People

Tina Wang

Assistant Professor

B.S. 2009, California Institute of Technology
Ph.D. 2015, Yale University
Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University 2015-2019

Tina is a native of Rochester, NY and received her B.S. in chemistry at Caltech, where worked in the labs of Robert Grubbs and the late John D. Roberts. She completed her PhD at Yale University with David A. Spiegel, where she developed chemical tools to study protein glycation. She then joined David R. Liu’s lab at the Broad Institute for her postdoctoral studies, where she worked on developing phage-assisted continuous evolution methods for evolving proteins with improved soluble expression. Tina joined the Department of Chemistry at UW–Madison in the fall of 2019. In her spare time, Tina enjoys crossword puzzles and playing the guitar.

Byung Uk Lee (He/Him)

Fifth Year Graduate Student

Byung Uk is originally from Incheon, South Korea. He graduated from Franklin and Marshall college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania with a degree in Chemistry. Currently, he is very interested in protein folding and stability and works to rescue misfolded proteins. In his spare time, he enjoys golfing, playing computer games, and finding nice places to eat in town.

James Andon (He/Him)

Fourth Year Graduate Student

James grew up in the suburbs outside of Boston, Massachusetts. He completed a BS and MS in biochemistry at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where his research focused on developing a new method for directed evolution in bacteria. In Worcester, he spent two summers running HPLC assays in the protein analytics department at AbbVie. His interests in biocatalysis and directed evolution lead him to a co-mentorship between the Wang Lab and Andrew Buller’s lab. While he was in New England, James enjoyed road tripping around the Northeast and is looking forward to exploring the Midwest. His hobbies also include golf, fishing, and video games.

Jack Archer (He/She/They)

Fourth Year Graduate Student

Jack is from New York. He completed his bachelors in biochemistry and computer science from Hunter College, University of New York. His research focuses on rubisco chaperone engineering. Jack used to be barista, which translated into his love for coffee. In the free time he plays video games and does Crossfit.

Linwei Yang (He/Him)

Third Year Graduate Student

Linwei is originally from Sichuan, China, and finished his B.S. in pharmaceutical sciences at University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. With natural product research experience and an interest in antibacterials, he joined the lab to advance antibiotics discovery using synthetic biology. Outside the lab, Linwei enjoys classical music, video games, trying new recipes and cuddling with his cats.

Siyu Li

Third Year Graduate Student

Siyu is from Harbin, China. She completed her B.S. in biochemistry from University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is interested in rubisco chaperone engineering. She also loves listening to music and petting her cat.

Jackson Wysocki

First Year Graduate Student

Jackson graduated from the University of Georgia in 2023 with a B.S. in Chemistry. Originally conducting undergraduate research in theoretical organic chemistry, he is working with directed evolution and synthetic biology in the Wang lab. Currently, he is researching Rubisco folding and assembly chaperones for the purpose of easing plant Rubisco’s expression requirements in E. coli. When not in the lab, Jackson can be found cooking or watching college football.

Emma Potter (She/They)

First Year Graduate Student

Emma grew up in Columbus, OH, and completed a BA in chemistry at Reed College in Portland, OR. She’s interested in studying protein-protein interactions and their consequences. In addition to science, Emma enjoys odd knitting projects, cooking with friends, dance, and tea.

Abhijit Behera

First Year Graduate Student

Abhijit is from Odisha, India. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata with a degree in biological sciences. He is interested in employing directed evolution for enzyme catalysis and protein folding. In his spare time, he enjoys binge-watching and painting.

Jessica Horenstein (She/Her)

Post-Baccalaureate Researcher

Jess grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and graduated from UW-Madison in 2023 with a B.S. in Genetics and Genomics. Her current research involves discovering cyclic peptides with inhibitory activity against disease targets. In her free time, she likes watching reality TV and spending time outdoors.

Sirawit Lertwiriyapiti (Nick)

Undergraduate Student

Originally from Lopburi, Thailand. Escaping from burning sun and hot weather, I am pursuing BS in Chemistry and Molecular and Cell biology. Currently, I am interested in research involving with bioengineering and synthetic biology. Outside of class, I enjoy hiking, kayaking, bicycling, iceskating and cooking.

Mahak Kathpalia (She/Her)

Undergraduate Student

Mahak is majoring in chemistry with a certificate in science communication. She grew up in Gurgaon, India. She is currently working with Jack on their project that aims to engineer more promiscuous molecular chaperones of Rubisco and plans to continue pursuing research after graduation. Her favorite way of spending her free time on campus is grooving to music and sipping lemonade while watching the beautiful waves in Lake Mendota at sunset.

Leyi Zhang (She/Her)

Undergraduate Student

Leyna is originally from Beijing, China, currently pursuing a BS degree in Molecular and Cell Biology. She is exploring her interest in topics involving molecular biology. Outside of lab, she enjoy drawing and doing embroidery.