CURRENT LAB MEMBERS

WENYAN MEI

WENYAN MEI

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
Department of Comparative Biosciences
Chris Oh

WILLIAM NGUYEN

GRADUATE STUDENT

Email: kalamln2@illinois.edu

William Nguyen joined the Mei lab in August 2020. He currently studies the benefits of dietary fiber and probiotics (Bacteroides intestinalis) treatment on host health using various in vivo & in vitro techniques. He also studies the adverse effects of hnRNP I deficiency on the gut microbiota formation and the impact of intestinal dysbiosis on the pathogenesis of colitis and colorectal cancer with Ziyu and Salwa. In his free time, he enjoys optimizing histopathology techniques and improving existing protocols for histologic preparation for the mouse gastrointestinal tract.

Chris Oh

YUEXI (ALLISON) WANG

GRADUATE STUDENT

Email: yuexiw2@illinois.edu

Allison joined the Mei lab in August 2021. She currently studies the effect of Ptbp1 deficiency on intestinal stem cell regeneration and homeostasis. She also studies the effect of Ptbp1 deficiency on Sertoli cells and testes function.

ZIYU ZHOU 

GRADUATE STUDENT

Email:

Ziyu Zhou joined the Mei lab in August 2022. She currently studies how the microbiome, and in particular Helicobacter spp., contribute to colorectal cancer pathogenesis in mice with Ptbp1 deficiency. She also studies the function of Ptbp1 in Paneth cells in small intestinal regeration and homeostasis.

SALWA GHARIEB 

VISITING SCHOLAR

Email:

Salwa Gharieb joined the Mei lab in November 2022. She currently works with other Ziyu and William to elucidate how Helicobacter spp. contribute to colon cancer progression and pathogenesis.

EMILY TUNG

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT

Email: etung4@illinois.edu

Emily Tung joined the Mei lab as a freshman in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology in August 2020. She currently works with William to elucidate the role of BI in promoting health by releasing metabolites from digestion of arabinoxylan.

BROOKE WAGONER

She's a junior majoring in MCB with a business minor. She's currently working with Yuexi (Allison) studying intestinal innate immunity in the neonatal stage. In her free time, she likes crocheting and baking.

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT

Email: wagoner5@illinois.edu

She joined the Mei Lab in August 2023.