Principal Investigator
Yu-Hua Tseng, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Helen and Morton Adler Chair
Senior Investigator, Section on Integrative Physiology & Metabolism, Joslin Diabetes Center
https://twitter.com/tsengyuhua: https://www.linkedin.com/in/Yu-Hua Tseng
Dr. Yu-Hua Tseng’s research is focused on understanding the physiological role and therapeutic potential of the energy-burning brown fat and its related beige fat, an area of great significance to both diabetes and medicine as a whole. Dr. Yu-Hua Tseng is a Senior Investigator in the Section on Integrative Physiology and Metabolism at the Joslin Diabetes Center, a Principal Faculty at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, an Affiliate Faculty of the Broad Institute, and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Tseng received her doctorate in Developmental Biology and Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and completed postdoctoral training at Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Tseng was an Eleanor and Miles Shore Scholar in Medicine at Harvard Medical School and received the Hazel K. Stiebeling Lectureship from Florida State University, the Armen Tashjian Award for Excellence in Endocrine Research, and the J Denis McGarry Prize from Montreal Diabetes Center.
Lab Manager
Tian Lian Huang, M.D.
Lab Manager
Administrative Assistant
Samuel Melisi
Administrative Assistant
Postdoctoral Fellows
Tadataka Tsuji, D.D.S., Ph.D.
Research Associate and Instructor
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tadataka_Tsuji
Tadataka received his DDS and Ph.D. in Dentistry from Osaka University and has been working as a dentist and oral surgeon over the past 10 years in the First Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Osaka University. He joined the Tseng laboratory in 2018 through the Japanese Sunstar Foundation Scholarship. His current research interest is the artificial stimulation of BAT thermogenesis through the use of optical techniques.
Yang Zhang, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Yang graduated from Jilin University, China and received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. She joined Dr. Tseng’s laboratory in 2020. Her current research interests revolve around understanding and detailing the mechanisms that underlie the regulation of brown adipocytes’ thermogenesis.
Henrique Camara, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Henrique graduated in Biomedicine and received his M.Sc. in Genetics from Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil. He received his Ph.D. in Genetics and Molecular Biology from the State University of Campinas, Brazil. He joined Dr. Tseng’s laboratory in 2021. Henrique is interested in understanding intercellular communication and thermogenic adipocyte heterogeneity within the adipose niche and their physiological relevance.
Cigdem Sahin
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Sahin received her BS in Bioengineering from the Yildiz Technical University (Istanbul, Turkiye). She then obtained both her MSc and PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Toronto (Toronto, Canada). Cigdem joined the Tseng lab as a postdoctoral fellow in 2023, where she is interested in understanding molecular mechanisms of thermogenic adipokines and investigating the role of prevascular progenitors in brown fat thermogenesis.
Brian I Park, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Brian received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Food & Nutrition from Seoul National University, South Korea. He earned his Ph.D. in Biochemical and Molecular Nutrition under the guidance of Dr. Andrew S. Greenberg at Tufts University. In the fall of 2024, Brian joined the Tseng Lab as a postdoctoral fellow. His current research focuses on understanding how adipocyte differentiation is regulated within the thermogenic adipose niche.
Hajime Iwasaki, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Hajime received his MD and PhD. in the Department of Diabetes, Metabolism, and Endocrinology from Tokyo Medical University. In the spring of 2025, Hajime joined the Tseng Lab as a postdoctoral fellow. His research explores the interplay between thyroid hormones and lipid metabolism and adipose tissue metabolism.
Alumni
| Name | Training Period & Role | Current Position |
| Tim J. Schulz, Ph.D. | 2007-2012, Postdoctoral Fellow | Professor, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke |
| Hongbin Zhang, Ph.D. | 2008-2013, Postdoctoral Fellow | Senior Researcher at Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability Bacterial Synthetic Biology, Denmark |
| Kristy L. Townsend, Ph.D. | 2009-2014, Postdoctoral Fellow, Instructor | Associate Professor at the Dept. of Neurosurgery, Ohio State University |
| Daniel O. Espinoza, Ph.D. | 2006-2008, Postdoctoral Fellow | Research Scientist, Emory University, Atlanta |
| Meiping Guan, M.D., Ph.D. | 2012-2013, Postdoctoral Fellow | Deputy Director of Dept. Endocrinology & Metabolism, Southern Medical University, Quangzhou, China |
| Morten Lundh, Ph.D. | 2015-2016, Postdoctoral Fellow | Project Leader at Gubra Co., Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Mari Sato, D.D.S., Ph.D. | 2015-2017, Postdoctoral Fellow | Assistant Professor, Hokkaido University, Japan |
| Sheng-Chiang Su, M.D. | 2016-2017, Postdoctoral Fellow | Assistant Professor, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C. |
| Luiz Leiria, Ph.D. | 2014-2017, Postdoctoral Fellow | Asst. Prof. of Pharmacology, University of São Paulo, CRID – The Ribeirão Preto Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil |
| Jianmei Li, M.D. | 2008-2009, Visiting Scientist | Attending Physician, Bao’an Maternity & Child Health Hospital, Guangdong, China |
| Anibal S. Moura, Ph.D. | 2012, Visiting Scientist | Professor, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Huei Sheng Huang, Ph.D. | 2015-2016, Visiting Scientist | Professor, Department of Medical Lab Science and Biotechnology, National Cheng Kung University |
| Shuk-Man (Maria) Ka, Ph.D. | 2017, Visiting Scientist | Professor, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan |
| Shifen Dong, Ph.D. | 2017-2018, Visiting Scientist | Associate Professor, School of Chinese Materia MedicaBeijing University of Chinese Medicine |
| Rokus Kriszt, Ph.D. | 2016, Visiting Grad Student | Site Partnership Manager, Sanofi, Hungary |
| Elena Kempf | 2016, Visiting Grad Student | Ph.D. candidate, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany |
| Thomas D’Arpigny | 2015, Visiting Medical Student | Resident in Anesthesiology & Critical Care, Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France |
| Ana Alfaro | 2014-2015, Visiting Grad Student | PhD Candidate, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center |
| Lucy Lahrita, Ph.D. | 2017, Visiting Grad Student | Postdoctoral Fellow, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan |
| Young-Mi Kwon | 2012-2013, Undergrad Student | Research Assistant, Columbia University |
| Andrew Pan | 2013-2014, Undergrad Student | MD, University of Rochester |
| Omalade Sogade | 2014-2016, Undergrad Student | Medical Student, Washington University, School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri |
| Kunyan (Martin) Yang | 2016-2017, Undergrad Student; 2017-2018 Research Assistant | Graduate Student, University of Alberta, Canada |
| Lindsay MacDougall | 2009-2012, Research Assistant | Nurse Practitioner at Shriver Clinical Services |
| Magda Blaszkiewcz | 2013-2014, Research Assistant | Postdoctoral Fellow Ohio State University Columbus, OH |
| Simi Falako | 2018-2020, Undergrad Student and Intern | Advanced degree Candidate, Columbia University |
| Chih-Hao Wang | 2016-2020, Postdoctoral Fellow | Assistant Professor at China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan |
| Justin Darcy | 2017-2020, Postdoctoral Fellow | Scientist at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals; Cambridge, MA. |
| Satoru Sugimoto | 2017-2021, Postdoctoral Fellow | Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine |
| Farnaz Shamsi | 2015-2021, Postdoctoral Fellow, Instructor | Assistant Professor, New York University |
| Matthew Lynes | 2012-2021, Postdoctoral Fellow, Instructor | Faculty Scientist, Maine Medical Center Research Institute |
| Marsha Wibowo | 2017-2022, Graduate Student | Scientist at Vertex Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, MA. |
| Wen-Tung (Allen) Wu | 2022-2022, Visiting Scholar | Pharmacist at Tri-Service General Hospital, Taiwan. |
| Esther Fadumiye | 2021-2022, Undergraduate Research Intern | Medical Student |
| Anaysa Bolin | 2022-2022, Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow | Postdoc Fellow at Univ. of Sao Paulo. |
| Fabiola Alvarez Gallego | 2022-2022, Visiting Research Student | San Pablo CEU University in Madrid, Spain/King’s College London, UK |
| Sean Kodani, Ph.D. | 2018-2023, Postdoctoral fellow | Scientist, Cellular Agriculture at Hoxton Farms, London |
| Osvaldo Pereira | 2022-2023, Visiting Research Student | M.S. student at the University of São Paulo, Brazil |
| Jared Senfeld | 2022-2024, Postdoctoral Fellow | Advisor -Diabetes Obesity & Complications Therapeutic Area, Eli Lilly, Boston MA |
| Mohamad Issa Basha | 2023 Visiting Research Student | Medical Student at University Witten Herdecke, Germany |
| Lucas Zangerolamo | 2023-2024 Visiting Research Student | PhD Student at the University of Campinas, Brazil |
| Joao Alves | 2024 Visiting Research Student | PhD Student at Ribeirao Medical School, University of Sao Paulo Brazil |
| Fabiola Alvarez Gallego | 2024-2025, Postdoctoral Fellow | |
| Gerson Profeta Souza, Ph.D. | 2021-2025, Postdoctoral Fellow | |
| Tommy Chen | 2024-2025 Visiting Research Student | PhD Student at the Institute of Physiology at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan |
| Diogo de Moraes | 2024-2025 Visiting Research Student | PhD Candidate, State University of Campinas |
| Cristhian David Sua Cespedes | 2024-2025 Visiting Student | PhD Student, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil |
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