About Our Lab

We are a team of biologists, computer scientists, and computational biologists working to develop new data science approaches that help address key challenges in cancer biology, with a focus on understanding the cellular hierarchies and stromal elements that underlie tumor initiation, progression, and metastasis. Lab photo gallery >>

Aaron Newman, PhD
Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Data Science
Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator
Farnaz Khameneh
Lab Manager
I am a lab manager and life science research professional in the Newman Lab with a passion for cancer research. I perform both technical and functional experiments to help the team interpret, validate, and refine their computational findings. When I am not doing experiments in the lab, I love spending time with my daughter and close friends.
Chloe Steen, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
I am a computational biologist from Norway. I have a B.Sc and M.Sc in Molecular Biology, but switched fields to computational biology for my PhD. My interests lie in studying tumor evolution and heterogeneity, with a special focus on lymphomas. In my spare time I enjoy running and playing board games.
Bogdan Luca, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
I am a computational biologist interested in developing analytical frameworks for improving cancer detection, patient stratification and response to therapy. Outside work, I like to explore California’s natural attractions, discover good restaurants with my friends, and attend various social/cultural events.
Minji Kang
PhD Candidate
I am a PhD student in Computer Science. I am interested in decoding molecular biology data to discover insights into the mechanisms underlying human diseases. Outside of research, I love listening to music, playing the piano, and taking photos.
Wubing Zhang, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
I am a computational biologist working on single-cell and spatial genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics. During my PhD, I developed computational methods to understand tumor-immune regulation and targeted protein degradation. During my spare time, I like skiing, snowboarding, playing basketball, and watching comedies.
Jose Juan Almagro Armenteros, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
I am a computational biologist from Spain interested in developing machine learning models for stem cell gene expression analysis. My PhD was focused on deep learning models for protein subcellular localization prediction. Outside of work, I enjoy doing functional training, cooking one-pan recipes, and listening to sci-fi audiobooks.
Rachel Gleyzer
PhD Student
I am a PhD student in Cancer Biology interested in using machine learning to derive biological insights from sequencing data. During undergraduate, I studied tumor-associated lymphangiogenesis and helped develop software to compare laboratory models of cancer to patient tumors. Outside of the lab I enjoy hiking, ballroom dancing, horseback riding and traveling to new places.
Jeremy D'Silva
PhD Student
I am a PhD student in the Cancer Biology program. My project is to understand how the spatial organization of distinct cell types in the tumour microenvironment influences cell state and contributes to tumour progression. I have a background in tumour evolution and mathematical biology (especially infectious disease modelling). Outside of lab, I play chamber music (violin) and sing lieder.
Xikun Zhang
PhD Student
I am a PhD student in Computer Science. My research focuses on the intersection of deep learning, single-cell and spatial omics, aiming to understand human tissues’ molecular and cellular compositions and translate promising discoveries into the clinic. I love playing basketball, tennis, and reading books during my spare time.
Hyun Soo Jeon
Master's Student
I am a Master's student in Computer Science with a background in biology. My interests lie in utilizing genomics and transcriptomics data to further understand disease mechanisms in humans. Outside of lab, I enjoy traveling and listening to music.
Felix Teufel
Research Intern
I am a biotechnologist working on stem cell single-cell transcriptomics. Having done wet lab research for most of my studies, I am interested in developing machine learning methods that have the potential of replacing tedious experiments. Outside of work, I enjoy skiing and working on improving my pizza baking skills.

Lab Alumni

Erin Brown
Bioinformatics Data Analyst
Current: Bioinformatics Scientist, Stealth Startup
Nicholas Midler
Master's Student
Current: ORISE fellow, Biomedical Advanced Research & Development Authority
Alex Lozano, MD/PhD
PhD Student
Current: Resident, University of Toronto
Gunsagar Gulati, MD/PhD
PhD Student
Current: Resident, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston
Milad Vahid, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
Current: Data Scientist, Sanofi
Farshad Farshidfar, MD/PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
Current: Tenaya Therapeutics, Inc.
Anoop Manjunath
Undergrad
Current: Stanford Medical School
Brandon Turner
MD candidate
Current: Harvard Radiation Oncology Residency Program
Mark Berger
Rotation student
Current: Software Engineer at Robinhood
Francisco "Kiko" Ilagan
Undergrad
Current: Software Engineer at Facebook
Minjeong "MJ" Lee
Administrative Associate
Current: Industry
Candace Liu
Rotation student
Current: Stanford PhD student