Our Team
Meet the members of the Xiao lab!
Principal Investigator
Andrew Xiao, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Genetics
Postdoctoral Associate, Rockefeller University
Ph.D., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
B.S., Peking University Medical Center
andrew.xiao[at]yale.edu
Postdoctoral Associates
Yichen Li, Ph.D.
Ph.D., Biophysics and Cell Biology, Temple University
B.S., Biotechnology, Northwest A&F University
Yichen joined the Xiao lab in 2021 as a postdoctoral associate. He is interested in studying epigenetic mechanisms with multiple advanced imaging techniques including single molecule imaging and super-resolution microscopy. Outside of lab, he enjoys video game, archery and travel.
yichen.li[at]yale.edu
Graduate Students
Rebecca Starble
B.A., Biology, Vassar College
Ph.D. candidate, Yale Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program
Rebecca is a sixth-year Ph.D. student in the Genetics department. She is interested in understanding how epigenetic mechanisms are involved in cancer progression, especially in the acquisition of drug resistance. Outside of lab, she enjoys running, hiking, dancing, and eating donuts.
rebecca.starble[at]yale.edu
Joe Balowski
B.S., Chemistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Ph.D. candidate, Yale Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program
Joe is a sixth-year Ph.D. student in the Genetics department. Outside of lab, he likes to spend time with family, exercise, get out in nature, and keep up to date on news and politics.
joseph.balowski[at]yale.edu
Tyler Jensen
B.S., Biochemistry, Northeastern University
M.D.-Ph.D. candidate, Yale School of Medicine
In the Xiao lab, Tyler hopes to study chromatin biology during brain development and neurogenesis, gaining understanding to help propel him into a career studying mammalian neural regeneration and repair. He hopes that by understanding chromatin topology during neural development, we can better understand how genomic heterogeneity develops in the brain, and how we can one day recapitulate brain development after injury or disease. In his spare time, Tyler enjoys running Dungeons and Dragons campaigns for his medical school classmates, cooking new foods, and teaching others about science.
tyler.jensen[at]yale.edu
Rana Gbyli
M.S., University of New Haven
B.S., Biotechnology, University of Aleppo - Syria
Ph.D. candidate, Yale Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program
Rana is a fourth-year PhD student in the Genetics department interested in studying cancer epigenetics. Before joining the lab, she worked as a research assistant in the Halene lab at the Yale Cancer Center. Outside of lab, she likes to bake and to try new dessert recipes while listening to psychology podcasts. She also enjoys swimming, kayaking, and paddle boarding.
rana.gbyli[at]yale.edu