People
Principal Investigator
Principal Investigator

Xiaofeng Jia, MD, PhD
Professor
Xiaofeng Jia, MD, MS, PhD is a Professor of the Department of Neurosurgery, Orthopaedics, Anatomy Neurobiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Anesthesiology & Critical Care Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. He has been a Faculty at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD since 2007. His current research interests include brain monitoring and therapeutic hypothermia; peripheral nerve injury and regeneration; and bone regeneration and stem cell therapy. He is a Chartered member of NIH ANIE study section and has been serving as an adhoc member of 8 NIH study sections, VA, NSFC, European Commission REA; United Kingdom MRC; Hong Kong RGC; AHA, SCCM et al.
Dr. JIA is a member (basic science) of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), American Association for Hand Surgery (AAHS), Scientific Review committee member and Research Section Steering Committee member, of Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) et al. He is the Editor in Chief of International Journal of Molecular Sciences. He has authored 100+ refereed journal papers with 60 of them as the first or corresponding author, and has carried out research funded by NIH RO1, DARPA, AHA, MSCRF et al. He is a recipient of the Annual Research Awards from AAHS in 2008. His research work was highlighted in NIH Research Matters and NIH 2015 Research Highlights.
Faculty
Faculty

Jian Du, PhD
Research Associate, 2019
Dr. Jian Du received his BSc from Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department of Liaoning University in 2000, and his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering in 2005 from Chengdu Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. After he graduated, Dr. Du joined University of California at Davis as a post-doc researcher in 2008, and worked as a research fellow at Johns Hopkins University (2008-2014) and University of Maryland School of Medicine (2015-2019). His research interests are to merge three lines of research that have independently shown promise for advancing tissue engineering endeavors: biomaterial scaffolds, nanotechnology, and stem cell research.
Fellows
Clinical Fellow

Brittany (Bolduc) Lachance
Postdoctoral Fellow: 2019
Graduation Date: 2015
Brittany (Bolduc) Lachance received her B.S. in Neurosciences and Medical Biology from the University of New England in 2011 and her D.O from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2015. After graduating medical school, Dr. Lachance completed an internship in Internal Medicine at Lahey Clinic (2015-2016), followed by Neurology residency at Boston Medical Center (2016-2019).
She is currently attending Neurocritical Care fellowship at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Dr. Lachance’s research interests include neuroprognostication, neurological outcomes following cardiac arrest, and medical education in the fields of neurology and critical care.
Post Doctoral Fellows

Songyu Chen, MD, MS
Postdoctoral Fellow: 2020
Graduation Date: 2015
Dr. Chen obtained his Medical Doctor degree and master degree in 2015 from Shandong University. He has been a neurosurgeon and a neurointenvist, who is also a PhD student at Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University. Currently, he is as a postdoctoral fellow at University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD. His research mainly focuses on brain injury after cardiac arrest.

Zhuoran Wang, MD, MS
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2018
Graduation Date: 2010
Dr. Wang obtained his Medical Doctor degree and master degree in 2010 from Wuhan University and is an attending physician in Intensive Care and a PhD student at the Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan University. Currently, he is as a postdoctoral fellow at University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD. His research mainly focuses on brain injury after cardiac arrest.

Xiang Xu, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow: 2019
Graduation Date: 2015
Dr. Xu obtained his Medical Doctor degree in 2012 and PhD degree in 2015 from Huazhong University of Science & Technology. He has been attending hand surgeon at the Xiehe Hospital, Huazhong University of Science & Technology. Currently, he is as a postdoctoral fellow at University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD. His research mainly focuses on peripheral nerve injury and regeneration.

Shuai Zhang, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2019
Graduation Date: 2016
Dr. Zhang obtained his BSc from Dalian Medical University in 2010 and PhD degree from Peking Union Medical College in 2016. Then, Dr. Zhang joins Shenzhen University as a post-doc researcher from 2016 to 2019. His researches mainly focus on the brain energy metabolism in stroke, neuropharmacology and osteoarthritis.

Yang Zhang, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow: 2019
Graduation Date: 2008
Dr. Zhang obtained her Medical Doctor degree in 2003 and PhD degree in 2008 from Shandong University. She has been attending Dept. of Physical medicine and Rehabilitation of Qilu Hospital, Shandong University. Currently, she is as a Visiting postdoctoral fellow at University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD. Her research mainly focuses on peripheral nerve injury and neuropathic pain.

Xijie Zhou, MD, MS
Postdoctoral Fellow: 2018
Graduation Date: 2018
Dr. Zhou obtained his Medical Doctor degree in 2013 from, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, and his master degree in 2018 from Wenzhou Medical University. He has been a hand surgeon at the Second Affiliated Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University. Currently, he is as a postdoctoral fellow at University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD. His research mainly focuses on peripheral nerve injury and regeneration.
Medical Students
Medical Students

Conrad Mascarenhas, BA
Class of 2022
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Conrad Mascarenhas received his BA in the Biological Basis of Behavior from the University of Pennsylvania and is now a rising second year MD student at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. His research interests include ischemic brain injury, especially the mechanism of brain injury following cardiac arrest. He is currently working on in vitro and in vivo methods to assess the protective effects of neural stem cells treatment following cardiac arrest in animal models.

Thomas Mee, BA
Class of 2022
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Thomas Mee earned his BA in Public Health Studies from Johns Hopkins University with honors in 2017 and is currently a second-year medical student at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He has conducted clinical research at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. He is currently interested in the nerve regeneration after peripheral nerve injury.
Alumni
Alumni
Visiting Professor
Guizhi Xu, PhD
Visiting Professor, 2015
Post-Doctoral Fellows
Liming Qing
Postdoctoral Fellow: 2017-2019

Dr. Liming Qing obtained his Medical Doctor degree in 2016 from Xiangya Hospital, Central South University and he was a physician at Xiangya Hospital. Currently, he is as a visiting scholar and postdoctoral fellow at University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD. His research is mainly focused on molecular and pathological mechanisms of nerve regeneration and vascular aspects of composite tissue allotransplantion.
Xiuli Yang, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow: 2018-2019

Dr. Xiuli Yang received her MD degree in clinical medicine from Yanbian University Medical College, China in 2005, and Ph.D. degree in Neuroscience from Seoul National University Hospital, Korea in 2017. From 2007 to 2010, Dr. Yang received residency training in Qingdao Center Medical Group, China. From September 2017 to December 2017, she worked in The George Institute for Global Health at Peking University Health Science Center as a senior research fellow. Since 2018, Dr. Yang worked as a research fellow in University of Maryland School of Medicine. Her research interests include translational neuroscience, with a focus on neuroprotection after stroke and global brain ischemia, nerve injury and neural stem cells research in animal models as well as clinical research.
Di Zhang, MD, MS
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2017-2018

Dr. Zhang obtained his Medical Doctor degree in 2017 from Wenzhou Medical University and is a spine surgeon at the Second Affiliated Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University. Currently, he is as a postdoctoral fellow at University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD. His research mainly focuses on molecular and pathological mechanisms of spinal cord injury.
Shuke Nie, MD, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2017-2017
Kailiang Zhou, MD, MS
PhD Candidate (Class of 2017)
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2016-2017
Rishabh Charan Choudhary, M. Phil, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2015-2017
Junyun He, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2015-2017
Yuan Si, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2013-2015
Resident
Salazar Jones, MD
Resident in Neurosurgery Department,
University of Maryland School of Medicine. 2015-2016
Medical Students (MD, PhD)
Huanwen Chen, BS
2016-2017

Huanwen “Alvin” Chen earned his BA in physics from Washington University in St. Louis in 2015 and is now an MD student at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. His research interests include translational models for nerve injury and repair, with a focus on novel therapies for peripheral nerve regeneration. He developed a reliable method to evaluate gait function in rats after sciatic nerve injury using an automated system, and this work was recently published in the Journal of Neuroscience Methods. Alvin is also involved in immunology and epidemiology research at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Cynthia Xu, MS
PRISM Program Summer 2016
MD. candidate Class of 2019
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Tien Duong, BS
2015-2016
2014 MD. PhD candidate
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Graduate Students
Gurmannat Kalra, BS
2016 Summer
Molecular Medicine Program
2016 PhD student
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Leanne Young, M.S.E.
2014-2016
Biomedical Engineering, M.S.E., Class of 2016
Johns Hopkins University
Ruoxian Deng, M.S.E.
2013-2015
Biomedical Engineering, Class of 2015
Johns Hopkins University
Cheng Chen, M.S.E.
2011-2013
Biomedical Engineering, Class of 2013
Johns Hopkins University
Ying Ma, M.S.E.
2010-2012
Biomedical Engineering, Class of 2012
Johns Hopkins University
Undergraduate Students
Daniel Callow
UM Scholar Program Summer 2017
Kinesiology, Class of 2017
University of Maryland, College Park
Glory Mgboji
UM Scholar Program Summer 2016
Pre-med biochemistry. Class of 2017
University of Maryland, College Park
Conor Bloomer
UM Scholar Program Summer 2015
Biomedical Engineering, Class of 2016
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Varun Venkatraman
2015-2017
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Class of 2019
Whiting School of Engineering,
Johns Hopkins University
Kevin Barnes
UM Scholar Program Summer 2014
Physiology and Neurobiology, Class of 2015
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Yifan Zhang
2014-2017
Biomedical Engineering, Class of 2017
Johns Hopkins University
Maria Karapetkova, BS
2012-2014
Biomedical Engineering, Class of 2014
Johns Hopkins University