James Chen, Principal Investigator
Email: jameschen@stanford.edu
Phone: 650-725-3582
Fax: 650-723-2253
Graduate Programs: Chemical and Systems Biology/Quantitative Chemical Biology, Cancer Biology, Chemistry

View James’ CV

James joined the Department of Chemical and Systems Biology at Stanford in 2003. His research training began in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard, where he pursued undergraduate research with Professor George Whitesides and graduate studies with Professor Stuart Schreiber. After becoming interested in developmental biology, James studied embryology at MBL/Woods Hole and then combined his interest in organic chemistry and embryogenesis by investigating the mechanism of a cyclopia-inducing compound (appropriately called cyclopamine) with Professor Philip Beachy at Johns Hopkins.

As an Assistant Professor, James continues to explore the chemistry/biology interface, using interdisciplinary strategies to interrogate the mechanisms of developmental signaling pathways and their roles in vertebrate physiology and disease. James is also the Director of the Stanford High-Throughput Bioscience Center, which advances biomedical research through laboratory automation. When not synthesizing compounds or microinjecting zebrafish embryos in the laboratory, James enjoys flyfishing for larger model organisms.

Ari Firestone, Graduate Student
Email: arijfire@stanford.edu
Phone: 650-725-4184

Ari was born during the late seventies on the ruff and tumble streets of DE-troit Michigan. After his urban youth, and adolescent experiences he fled the concrete jungle to attend college in quite, peaceful farm town in south-central Minnesota. The adjustment to a one-horse town was difficult for Ari, but the lack of distractions allowed him time to focus on his education and research studies (examining the effects of mind-altering substances and subzero temperatures on a mammalian model system). After receiving his degree from Carleton College, Ari continued his tour of the northern-Midwest with a two-year stop in Madison, Wisconsin. There, Ari continued on with his college research project, as well as studying the roles of lipid kinases in regulating various cellular processes. After 24 years in the frigid north, Ari decided (1) he needed to find a place where he could play ultimate Frisbee year round; (2) that convenientaccess to snowboarding country might be nice; and (3) getting a Ph.D. was probably a good idea. In order to achieve these three goals, Ari joined the Department of Chemical and Systems Biology at Stanford University. There he is trying to understand embryonic signaling mechanisms, so that he can design mutant, weird-looking zebrafish to be sold as ornamental pets.

Joel Hyman, Postdoctoral Fellow
Email: jhyman@stanford.edu
Phone: 650-725-4184

Yet another transplanted Midwesterner, Joel started his science education with a stint in the Maine woods studying physics at Bowdoin College. After graduation he returned to his hometown of East Lansing, Michigan to study a little biochemistry, do a little lab work for scanty compensation, and enjoy the easy life. A year and a half later found him in the Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry graduate program at Yale, fending off carjackers and rabid dogs to get in and out of lab. The years in New Havenwere spent studying and attempting to crystallize proteins involved in clathrin-mediated endocytosis in Axel unger's group, and enjoying the tasty pizza, and easy-access climbing of southern Connecticut. While writing his thesis, the lab moved to sunny California, from which he has not managed to escape. In the Chen lab he is following up chemical screens for inhibitors of the Hedgehog signaling pathway.

Kiran Kocherlakota, Life Sciences Research Assistant
Email: kiransk@stanford.edu
Phone: 650-725-4184

Kiran was born in the 'city of pearls', Hyderabad in Southern India. Fortunately, the city also had a good undergraduate program in Microbiology. She went on to get her Masters and worked for a year before moving to America, where she studied at Penn State University and the Stowers Institute to obtain her Ph.D. She realized early in her career that science at the bench is the most fun form of science and would like to keep close to that and stay away from writing grant proposals or teaching.

John Mich, Graduate Student
Email: jkmich@stanford.edu
Phone: 650-725-4184

What can be said about John K. Mich that hasn't already been said about Ari J. Firestone? That he's attractive, intelligent, and charming. Born, raised, and educated in the Wisconsin northwoods, John discovered at an early age the majesty of biochemistry the hard way when he ingested an entire bottle of Flintstone vitamins. To pursue science at the chemistry-biology interface he enrolled at Stanford to work with James K. Chen. In the Chen Lab he is synthesizing chemicals that control gene expression in zebrafish and studying cell migration/differentiation.

Cory Ocasio, Postdoctoral Fellow
Email: cocasio@stanford.edu
Phone:650 725-4184

After perusing an article in Time magazine, Cory found carcinogenesis baffling due to its complexity.  Previous to this, his menagerie of animals including fish, an iguana Spike, frogs, and other small mammals kept him interested in the natural sciences.  He did not know then that observing amphibian metamorphosis would one day pay off as a graduate student at UCSF where he played god with Xenopus laevis tadpoles.  Cory began research as an undergraduate and research intern at the University of Delaware (UD) and what is today Bristol-Meyers & Squibb (BMS).  At UD, he designed analogues of a vitamin D mimic and was involved with high-throughput assay design at BMS.  His graduate studies at UCSF involved studying amphibian metamorphosis, and this system proved useful in validating CO23, a novel thyroid receptor alpha-specific thyromimetic which controls de novo morphogenesis of tadpole hindand fore limbs.  The synthetic chemistry expertise he acquired, his Xenopus laevis studies, and a desire to refocus on cancer research influenced him to join the Chen lab, where he now studies the Hedgehog pathway.  He is particularly interested in identifying novel pathway components and optimizing a chemical genetic system to spatiotemporally control gene expression in zebrafish embryos.

Shawn Ouyang, Graduate Student
Email: xouyang@stanford.edu
Phone: 650 725-4184

Shawn was born in the Hunan province of China and graduated from Beijing Normal University at age 19.  After being a chemistry instructor for one year, he came to the Unites States for graduate studies. After graduating with a master’s degree from University of Chicago, he worked in the biotech industry for 10 years synthesizing new drugs, first at Amgen Thousand Oaks and then at ImcloneSystems in New York City. After that, Shawn missed the warm weather in California and joined Stanford’s Chemical and System biology graduate program. In the Chen lab, Shawn works at the chemistry-biology interface, synthesizing and evaluating chemicals that control gene expression in zebrafish. Shawn likes to travel, watch movies, play tennis, and spend time with his kids.

Alexander Payumo, Graduate Student
Email: apayumo@stanford.edu
Phone: 650-725-4184

Alex was born and raised in San Jose, the heart of the Silicon Valley. After spending his entire life there, he decided it was time to leave the nest and made the drastic move to Stanford. While previously studying solute effects on protein structure, he now has dreams and aspirations of becoming a half-decent zebrafish researcher. In the Chen lab, Alex spends most of his time in “the cave” staring at fish images in the dark. When not thinking about zebrafish fin regeneration, he sometimes gets homesick, at least until he makes the 30-minute daily commute back to San Jose.

Cameron Pitt, Undergraduate
Email: cpitt@stanford.edu
Phone: 650-725-4184

Cameron joined the lab in early 2007, halfway though his freshman year at Stanford. He hails from the Washington DC area where he received initial training in zebrafish development as an intern in the Weinstein Lab at the NIH. He greatly appreciates the warmth of sunny California and has become much fonder of outdoor activities such as tennis and biking, but he would also gladly dunk on you on the basketball court. Cameron initially dabbled in the organic synthesis of caged-morpholinos but found himself more at home building upon his skills in molecular biology. Even after witnessing the life of a graduate student, he plans to become one himself, but he's keeping his options open and is interested in getting a taste of the biotech industry.

Paul Rack, Graduate Student
Email: prack@stanford.edu
Phone: 650-725-4184

After studying at UC-Riverside, teching at the NIH, and working in industry, Paul suffered a mental lapse and decided that grad school sounded like a good idea. Now he finds himself devising ways to "blow the lid off" the Wnt and Hedgehog pathways through screening for novel pathway components. In his spare time you can find Paul drinking at the Nuthouse, losing to James at darts, or cycling around the peninsula.

Ilya Shestopalov, Graduate Student
Email: ilya81@stanford.edu
Phone: 650-725-4184

Ilya was born in the former Soviet republic of Belarus. In a pursuit of a fine education, he learned English and moved to Chicago at the ripe age of 12. His fascination with chemical experiments on aquarium fish began with trying to identify tap-water viable phenotypes of goldfish. Amazingly, he found one. He spent his undergrad days at University of Chicago studying anything from molecular switches and nanoparticles to learning the intricacies of gasoline engines and physiological effects of frostbite. He came to Stanford in 2004 as a chemistry grad student and is continuing his multi-disciplinary education in the Chen Lab.