The Tian Research Group

Jiuyun Shi received his B.S. degree in Qiushi Honors Program of Chemistry from Zhejiang University in 2018. He was a graduate student in Tian’s lab pursuing his Ph.D. in Chemistry. His research had been focused on tissue-like materials for bioelectronics, and other aspects of translational medicine. He is also developing living materials together with Dr. Yiliang Lin and Dr. Jiping Yue. In his free time, he enjoys hiking and traveling. Jiuyun has won twice the Eugene Olshansky Memorial Research Fellow, and the prestigious Yang Cao-Lan-Xian Best Thesis Award in Physical Chemistry. He received the prestigious MRS Graduate Student Award and was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Science list in 2024.

 

 

 

 

 

Vishnu grew up in Cochin, Kerala, India. After clearing the IIT-JEE exam in 2011 he joined Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and graduated in 2016 with an Integrated BS/MS in Chemistry with minors in Electrical Engg. and Physics. Towards his Master’s thesis he worked on synthesis and optoelectronic applications of two dimensional nanostructure based hybrids, under the guidance of Prof. Subramaniam. Prior to this he worked under Prof. Aslam where he used fundamental electrochemistry to study electron tunneling in colloidal quaternary semiconductor quantum dots and carbon nano-onions. In the Tian group, he has developed a laser-assisted synthesis of SiC from elastomer and applied the composites in bioelectronics. Vishnu is a recipient of the Elizabeth R Norton prize for excellence in research in Chemistry, The Windt Travel award and a fellow of the International house. In his free time, he enjoys playing the bamboo flute and performs Carnatic Music and Bharatanatyam (a South Indian dance form).

 

Andrew Phillips grew up in Novi, Michigan. He received a BSChem degree in chemistry in 2013 from the University of Michigan, working in the Banaszak Holl lab on targeted drug delivery. In 2014, he received an MSE in Macromolecular Science and Engineering, also from the University of Michigan, working with Professor Jinsang Kim on biosensors. Before entering the University of Chicago in 2015 to pursue a PhD in chemistry, Andrew worked as a research associate in the Kim and Tewari labs at UM on developing low-cost diagnostic platforms for new biomarkers. In the Tian group, Andrew has developed optically-triggered catalytic reactions under physiological condition. Andrew was an NIH Chem-Bio fellow.

 

Kelliann Koehler began her undergraduate work at the University of Florida in 2009. She transferred to Northeastern University and graduated with a BS in chemistry in 2013. As an undergraduate, she worked at the Center for Drug Discovery with a focus on HPLC method development and small molecule drug synthesis. Before beginning her graduate program at the University of Chicago, Kelliann worked in the polymer research group at E-ink and with lateral flow antibiotic test kits at Charm Sciences. In 2014, Kelliann began her graduate work at the University of Chicago with a focus in inorganic chemistry. Together with Ramya Parameswaran, Kelliann has developed methods for non-genetic optical modulation of cardiac activities. Kelliann was an NIH Chem-bio Interface fellow, and was a Helen Sellei-Beretvas Fellow.

 

Yuanwen Jiang was a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry, entering the University of Chicago after receiving his B.S. degree in chemistry from Nanjing University, China in 2012. His undergraduate research focused on the synthesis and properties of inorganic nanomaterials. During his Ph.D., he has developed multiple nongenetic methods for optical modulation of biological systems across multiple length scales. Yuanwen was a Seymour Goodman fellow, a Harper Dissertation Fellow (one of the highest honors for graduate students at UChicago), and a Frances E. Knock Scholar. He also received the Elizabeth R. Norton Prize for Excellence in Research in Chemistry, and the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad. He received a prestigious Graduate Research Award from the American Vacuum Society and a prestigious Graduate Student Award from the Materials Research Society. He was also a 2018 ACS DIC Young Investigator Awardee. In 2019, Yuanwen received an IUPAC-SOLVAY International Award for Young Chemists.

 

Email: yuanwen@stanford.edu

Personal website: Link

 

Born and raised in Seattle, WA, John Zimmerman graduated from Whitman College in 2011, receiving his bachelor’s in chemistry. During his undergraduate, he investigated purification platforms of the protein PcpA, for use in microbatch x-ray crystallography under Tim Machonkin. He entered the University of Chicago’s PhD program in chemistry, during the fall of 2011, with a focus in inorganic chemistry. While in the Tian lab, John has studied the internalization dynamics of nanowires and developed a few methods for intracellular biophysical probing. John was a class of 2013 CBC scholar. John is currently an Organ Design and Engineering Training Program Fellow at Harvard Medical School.

 

Dr. Jiping Yue is a research scientist specializing in biomedical engineering. He graduated from Tsinghua University and Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Before joining the University of Chicago, Jiping worked at the World Health Organization (WHO). He brings years of interdisciplinary experience in molecular and cellular biology, clinical research, and virology. At UChicago, Jiping has been honored with the National PKU Alliance’s Post-Doctoral Fellowship Award and the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) award from the Hope Fund. He has also received the Outstanding Senior Scientist Award from the Chemistry Department.

 

Jingcheng Ma joined the Tian Lab as a postdoctoral scholar in June 2022. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Jingcheng’s research focuses on understanding and exploiting interesting surface phenomena of soft materials. Jingcheng is the awardee of the 2020 PPG-MRL Graduate Research Fellowship, the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Students Abroad, and the 2022 UIUC Stanley I. Weiss Outstanding Dissertation Award.

 

 

Hemi Rotenberg received his BSc, MSc and PhD in Biotechnology Engineering from Ben Gurion University, Israel. During his MSc, he designed a perfusion bioreactor that allowed simultaneous shear stress optimization on 3D cellular constructs. In his PhD, he worked on a new modality for noninvasive temporary heart pacing using magnetic microparticles. In 2016, he joined the Tian Lab as a postdoc at the James Franck Institute, at the University of Chicago. He worked on in vivo cardiac stimulation using silicon nanowires and silicon-based membranes. He enjoys riding his bicycles and playing soccer.

 

 

 

Fei Pei received his BSc and MSc in applied physics from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. He received his PhD in experimental quantum physics from the Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. During his PhD, he worked on the quantum dot and qubit experiments in carbon nanotubes and quantum transport measurement in InSb nanowires. In 2019, he joined the Tian lab as a postdoc at the James Franck Institute, at the University of Chicago. He worked on semiconductor materials to study biointerfaces.

 

 

Dr. Wang was born in Fujian, China. He received the B.S. (2005) and PhD (2010) degrees in chemistry from the University of Science and Technology of China. His PhD research in Prof. Jun Wang’s group was focused on the controlled syntheses of polyphosphoesters and their bioapplications. He then worked with Professor Younan Xia as a postdoctoral scholar in the theranostic applications of gold nanocages. He joined the Tian group in January 2013, where he worked on calcite based nanoelectronic devices. He has also worked with Yuanwen Jiang and a few other former lab members on silicon-based biointerfaces. 

 

 

Boya Kuang performed physical property studies of graphene and other carbon-based materials during her Ph.D. She is currently pursuing her postdoc research at Peking University. In 2019, she joined Prof. Tian group as a visiting student for one year at the James Franck Institute, University of Chicago. Her research mainly focused on hydrogel-based adaptable materials in flexible electronics and the transition metal oxide-based neuromodulation devices.

 

Kun Hou obtained his Ph.D. degree in Inorganic Chemistry from Peking University in 2006. He then did two postdocs working on mesoporous materials with Prof. Geoff A Ozin at the University of Toronto (2006-2008) and with Prof. Thomas Bein at the University of Munich (2009-2011). After that, he spent a few years in Ecolab company as a research scientist. In 2017, he moved to Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure and Matter where he currently is a research professor. From 2019 to 2020, he was in Prof. Tian’s group at the University of Chicago as a visiting scholar, working on soft-hard interface nanocomposite materials for environmental and biological applications. His current research interests including mesoporous materials, soft-hard interface composite materials and non-precious metal electrocatalysts for fuel cells. As a scientist with both academic and industrial experiences, besides his academic research, he is also enthusiastic about implementing his research achievements to benefit people’s life, so he recently founded a start-up company trying to commercialize the catalysts developed in his lab for water treatment and fuel cells. In his spare time, Kun likes reading and playing table tennis.