Members
Dr. Elias Zambidis
Dr. Elias Zambidis is a Professor of Oncology and Pediatrics at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Zambidis specializes in pediatric oncology and pediatric bone marrow and stem cell transplantation in the Dept of Oncology, Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, and is a Principal Investigator in the Stem Cell Biology Program at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering. Dr. Zambidis has primary faculty appointments in the Department of Oncology within the Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Department of Pediatrics, and the Institute for Cell Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM).
He has achieved international recognition for his innovative work in human regenerative medicine and stem cell biology. He is a physician-scientist with national recognition for his clinical expertise in adult and pediatric histiocytic disorders and stem cell transplantation of primary immune dysregulation disorders. Dr. Zambidis’ scientific goal is to understand human developmental biology and its impact on disease. To this end, he has developed a multifaceted research program that focuses on human stem cell biology and its translational application to tissue regeneration and transplantation.
Dr. Ludovic Zimmerlin
Research Associate
I initiated and developed a chemical reversion method to expand hPSC into a novel class of totipotent-like cells termed TNKS/PARP inhibitor-regulated naive (TIRN) stem cells that can contribute efficiently to interpecific chimeras, a possible avenue for the generation of transplantable human organs in large animals. I have extensive experience in in cell culture techniques (embryo manipulation, cellular reprogramming, human embryonic, fetal and adult stem cells, cancer cells), differentiation assays (2D and 3D embryoid body/organoid), cell biology techniques (multi-parameter flow cytometry, microscopy, Western blotting), molecular biology technqiques, as well as bioinformatics analysis tools using Python and R languages (e.g, RNA-Seq, single cell RNA-Seq, WGBS, ChIP-Seq, Proteomics).
I authored multiple manuscripts on hPSC and TIRN-SC hemato-vascular differentiations for the production of functional engraftable lineages, the identification/isolation of mesenchymal/vascular progenitors residing in the adventitia of blood vessels in human adult and fetal tissues (e.g., adipose, bone marrow) and development of translational approaches, the identification/isolation of rare putative human cancer stem cells from primary isolates (e.g., breast, lung) and the interactions between rare resting human tumor-initiating cells and active regenerative progenitors. As a senior Scientist in the Zambidis lab, I am currently leading projects that study the totipotency-like capacity of TIRN-SC using in vivo functional assays (e.g., interspecific chimera assay) and bioinformatics tools, as well as the capacity of TIRN-SC-derived retinal organoids/progenitors to produce engraftable retinal lineages.
Willem Buys
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
I’m working on the 1) mesoderm commitment and 2) hematopoietic differentiation of the novel TIRN stem cell system developed in the Zambidis lab. For the translational pillar of my project, I have defined a protocol to generate myeloid hematopoietic progenitors at a >10-fold greater efficiency compared to previously available methods. I am currently characterizing and functionalizing these cells for their in vivo use as uniCAR myeloid cell therapy against solid tumors. Since pluripotent stem cells must commit to the mesoderm lineage before entering hematopoietic development, the second pillar of my project focuses on defining mes-endoderm lineage-restricted progenitors. The ultimate goal is to generate clinically safe and ethically sound interspecies chimeras as an unlimited source of human transplant tissues and cell therapies.
Sanskruti Ganesh Deshmukh
Masters Student
I am a master’s in biotechnology student graduating in 2025. My work in the Zambidis group focuses on establishing cross-species cadherin expressing human TIRN (Tankyrase-inhibition regulated naïve) stem cell lines and TIRN-myeloid differentiation. I’m currently working on my thesis exploring how E-cadherin can overcome cell adhesion barriers in interspecies chimerism using our proprietary human TIRN stem cells. My research focuses on human-mouse and human-pig chimeras to assess the homogeneity and distribution of cross-species stem cells.
Aakansha
Masters Student
I am a Master’s student in Biotechnology at Johns Hopkins University, currently working on my thesis project at Dr. Elias Zambidis’ lab. My research focuses on investigating the retinal differentiation potential of conventional primed human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and Tankyrase/Parp-Inhibitor-Regulated Naïve human pluripotent stem cells (TIRN-SCs). This project hypothesizes that the enhanced plasticity of naïve TIRN-SCs will allow for more efficient differentiation into retinal cells, ultimately producing more developmentally accurate retinal organoids compared to primed hiPSCs. As part of my work, I am establishing and optimizing a workflow for retinal organoid differentiation from both primed hiPSCs and naïve hPSCs (TIRN-SCs) and assessing the developmental trajectory and morphology of these organoids.
Xiaoyuan Chen
Masters Student
I am currently a BME master student graduating in the summer 2025. I focus on bioinformatics analysis in the Zambidis lab, mainly using R- and Linux shell-based programs to process and analyze multi-omics data. I primarily contribute to the DNA CpG methylation analysis with WGBS data, but I am also involved in the analysis of bulk RNA-seq data, ChIP-seq data, and the cross analysis between these sequencing data. These datasets are sampled from human naïve / primed pluripotent stem cells and the differentiated tissues (retinal organoid and vascular progenitor) developed from them. My work aims to discover the key genomic and epigenomic differences between naïve and primed cells that lead to the phenotypic superiority of naïve cells after lineage differentiation.
William Li
Undergraduate Student
Will is an undergraduate at JHU studying Biomedical Engineering and Computer Science from Los Angeles, CA. At the Zambidis lab, he is very interested in demonstrating functional totipotency of TIRN-SC through creating both human and mouse embryo models. This work opens pathways in fertility research and creates opportunities in regenerative medicine therapies. Additionally, he works closely with Dr. Buys in creating mesendoderm restricted TIRN-SC, aiming to lay the groundwork for generating transplantable chimeric organs.
ALUMNI
Predoctoral, Pre-Medical, and Medical Student Advisees
| 2024-present | Aakanksha Venkateswar, Graduate Masters student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2024-present | Min-Wei Li, Graduate Masters student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2024-present | Sanskruti Ganesh Deshmukh, Graduate Masters student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2023-present | Yinuo Song, Johns Hopkins University, Graduate Masters student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2023-present | Xiaoyuan Chen, Johns Hopkins University, Graduate Masters student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2023-present | William Li, Johns Hopkins University, Undergraduate research student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2022-2023 | Sirui Yan, Johns Hopkins University, Graduate Masters student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2022-2023 | Laurie Rodman, Graduate MA student in Public Health in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, and Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health |
| 2022-2023 | Moritz Becker, Graduate Masters student in Zambidis Lab (Trainee; University Wurzburg, Germany), Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2021 | Mina Ghbrial, Visiting summer research medical student in Zambidis Lab (from Rutgers School of Medicine), Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2021 | Miguel Mendoza, Visiting undergraduate summer research summer student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2021-2023 | Dominique Melo, Undergraduate research student in Zambidis Lab (from UMBC), Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2020-2023 | Clara Kochendoerfer, Johns Hopkins University, Undergraduate research student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2020-2023 | Andre Vu, Johns Hopkins University, Undergraduate research student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2020 | Sharon Kung, Visiting undergraduate research summer student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2019-2023 | Isabella Vegas, Johns Hopkins University, Undergraduate research student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2019-2023 | Vignesh Maddi, Johns Hopkins University, Undergraduate research student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2019 | Maria Pratt, Visiting undergraduate research summer student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2019 | Benadetta DiMajo, Visiting research medical student in Zambidis Lab (from Vita-Salute San Raffaele University School of Medicine, Milan, Italy), Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2018 | Ugoji Nwanaji-Enwerem, Visiting Undergraduate research student in Zambidis Lab (from Brown University), Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2018 | Thuy (An) Nguyen, Visiting Undergraduate research student in Zambidis Lab (from Univ. Namur, Belgium), Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; current position: PhD candidate, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium |
| 2017 | James Gentry, Visiting Undergraduate research student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2017 | Angelique Andrikopoulou, Visiting (from Greece) International medical research student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2017 | Theo Kalathas, Visiting (from Greece) International medical research student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2017 | Rebeca Moura de Arajo (Bravo), Visiting (from Brazil) International medical research intern in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; current position: resident physician in pediatric cardiology, Universidad Federal de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil |
| 2017-2019 | Riya Kanherkar, Graduate PhD student in Zambidis Lab (transferred from Howard University), Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; successfully defended PhD in 2019; current position: Staff Scientist, Cell Therapy, San Diego, CA |
| 2017-2018 | Schuyler Metzger, Johns Hopkins University, Undergraduate research student and Research Specialist in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, current position, Associate Scientist II, Jansen, Inc. |
| 2016-2020 | Alice He, Johns Hopkins University, Undergraduate research student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, current position medical student UCSF |
| 2016 | Nensi Ruzgar, Johns Hopkins University, Visiting Undergraduate research student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, current position, medical student, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. |
| 2016-2019 | Leigh Kulpa, Johns Hopkins University, Undergraduate research student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, current position, PhD student, Boston, MA |
| 2015-2018 | Ziwei Chen, Johns Hopkins University, Undergraduate research student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, current position: dental student at Harvard University School of Dentistry, Boston, MA |
| 2015-2020 | Justin Thomas, Johns Hopkins University, Undergraduate and masters graduate research student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, current position, medical student, Morehouse School of Medicine |
| 2015 | Lousanna Cai, Undergraduate research student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; current position: software engineer, Facebook, Menlo Park, CA |
| 2015 | Marina Cortes, BA, research technician in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; accepted to PhD program, University of Montreal, Canada |
| 2014-2015 | Diana Li, Johns Hopkins University, Undergraduate research student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2014-2016 | Sarshan Pather, BA, MA, undergraduate and Graduate Masters student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, successfully defended Masters Thesis in 2015, Biology Program JHU; co-authored article OR35; subsequently accepted into MD/PhD Program University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA |
| 2011-2014 | Lynette Naler, Undergraduate, Johns Hopkins University, Biology Program, Independent Research project Mentee, and Lab Manager, Zambidis Lab; co-authored OR23; current position, PhD candidate, Bioinformatics and Microfluidic Genomics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA |
| 2011 | Daniel Julien, M.S., Medical student, University of Washington School of Medicine, Research Project Mentee, Zambidis Lab; current position Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist, Phoenix Childrens’ Hospital |
| 2010-2012 | Jack Aguilar, Undergraduate, Johns Hopkins University, Biology Program, Independent Research project Mentee, Zambidis Lab; co-authored OR23; current position resident physician Cedars-Sinai Medical Center |
| 2009-2013 | Karan Verma, Johns Hopkins University, Lab Manager, Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; accepted to Babson Graduate School of Business, Boston, MA; current position: Senior Clinical Marketing Manager, Boston Scientific, Boston, MA |
| 2009-2012 | Aparna Krishnan, Undergraduate, Johns Hopkins University, Biology Program, Independent Research project Mentee, Zambidis Lab; accepted to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, class of 2013; current position: physician in private practice, family medicine, Swedish Family Medicine, Seattle, WA |
| 2008-2010 | Nadir Bhuiyan, Undergraduate, Johns Hopkins University, Biology Program, Independent Research project Mentee in Zambidis Lab; accepted to University of Miami School of Medicine; current position: attending physician, Instructor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, MN |
| 2008 | Ozge Gonul, Visiting (from Turkey) International medical research student in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; current position: attending physician, Neurology, Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi Şehit, Istanbul, Turkey |
| 2007 | Andrew Pistelli, B.A., Independent Research project Mentee in Zambidis Lab; accepted to Mt. Sinai School of Medicine; current position: Case Manager, Brewers, Attorneys and Counselors, New York, NY |
| 2006-2013 | Michal (Levine) Millrod, Immunology Program, Ph.D. candidate inn Zambidis Lab; successfully defended PhD in 2013, Immunology Program, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; co-authored articles OR9; OR14; OR27; RA3; current position: Staff Scientist, Elixirgen Scientific, Baltimore, MD |
| 2005-2008 | Christopher Roxbury, Undergraduate, Johns Hopkins University, Biology Program, Independent Research project Mentee in Zambidis Lab; co-authored article RA3; accepted to Johns Hopkins Univ School of Medicine, 2008; resident physician in head and neck surgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital; current position, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Director Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery Program, University of Chicago School of Medicine, Chicago, IL |
| 2005-2006 | Jihan K. Osborne, Research Technician in Zambidis Lab; current position: Assistant Professor, Ph.D., University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dept. Pharmacology and Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, TX |
Postdoctoral/Clinical Fellow/Faculty Advisees
| 2022-present | Margarita Dionysiou, MD, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellow; Co-Advisor; in Kenneth Cooke’s Lab, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine |
| 2022-present | Willem Buys, MD, Postdoctoral Fellow in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2020-present | Ariana Angarita Medrano, Masters Graduate Program in Biotechnology, in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2021-2022 | Shishir Patel, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2020- 2022 | Michael Barbato, MD, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellow; Co-Mentee in Zambidis and Koldobskyi Labs, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine |
| 2015-2018 | Yunlong He, Postdoctoral Fellow in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, current position: Senior Scientist, NCI, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD |
| 2014-2016 | Debamitra Das, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; current position, Staff Scientist, Lieber Brain Institute, Johns Hopkins |
| 2013-2016 | Jeffrey S. Huo, MD/PhD, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellow in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; co-authored articles OR16; OR23; OR30; OR34; OR35; OR36; OR38; OR39; RA4; RA5; current Position, Assistant Professor in Hematology-Oncology, Bone Marrow Transplantation, Levine Children’s Hospital, Charlotte, North Carolina; |
| 2013-2016 | Diana Steppan, MD, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellow in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; current position: pediatric intensive care attending Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; co-authored articles OR33; OR34; OR35 |
| 2012-2015 | Jasmin Agarwal, MD, Postdoctoral Fellow in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; current position private pediatrics practice, Germany, co-authored articles OR34; BC6 |
| 2011-present | Ludovic Zimmerlin, Ph.D., Faculty Research Associate Faculty in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; co-authored articles OR21; OR23; OR24; OR35; OR42; RA6; RA7; BC5 |
| 2010-2011 | Ian Kaplan, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; current position: Associate Director, partnerships at Adaptive Biotechnologies Corp. |
| 2008-2011 | Paul Burridge, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine;; co-authored articles OR14; OR17; OR28; RA3; BC3; BC4; current position: Assistant Professor in Pharmacology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine |
| 2008-2019 | Tea Soon Park, Ph.D., Research Associate (Faculty) in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; current position: Research faculty NIH/NEI; co-authored articles OR8; OR9; OR10; OR11; OR16, OR20; OR21; OR22; OR23; OR24; OR26; OR28; OR29; OR35; OR37; OR38; OR41; OR42; RA3; RA6; RA7; BC3 |
| 2007-2010 | Marina Pryzhkova, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; co-authored articles OR9; OR12; RA3; current position Assistant Professor (Faculty) Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Bloomberg School of Public Health |
| 2007-2009 | Xuan Yuan, M.D., Faculty Research Associate in Zambidis Lab, Institute of Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; co-authored articles OR9; OR14; OR31; RA3; current position: Research Associate, Johns Hopkins Dept Hematology |
Thesis Committees
PhD Thesis Committees Served:
| 2025 | Margarita Dionysiou, Graduate Ph.D. student in Kenneth Cooke’s Lab, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, CMM Program |
| 2022 | Moritz Becker, Graduate Ph.D. student in Elias Zambidis’ Lab from University of Wurzburg, Germany, Institute for Cell Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine |
| 2018 | Riya Kanherkar, Graduate Ph.D. student in Elias Zambidis’ Lab, Institute for Cell Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Successfully defended Ph.D. 4/18. |
| 2014 | Judi Azevedo, Candidate for Ph.D. in Ricardo Feldman’s Lab (Univ MD 2012- 2014); Successfully defended Ph.D. 4/14. |
| 2013 | Michal (Levine) Millrod, Candidate for Ph.D. in Elias Zambidis’ Lab, Institute for Cell Engineering; successfully defended Ph.D., 4/13. |
| 2012 | Susan Thompson, Candidate for Ph.D. in Leslie Tung’s Lab (2011-2012); successfully defended Ph.D., 9/12 |
| 2008 | Stephanie Fontana, Candidate for Ph.D in Hal Dietz’s lab; successful defended Ph.D., 2008 |
| 2008 | Jason Dinoso, B.S., Candidate for Ph.D. in Robert Siliciano’s; successfully defended Ph.D., 2008 |
| 2008 | Russ Addis, B.S., Ph.D., in John Gearhart’s Lab; Successfully defended Ph.D. thesis 4/08 |
| 2007 | Ian Kaplan, B.S., Candidate for Ph.D. in Curt Civin’s Lab; Successfully defended. Ph.D., 2007 |
PhD Thesis Qualifying Examination Committees Served:
| 11/25 | Margarita Dionysiou, Graduate Ph.D. Candidate, Graduate Cell and Molecular Medicine Program |
| 10/13 | Breann Yanagisawa, Ph.D. Candidate, Pathobiology Program |
| 11/09 | Kristin Pollizzi, Ph.D. Candidate, Graduate Immunology Program |
| 12/08 | Obadiah Manley, Ph.D. Candidate, Graduate Immunology Program |
| 10/08 | David Ellison, Ph.D. Candidate, Graduate Biomedical Engineering Program |
| 4/08 | Christine Jelinek, Ph.D. Candidate, Graduate Pharmacology Program |
| 3/08 | Tong Zhang, Ph.D. Candidate, Graduate Immunology Program |
| 11/07 | Rose Parkson, Ph.D. Candidate, Graduate Immunology Program |
| 9/07 | Greg Delgoffe, Ph.D. Candidate, Graduate Immunology Program |
