People

Alex Yurochko graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering. In the Layne Lab, he investigated the role of ACLP in pro-fibrotic mechanotransduction in adipose tissue. He also collaborated with Amgen on a project using Cell Painting data to predict phenotypic changes caused by unknown perturbations. His research interests center on how cells sense their physical environment and how those signals influence tissue health and architecture. 

Maddy Chong is a graduate of Princeton University where she majored in Molecular Biology. There, she worked with Dr. Coleen Murphy and characterized the role of the COMPASS Complex in a pathway of learned pathogen avoidance in C. elegans. Prior to that, she worked with Dr. Tai Montgomery at Colorado State University studying miRNA recognition and processing. From these experiences, she became fascinated with understanding the molecular mechanisms of complex phenotypes.

Dr. Neda Keyhanvar has always been fascinated about how biology can be reprogrammed—from gene editing and stem cells to how our tissues age over time. She got her B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology from AUTM, followed by an M.S. and Ph.D. in Medical Biotechnology at GOUMS and TBZMED, where she started playing with the idea that cells feel their surroundings—her first deep dive into mechanobiology.

KaiShan Li is the Faculty Assistant at UCSF, ensuring that everything in the Martens Lab runs smoothly. From coordinating schedules to keeping research operations on track, she is the behind-the-scenes force that makes the lab’s work possible.

Dr. Anastasia Zhurikhina started her academic journey in applied mathematics and physics, fascinated by how complex systems could be modeled and understood. But biology kept pulling her in, leading her to a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech, where she explored vascular biomechanics and cerebral cavernous malformations (CCM) through a mix of computational modeling, RNA-seq analysis, and experimental techniques.