Oluwafemi (Femi) Balogun, MBBS, MPH
Dr. Femi Balogun currently works on exploring novel predictive methods for early diagnosis of deteriorating state for neurocritical conditions. He holds a master’s degree in public health (with a major in epidemiology and biostatistics) from Boston University and a medical degree from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. In his free time, Femi likes to go cycling, take road trips, and visit family and friends.
Albert (Sheng-Yin) Chen, MD, MPH
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Dr. Albert Chen is joining CTEU as a postdoctoral research fellow in July 2023 and will be jointly mentored by Dr. Hamed Khalili, Dr. Andrew Chan, and Dr. Tracey Simon. He received his MD from Chang Gung University, Taiwan and MPH in Quantitative methods from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His research interests focus on chronic gastrointestinal diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, liver cancer, and colorectal cancer.
Jonathan Downie, MD
Dr. Jonathan Downie is a clinical and research fellow in Gastroenterology at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is jointly mentored by Dr. Andrew Chan, Dr. David Drew, and Dr. Omer Yilmaz. Dr. Downie’s research interests focus on how genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors influence the development of gastrointestinal dysplasia and malignancy. Dr. Downie earned an M.D. and Ph.D. (Human Genetics; Advisor: Dr. Lynn Jorde) from the University of Utah School of Medicine where he studied the role of genetic factors in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis pathogenesis and high-altitude physiology. Dr. Downie completed his residency training in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital as part of the Stanbury Physician-Scientist Pathway. He plans to be an academic gastroenterologist after completing his training.
Connor M. Geraghty, PhD
Dr. Connor Geraghty is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow under Drs. Andrew Chan and David Drew in the CTEU at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology. Connor earned his PhD in Nutrition from The Ohio State University where he studied prostate chemoprevention mechanisms of the dietary phytochemical lycopene. Connor's research focus aims centers on the role of pharmaceuticals, diet, and nutrition for chemoprevention with a particular interest in the role of the microbiome during cancer promotion or prevention.
Jane Ha, MD
Jane Ha is a post-doctoral research fellow in CTEU, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She is mentored by Dr. Andrew Chan. She received her MD from Korea University College of Medicine in South Korea. Her research interests lie in the epidemiology of gastrointestinal diseases and the translational approach to the investigation of molecular markers.
Kayla Hartjes, MD
Dr. Kayla Hartjes is a clinical and research fellow in pediatric gastroenterology at MGH. Her research mentors are Dr. Tracey Simon and Dr. Raymond Chung. Her research interests focus on pediatric NAFLD. She received her MD from University of Massachusetts Medical School. She plans to go on to be a pediatric transplant hepatologist and work in academic medicine.
Hanseul Kim, PhD
Dr. Hanseul Kim is a postdoctoral research fellow at CTEU in the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She is co-mentored by Drs. Long Nguyen, Andrew Chan, and Curtis Huttenhower. Dr. Kim earned her PhD degree in Population Health Sciences, focus on epidemiology, from the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health where her thesis topic was on vitamin D, calcium, and early-onset colorectal neoplasia. Hanseul’s current research interest centers on studying the gut microbial communities related to gastrointestinal conditions, especially colorectal cancer.
Minsik Kim, BS, MS, PhD
Minsik is a postdoctoral researcher in the Lai lab and CTEU. He graduated with his BS, MS, and PhD degree at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). During his prior postdoctoral fellowship, he became fascinated by the microbiome when studying how microalgae treatment of wastewater reduces pathogenic bacteria through competitive microbe-microbe interactions. On holidays, he loves riding something with wheels such as bikes, cars, Segways, and skateboards.ol.
Etienne Nzabarushimana, PhD
Dr. Etienne Nzabarushimana joins the CTEU as a post-doctoral research fellow in Dr. Long Nguyen's group with co-mentorship from Dr. Andrew Chan and Dr. Curtis Huttenhower. Etienne recently graduated with a PhD in Informatics from Indiana University.
Jiaxian Shen, PhD
Dr. Jiaxian Shen is a postdoctoral research fellow at CTEU of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Under the co-mentorship of Drs. Long Nguyen, Curtis Huttenhower, and Andrew Chan, she focuses on interdisciplinary research. Dr. Shen earned her Ph.D. from Northwestern University, gaining expertise in microbiome research, indoor environments, antimicrobial resistance, and environmental engineering. Her current research delves into the interplay between diet, gut microbiomes, and health outcomes, particularly in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
Michaela Tracey, MD
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Dr. Michaela Tracey is a clinical fellow in Pediatric Gastroenterology at Boston Children's Hospital and a research fellow in the Harvard-wide Pediatric Health Services Research Program. She joined the CTEU in August 2021 and is mentored by Dr. Hamed Khalili. Her research focuses on social determinants of health and outcomes in inflammatory bowel disease. She received her MD from the University of Massachusetts Medical School and completed her residency in pediatrics in the Boston Combined Residency Program in Pediatrics, based at Children's Hospital and Boston Medical Center.
Yiqing Wang, PhD
Yiqing Wang is a research fellow in the CTEU, working in Dr. Andrew Chan's research group. She received a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Virginia and a PhD in Nutrition Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her current research interests include the roles of diet, genetics, metabolomics, and gut microbiome in the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and cardiovascular diseases.
Yufeng Chen, MD
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Dr. Chen is a visiting scholar in the CTEU at MGH and the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, under the mentorship of Dr. Mingyang Song. He is an Associate Chief Physician in the Department of Colorectal Surgery at the Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University. His clinical and research interests focus on colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease, with particular emphasis on colorectal cancer screening and prevention through large-scale cohort studies and multi-omics approaches.
Ana Nogal, PhD
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Ana Nogal is a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, working under the supervision of Mingyang Song and Curtis Huttenhower. Her research explores how diet and the gut microbiome influence colorectal cancer, using statistical and computational methods applied to omics data. She completed her PhD in Bioinformatics at King’s College London, where she investigated the role of metabolites, particularly short-chain fatty acids, in the interplay between gut microbiota and cardiometabolic health.