratory for Vascular Morphogenesis at RIKEN CDB as a Research Scientist. His current project is focused on investigating how endothelial cell shape is regulated during angiogenesis.
	Postdoctoral Researcher Yan Chen, PhD yan.chen(at)riken.jp Chen Yan graduated from the Southern Medical University (China) and Master in the University of Sheffield (UK). She then continued her PhD in the same lab, working on zebrafish vascular remodelling under the supervision of Dr Robert Wilkinson and Prof. Paul Evans. After receiving her PhD degree in 2021, Yan joined the vascular morphogenesis team as a postdoctoral researcher, to study how blood flow regulates endothelial cell behaviour (cell size and shape) to modulate vessel diameter and patterning during vascular remodelling. In her free time, Yan enjoys cooking, playing video games, and crocheting.
	Postdoctoral Researcher Haymar Wint, PhD haymarwint(at)riken.jp I got Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from University of Medicine 2, Yangon, Myanmar in 2009. After that, I worked as a medical officer in North Okkala General Hospital. As I am more interested in basic science, I changed my career to an assistant lecturer at University of Medicine 2, Yangon. While working there, I got Master of Medical Biochemistry in 2017. After receiving MEXT scholarship, I continued my PhD in Okayama University under the supervision of Prof. Kohji Takei and Ass. Prof. Tetsuya Takeda, mainly working on collective cell migration in cancer metastasis. After receiving my PhD in 2023, I joined the Laboratory for Vascular Morphogenesis at RIKEN BDR as a postdoctoral researcher. My current research is to explore the role of the junction dynamics in blood vascular remodelling. My hobbies are cooking and hanging out with friends.
	Assistant Emi Taniguchi emi.taniguchi(at)riken.jp Emi Taniguchi has started working as an assistant for Phng lab in August 2016 for taking care of zebrafish babies and setting up our laboratory. She has been living in Kobe for a few decades since she was born, thus she is an only local in our lab. She enjoys working in multi-cultural environment with the members come from different countries.
	Technical Staff II Guihua Chen，PhD guihua.chen(at)riken.jp Guihua Chen graduated from Inner Mongolia Medical University of China. She received her Ph.D. in Medical Sciences from Gifu University of Japan. She joined the Laboratory for Vascular Morphogenesis in May 2021. Her mainly tasks include maintenance of zebrafish system, screening and genotyping, molecular biology, immunohistochemistry etc.
	Junior Reserach Associate Hu Mingzhao mingzhao.hu(at)riken.jp Mingzhao Hu graduated from Shandong University in China and obtained her Masters from the same university. She is engaged in advanced study for her doctorate at Osaka University and joined the Laboratory for Vascular Morphogenesis as a RIKEN Junior Research Associate (JRA) in October 2023. During her PhD, she will investigate endothelial cell mechanotransduction during vascular remodelling.
	Tropical Fish Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Zebrafishes originally come from tropical river in India. Thay are swimming in BDR Aquarium with approximately 3,000 friends! They usually eat 3 times meals a day of powder food and brine shrimp as well. They are surrounded by a wonderful family and friends and are living happily.
	Alumni Si Hoey Tan ( Intern: Aug 2017 - Jan 2018 ) Douglas Kelly (Researcher: Sep 2018 - Mar 2019) Jan Blaha ( Intern: July 2019 - Sep 2019 ) Joyce Goh (Masters course student: Apr 2017-Mar 2020) Jeronica Chong (Masters course student: Apr 2018-Mar 2020) Jung Kyung Kim (Visiting researcher: Sep 2019-Aug 2020) Yayoi Shimmyo(Part timer: Aug-Nov 2020) Akane Nomori (Technical Staff: Dec 2016 - Jun 2021) Shintaro Nishijo (Intern: May - Sep 2021) Nuria Taberner Carretero (Research scientist: Aug 2019 - Oct 2021) Vagena Pantoula Christina (Intern: Jan - Feb 2023) Aswani Suresh Nitish (Intern: Jun - Aug 2023) Liu Yuchen (Intern: Jul - Aug 2023) Wang Yushu (Intern: Jul - Aug 2023) Mariia-Oleksandra Zhuravlova (Intern: Jun - Nov 2023) Sara De Bree (Intern: Oct - Nov 2023) Swe Soe Maung Ye (Special Postdoctoral Researcher: Sep 2019 - Mar 2024) Ricard Casanovas Zapata (Intern: Feb 2023 - Jun 2024)