Lab Members

Yuan-Hung Lo, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Molecular Oncology
Email: YLo1@MDAnderson.org

Dr. Lo is a tenure-track assistant professor at UT MD Anderson. Before joining UT MD Anderson, he obtained his Ph.D. at Baylor College of Medicine and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University. Dr. Lo’s research focuses on developing and applying primary 3D organoid models to study gastrointestinal (GI) tract function and dysfunction. His lab employs cutting-edge genetic approaches to investigate the pathogenic mechanisms of GI diseases, including innovative functional genomic platforms to elucidate how genomic alterations regulate stem cell function, cell lineage differentiation, tumor heterogeneity and cell vulnerability during cancer development. His recent work has leveraged CRISPR/Cas9-engineered tumor organoid models to investigate the oncogenic transformation of ARID1A-deficient gastric cancer. He has received numerous awards for his work, including the NIH/NCI Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) and the NIH/NCI Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award (F99/K00).

Wei-Chieh (Pierce) Yu, M.S.
Ph.D. Student
UT MD Anderson UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Email: WYu4@MDAnderson.org

Wei-Chieh (Pierce) Yu is a Ph.D. student in the Lo Lab at the UT MD Anderson UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences from 2024. He is focusing on CRISPR-engineered human gastric organoids to explore mutation mechanisms and identify treatment targets. He earned a master's degree in biotechnology at National Taiwan University in 2023. He enjoys playing sports and exploring new places.

Siyeon Lee
Ph.D. Student
UT MD Anderson UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Email: SLee50@MDAnderson.org

Siyeon Lee is a Ph.D. student in the Lo Lab at the UT MD Anderson UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences since 2026. She is focusing on single-cell CRISPR screening in patient-derived gastric organoids to explore the epigenetics behind gastric cancer dynamics. She earned a bachelor's degree in life science and biotechnology at Yonsei University in 2025. Outside the lab, she enjoys watching baseball and brain survival shows.

Shahid Banday, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
Email: SKhursheed@MDAnderson.org

Shahid Banday earned his Ph.D. in chromatin biology and epigenetics from the University of Kashmir and has extensive experience in cancer biology, functional genomics, CRISPR genome engineering, epigenetics and human organoid models. His research focuses on understanding how genetic and epigenetic mechanisms regulate cell identity, stem cell function and tumor evolution. In the Lo Lab, Shahid investigates the molecular mechanisms underlying gastric cancer initiation by integrating CRISPR-based functional genomics, human gastric organoids and stem cell biology. His work aims to define how epithelial plasticity and cell fate regulation contribute to tumor development, with the goal of identifying new strategies for cancer prevention, early detection and precision therapy. Outside the laboratory, he enjoys spending time with his family, exploring the outdoors and playing cricket.

Qing Liu, Ph.D.
Research Investigator
Email: QLiu9@MDAnderson.org

Qing Liu is a Research Investigator in the Lo Lab in the Molecular Oncology department at UT MD Anderson. Her research interests include organoid biology, functional genomics, epigenomics, enhancer regulation, enhancer RNAs (eRNAs), long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and RNA-binding proteins. She received her Ph.D. in biotechnology engineering from Tianjin University of Science and Technology in China.