GROUP MEMBERS

CAROLINE LEI WEE
Principal Investigator
Ph.D. in Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (2016)
B.A. Cornell University, College of Arts and Sciences, Ithaca, NY (2009)
Double Major in Biological Sciences (Neurobiology and Behavior) & Psychology
Distinction in all subjects
Summa cum laude
Caroline's research interest is in understanding the fundamental mechanisms governing motivated behaviors such as feeding and stress, with the goal of improving human health and well-being. Towards this goal, she has won several significant fellowships and grants, including the A*STAR National Science Scholarship (NSS BS-PhD, 2006, 2010), National Medical Research Council Young Individual Research Grant (2020) and National Research Foundation Fellowship (Class of 2021). She is also a lead Principal Investigator in A*STAR's Brain-Body Initiative.

RUEY-KUANG CHENG
Senior Research Fellow
Ph.D. in Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina (2010)
M.S. National Cheng-Chi University, Taipei, Taiwan (2002)
B.S. National Cheng-Chi University, Taipei, Taiwan (1999)
Ruey has more than 10 years of experience in both zebrafish and rodent behavioral neuroscience research, and trained in the lab of Dr. Suresh Jesuthasan (NTU-LKC, Singapore). His expertise includes behavioral and in vivo calcium imaging, electrophysiology, and hardware/software development for animal behavior analysis. His research interests include timing and time perception, learning and memory, decision making, and emotional control of behavior.

VINDHYA CHAGANTY
Research Fellow
Ph.D. in Developmental biology, National University of Singapore (2021)
M.Sc. Biotechnology V.I.T University, India (2016)
B.Sc. Biotechnology V.I.T University, India (2014)
During her Ph.D., Vindhya used zebrafish as a model organism to study neurodegenerative diseases. Her current research interest is in understanding the neural circuitry and genetics of appetite control. Her expertise includes microscopy, behavioral analysis, and transcriptomics.

WEN LIE
PhD Candidate
A*STAR Graduate Scholarship (Singapore) (2021)
Pharmacist, Singapore Pharmacy Council (2021)
B.Sc. (Pharmacy) with Honours (Highest Distinction), National University of Singapore (2020)
Research Experience:
Developed a mammalian expression system expressing SARS-CoV-2 proteins for production of virus-like particles
Investigated the metabolizing enzymes and disposition kinetics of two synthetic cannabinoids and their metabolites
Research Interests:
Gut microbiome
Drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics

YEO HUI LI
Senior Research Officer (Biology)
B.S. (Hons) in Biotechnology, First Class Honours, Northumbria University (2016)
Hui Li trained in the lab of Dr. Sudipto Roy (IMCB). She has more than 4 years of zebrafish research experience and extensive expertise in molecular biology, genetics, and microscopy. She also manages daily lab operations.

GUAN ZHEN
Senior Research Officer (Software Engineering)
Co-supervised by Dr. Cheng Li (Assoc. Prof., University of Alberta, Adjunct Prof., Bioinformatics Institute A*STAR)
B.Sc. in Mathematical Sciences (Statistics), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Research Experience:
Collaborated with Dr Huang Weimin’s team from I2R (A*STAR) and GE Japan on segmenting coronary artery from 3D heart CT images. Developed a reconstruction algorithm which improves recall, precision and f1 score by 9.5%, 1.6% and 5% respectively.
Research Interests:
Machine/deep learning application on biomedical data
Action recognition & action detection

GAYNAH DOBLADO
Laboratory Officer (Biology)
Diploma in Marine Science and Aquaculture, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore (2021)
Research Experience:
Intern at the Environmental Engineering cluster in Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE), under the integrated theme of Marine Biofilms & Microbiomes.
Research study under Dr Grace Loo to investigate presence of genetic markers in shrimps.
Research Interests:
Genetics and Marine Biology

CHUA KAI XIN
Research Officer (Biology)
B.S. in Business and Environmental Sciences, Majoring in Aquaculture, James Cook University Singapore (2020)
Research Experience:
Research on ciliopathies using zebrafish and mice as animal models
Population Dynamics and Phylogenetic Analysis of Canine Parvovirus
Research interests:
Physiology of eating disorders and mental health

DINAH YUSOFF
Research Officer (Biology)
Previously Research Assistant (SGUnited Traineeship)
B.Sc. in Pharmacology, Monash University, Australia (2020)
Research Experience:
Tableting trials to determine appropriate quality parameters for Diana Food (nutraceutical)
Handling of mice in effects of centrally acting drugs on mice behaviour, and neurological and autonomic functions under the Department of Pharmacology, Monash University
Research interests:
Drug interactions and Neuropharmacology

VALARIE THAM
Research Officer (Biology)
B.Sc. in Molecular Biology, La Trobe University (2018)
Research Experience:
Final Year Project in collaboration with National University of Singapore on the Optimization of a Diagnostic Platform for Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika
Research in Genome Institute of Singapore that targets Metabolic Vulnerabilities in Liver Cancer
Research Interests:
Genetics and Neuromuscular Diseases

JOLIN TAN
Laboratory Officer (Aquaculture) - from May 2022
Diploma in Marine Science and Aquaculture, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore (2022)
Research Experience:
Intern at the St. John's Island National Marine Laboratory under the South East Asian Microplastic Project under Dr Neo Mei Lin.
Research study conducting probiotics feeding trial In Whiteleg Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei).
Research Interests:
Marine Biology & Aquaculture
MASTERS STUDENTS
DINGMING CHEN
MSc Student in Food Science and Human Nutrition, National University of Singapore
FENGLIN LI
MSc Student in Food Science and Human Nutrition, National University of Singapore
INTERNS
CHLOE LIN (SINGAPORE POLYTECHNIC, A*STAR SCIENCE AWARDEE)
WEE LENG TAN (NUS, A*STAR RESEARCH INTERNSHIP AWARDEE)
ALUMNI
RYAN ANG
Student Intern (Singapore Polytechnic, A*STAR Science Awardee)
JAZLYNN TAN
Research Officer and A*STAR Scholar
Currently on 2nd attachment at GIS
XIPING LE
H3 Programme Student (Hwa Chong Institution)
YUCHENG JIN
H3 Programme Student (Victoria Junior College)
CHERYL TAN
Research Officer (previously on SGUnited Traineeship)
Currently pursuing a Masters at the National University of Singapore
DANIAL ASRI
Research Assistant (SGUnited Traineeship)
JERRICK KWAN
Student Intern (Republic Polytechnic, A*STAR Science Awardee)
JERRYL TAN
Student Intern (Republic Polytechnic, A*STAR Science Awardee)