People – Rhie Lab

Principal Investigator: Suhn K Rhie, Ph.D.
Suhn Rhie received her B.S. in Biochemistry, magna cum laude from the University of California, Los Angeles. She earned her Ph.D. degree in Genetic, Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Southern California. She completed her postdoctoral training in the laboratories of Dr. Peter Laird and Dr. Peggy Farnham. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California.

**PhD Student:** Zexun (Tim) Wu, M.S.
Zexun Wu received his Bachelor of Science degree at North Western Polytechnical University (Shaanxi, China) where he graduated as a first-level scholarship recipient. He received his M.S. in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine at the University of Southern California. His current project is characterizing transcription factor families, integrating multi-omic NGS datasets. Besides research, he really enjoys cooking and swimming in his daily life and works out everyday.

**PhD Student:** Huan Cao, B.A.
Huan Cao received her B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology and her B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley in 2021. She is now a Ph.D. student at USC Programs in Biomedical and Biological Science (PIBBS). Her research focuses on transcription factors in cancer pathogenesis by implementing the gene-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9. In her free time, she loves traveling, lo-fi music, and a good boba.

**MD/PhD Student:** Claire Stevens, B.S.
Claire Stevens received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from Rice University in 2020. As an undergraduate, she worked to understand peroxisome biogenesis in the model organism *Arabidopsis thaliana*. Her project is to utilize and develop bioinformatic tools to elucidate differentially methylated regions within malignancies, specifically prostate adenocarcinoma. In her free time she enjoys beach volleyball, skiing, surfing, and playing/making music.

**Lab Technician:** Leonardo Gonzalez-Smith, B.S.
Leo received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology with a minor in Biochemistry at Loyola Marymount University. Leo is currently studying DNA methylation patterns of regulatory regions and how they are altered in different cancer types. When not working in the Lab, he likes to snowboard and hike.

**Programmer Analyst:** Ethan Nelson-Moore, B.S.
Ethan Nelson-Moore received his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science, with a minor in Biology, from California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) San Luis Obispo in 2021. He is currently assisting with development and testing of scripts, pipelines, and bioinformatic software packages for several projects in the Rhie lab. When he is not programming, he enjoys listening to music, discussing current events, playing board games, and traveling.

Postbac Student: Colton Stensrud, B.S.
Colton Strensrud received his Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from Oregon State University in 2020. As an undergraduate, he worked to analyze how environmental stressors impact the Coral microbiome. After graduation, he worked as a research assistant in the field of AAV vector-based gene therapy. He is currently learning to use molecular genomic techniques to analyze how DNA methylation patterns differ in Black vs White prostate cancer patients in the Rhie Lab. Outside of the lab he enjoys playing soccer, working out, and finding the best places to eat.

**Undergraduate Student:** Andrew Vu
Andrew Vu is an undergraduate student majoring in Biology and minoring in Spanish. He is interested in molecular biology, bioinformatics, and their applications in cancer research, specifically with tools like CRISPR/Cas9 and next generation sequencing. He is currently performing cloning and CRISPR/Cas9 experiments to study molecular mechanisms of regulatory elements. In his free time, he likes to skateboard, play Chess, and read science fiction.

**Undergraduate Student:** Grace Chang
Grace Chang is an undergraduate student majoring in Human Biology and minoring in Health Care Studies. She is learning molecular biology techniques and bioinformatic tools to analyze cancer epigenomic data and identify risk factors for prostate cancer. In her free time, she enjoys taking walks in nature, listening/making music, and eating good food with friends.

**Undergraduate Student:** Ria Pai
Ria Pai is an undergraduate student majoring in Quantitative Biology and minoring in Health Innovation. She is interested in genetic diseases and cancer research and the implications of gene editing technologies such as CRISPR. She is currently working on gathering data for different cancer types. In her free time, explore new places, exercise, and read.

**Postdoctoral Scholar:** Daniel Mullen, Ph.D. (in collaboration with Dr. Ite Offringa’s lab)
Daniel Mullen received his Bachelor’s Degree at University of Washington. He received PhD in Cancer Biology Genomics. His current project is to identify transcription factors and enhancer networks dysregulated in cancer. He does not only use publicly available bioinformatic tools to analyze various types of next generation sequencing datasets but also develop own bioinformatics tools using R language.

Research Lab Specialist: Shannon Schreiner, M.S. (jointly with Dr. Farnham’s lab)
Shannon Schreiner received her Bachelor’s Degree at California State University-Northern (CSUN) in Biological Sciences and her Master’s Degree in Biology at CSUN. She is an experienced researcher with skills in molecular biology, She has coordinated the USC PsychENCODE project generating ChIP-seq and NOMe-seq datasets from patient-derived neural progenitor cells. She is currently involved in several projects to understand transcription factor signaling and carcinogenesis, training new lab members.