Principal Investigator
Yu-Hua Tseng, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Senior Investigator, Section on Integrative Physiology & Metabolism, Joslin Diabetes Center
Email: yu-hua.tseng@joslin.harvard.edu
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tsengyuhua
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, 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 and the Armen Tashjian Award for Excellence in Endocrine Research.
Lab Manager
Tian Lian Huang, M.D.
Lab Manager
Email: TianLian.Huang@joslin.harvard.edu
Assistant Investigator
Matthew Lynes, Ph.D.
Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Assistant Investigator, Section on Integrative Physiology & Metabolism, Joslin Diabetes Center
Email: matthew.lynes@joslin.harvard.edu
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-lynes-59baa899/
Catalyst: https://connects.catalyst.harvard.edu/Profiles/display/Person/107798
Twitter: https://twitter.com/matthewdlynes
Bibiliography: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1dwq2elutgJAS/bibliography/public/
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Matthew_Lynes
Matt Lynes is an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an Assistant Investigator at the Joslin Diabetes Center. Matt has an undergraduate degree from Colby College and a graduate degree from Boston University. Matt studies how humans and animals metabolize the food that they eat and how their bodies control the flow of metabolites to direct energy for either usage or storage. He is the recipient of NIH F32 and K01 awards, an Early Investigator Award from the Endocrine Society, and a Joslin Diabetes Center DRC Pilot and Feasibility grant.
Research Associate
Farnaz Shamsi, Ph.D.
Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Research Associate
Email: Farnaz.shamsi@joslin.harvard.edu
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/farnaz-shamsi-75a41147/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FarnazShamsi
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Farnaz_Shamsi
Farnaz received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Tehran, Iran. She obtained her Ph.D. in Developmental Biology and Regenerative Medicine from Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany. She joined Dr. Tseng’s laboratory in 2015. Her research interests revolve around transcriptional regulation of adipose tissue development and function. Farnaz is a recipient of the American Diabetes Association postdoctoral fellowship and the K01 award from NIH/NIDDK.
Postdoctoral Fellows
Tadataka Tsuji, D.D.S., Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Email: tadataka.tsuji@joslin.harvard.edu
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.
Sean Kodani, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Email: sean.kodani@joslin.harvard.edu
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-kodani-28289384/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KodaniSean
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sean_Kodani
Sean received his BS in Molecular Toxicology and Environmental Science from the University of California, Berkeley and his Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of California, Davis. His current research interest is to understand how lipid mediators regulate metabolic disease and brown adipose tissue physiology.
Yang Zhang, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Email: yang.zhang@joslin.harvard.edu
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.
Ph.D. Students
Marsha Wibowo
Ph.D. Student
Email: marsha.wibowo@joslin.harvard.edu
Marsha is a Ph.D. student in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS) program at Harvard Medical School. She is from Indonesia, and she did her undergraduate at MIT in biology. Her background is in molecular biology, and her current research interest is in the role of the gut microbiome in obesity, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes. She received her BS in Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2016.
Gerson Profeta Souza
Visiting Research Student
Email: gerson.profeta@joslin.harvard.edu
Gerson received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil. He obtained his master’s degree from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation – FIOCRUZ (2016). He was a technician in protein purification and crystallography platform at Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC-UNICAMP). He is currently a Ph.D. student in Genetics and Molecular Biology at the University of Campinas, Brazil. Gerson joined Dr. Tseng’s laboratory in 2021 as a visiting Ph.D. student. Gerson’s studies are focused on understanding how adrenergic stimulation regulates miRNA biogenesis in brown adipocytes. Gerson is a recipient of the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP).
Undergraduate Student
Esther Fadumiye
Undergraduate Student Intern/Researcher
Email: esther.fadumiye@joslin.harvard.edu
Esther is a rising Senior at Harvard College, concentrating in Human Developmental and
Regenerative Biology. She joined the Tseng Lab as a student researcher in January 2021, during the spring semester of her Junior year. Her current research interests include exploring metabolic pathways and thermogenesis in Brown Adipocytes.
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 | Research Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Kristy L. Townsend, Ph.D. | 2009-2014, Postdoctoral Fellow | 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, 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’Apringy | 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 | Ph.D. Candidate, Cambridge University, United Kingdom |
| Andrew Pan | 2013-2014, Undergrad Student | Medical Student, 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, Canada |
| Kylie Hung | 2017, Undergrad Student | Harvard College |
| Lindsay MacDougall | 2009-2012, Research Assistant | Nurse Practitioner at Shriver Clinical Services |
| Magda Blaszkiewcz | 2013-2014, Research Assistant | Ph.D. Candidate University of Maine Orono, ME |
| Simi Falako | 2018-2020, Undergrad Student and Intern | Graduate Student, Yale Univ. SPH |
| 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 |
