Principal Investigator

Juan Melero-Martin, PhD

Juan M. Melero-Martin, PhD

Staff Scientist; Endowed Chair in Cardiac Surgery

Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Melero-Martin holds a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Seville, Spain, and completed his PhD in tissue engineering at the University of Birmingham, UK. Following a postdoctoral fellowship in the Vascular Biology Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, he was appointed to the Department of Cardiac Surgery at the same institution in 2008. In 2018, Dr. Melero-Martin was honored with the inaugural Chair in Cardiac Surgery, named after John Mayer, Jr., MD.

Lab Members

Umji Lee

Umji Lee, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Dr. Umji Lee earned her B.Eng from Seoul National University of Science and Technology and obtained her MS in life sciences at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) in 2016. After she earned her PhD at EPFL under the supervision of Dr. Jerome Feige and Dr. Benjamin Cosgrove at Cornell University, she joined the Melero-Martin Lab as a postdoctoral fellow in 2021. Her current research focuses on developing effective ex vivo gene therapy for hemophilia patients with a tissue engineering approach.

Grace Li

Xiang (Grace) Li, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Dr. Xiang (Grace) Li earned her BS from China Agricultural University and MS from Ohio State University, both degrees in animal sciences. She then worked on stem cell therapy for diabetes in Dr. Jon Odorico’s lab at University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 2021, Grace earned her PhD with studies on cellular senescence, aging, and liver diseases, mentored by Dr. Scott Lowe, from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center/Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences. She joined the Melero-Martin Lab in 2022 and focuses on the studies of vascular biology in bone regeneration and tissue engineering.

Gwang-Bum Im

Gwang-Bum Im, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Dr. Gwang-Bum Im earned his BS degree in chemical engineering from Sungkyunkwan University in 2017. In 2022, Gwang-Bum obtained his PhD degree with studies on cell and tissue engineering based on a variety of biomaterials under Dr. Suk Ho Bhang’s guidance at Sungkyunkwan University. He joined the Melero-Matin Lab as a postdoctoral fellow in 2022 and is currently working on projects related to vascular biology and tissue engineering.

Yonglin Zhu

Yonglin Zhu, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Dr. Yonglin Zhu earned his BS in biology and pharmacology from Jilin University, China. He then joined Dr. Jie Na’s lab at the School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, to study the genetic and epigenetic regulation of vascular cell differentiation from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). After he obtained his PhD in cell biology, Dr. Zhu joined the Melero-Martin Lab in 2022 as a postdoctoral fellow and continues to pursue his interest in vascular biology and regenerative medicine using hPSCs.

Jinju Kim

JinJu Kim, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Dr. JinJu Kim earned her BS in biology from Hallym University. In 2024, she obtained her PhD in stem cell-based regenerative medicine, focusing on myocardial infarction and limb ischemia, under the supervision of Dr. Hun-Jun Park at the Catholic University of Korea. She joined the Melero-Martin Lab as a postdoctoral fellow in 2024 and is currently exploring the use of iPSC-derived vascular cells for regenerative medicine in ischemic diseases.

Dominic Recco

Dominic Recco, MD

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Dr. Dominic Recco earned his BS in biomedical engineering from Pennsylvania State University and obtained his MD at Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University in 2020. He is currently a general surgery resident at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, with a dedicated focus on research. After completing three years of clinical-translational research under the supervision of Dr. David Hoganson at Boston Children’s Hospital, he joined the Melero-Martin Lab as a postdoctoral fellow in 2025. His current research focuses on evaluating the efficacy of hiPSC-derived therapies in animal models of myocardial infarction.n.

Remy Sullivan

Remy Sullivan, BS

Research Assistant

Remy earned their BS in biological engineering from Wentworth Institute of Technology in 2025. Their previous research under Dr. Mary Machado investigated the effect of salt nanoparticles on bacterial growth and, separately, the development of a shear-stress microfluidic for ovarian cell culture. They joined the Melero-Martin lab in 2026 to pursue their passion for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.


 

Alumni

Alex Barutis, BS 
Research Technologist (2023-2026) 
Currently: Graduate student, Carnegie Mellon University

Emily Brown 
Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Summer Research Internship (2026) 
Undergraduate student, University of Florida

Shih-Yen Wei, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow (2024-2026)
Currently: Assistant Professor, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST), Taiwan

Daniel Tremmel, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow (2022-2026)
Currently: GC Therapeutics

Vanessa García-Fernández, MD
Visiting graduate student, University of Sevilla, Spain (2025-2026)
Currently: Ph.D. Graduate Student, University of Sevilla

Youlu Chen, PhD
Visiting Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Fujian Medical University, China (2024-2025)
Currently: Associated Research Fellow, Fujian Medical University, China

Liyan Gong, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow (2022-2025)
Currently: Assistant Professor, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, China

Ziyan Liu
Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Summer Research Internship (2025)
Undergraduate student, Johns Hopkins University

Hyunjung (Emily) Kim, BS
Visiting graduate student, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea (2024-2025)
Currently: M.Sc. Graduate Student, Seoul National University

Victoria Ji Gong
Summer Research Internship (2024)
Undergraduate student, UCLA

Maliha Tasnim
Summer Research Internship (2024)
Undergraduate student, CUNY Hunter College

Allen Chilun Luo, MSc
Research Technologist (2021-2024)
Currently: Ph.D. graduate student, Rice University

Andrew Lynch
Co-op Internship (2024)
Undergraduate student, Northeastern University

Dave Mansaray
Spring semester research (2024)
Undergraduate student, Harvard University

Seh Ri (Sally) Oh
Visiting graduate student, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea (2024)
Currently: PhD Graduate Student, Seoul National University

Kush Patel
Summer Research Internship (2023)
Medical student, Central Michigan University, College of Medicine

Ruei-Zeng Lin, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow (2009-2015); Instructor in Surgery (2015-2023)
Currently: Principal Scientist, Myeloid Therapeutics, Inc.

Giulia Galaverni, PhD
Visiting graduate student, University of Modena, Italy (2022)
Currently: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Modena, Italy

Victoria Villarreal
Summer Research Internship (2022)
Undergraduate student, Stanford University

Daniel Brito
Graduate Student, Northeastern University (2021-2022)
Currently: BlueRock Therapeutics LP

Xuechong Hong, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow (2017-2021)
Currently: Senior Principal Scientist, Novo Nordisk, Denmark

Xi Wang, PhD
Visiting graduate student, Cornell University (2021)
Currently: Assistant Professor, Peking University Third Hospital, China

Daniel Sherman
Spring semester research (2021)
Undergraduate student, Harvard University

Jean Lee
Summer Research Internship (2021)
Undergraduate student, Cornell University

Seth Ack
Summer Research Internship (2021)
Undergraduate student, University of Puget Sound

Kai Wang, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow (2016-2021)
Currently: Assistant Professor, Peking University, China

Hwan Drew Kim, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow (2018-2021)
Currently: Associate Professor at Seoultech, South Korea

Joseph Neumeyer
Research Assistant (2016-2019)
Currently: Scientist, Typewriter Therapeutics

Chin-Nien Lee, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow (2015-2018)
Currently: Senior Research Investigator, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Rocío Muñoz-Hernández, PhD
Visiting Ph.D. Student (2012-2013), Research Fellow (2016)
Currently: Profesora Titular, University of Sevilla, Spain

Rafael Moreno-Luna, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow (2011-2013)
Currently: Team Leader, National Hospital Paraplegic, Toledo, Spain

Alexandra Dreyzin, MD
Research Assistant (2009-2010)
Currently: Assistant Research Physician/Staff Clinician, The National Institutes of Health

Kristie Aamodt, MD, PhD
Research Assistant (2008-2009)
Currently: Instructor in Pediatric Endocrinology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Contact Us

LinkedIn
Follow our lab on X