Wangensteen Lab

Kirk Wangensteen, MD/PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
 wkirk@upenn.edu
 215-573-7314

Dr. Kirk Wangensteen is a physician-scientist at the University of Pennsylvania. He obtained a BA at Northwestern University, and completed his combined MD/PhD training at the University of Minnesota. He specialized in Internal Medicine at the University of Vermont and in Gastroenterology at the Penn. Kirk completed post-doctoral research training in Dr. Klaus Kaestner's laboratory, and was recruited onto the faculty at Penn to begin his own research program. In addition to his love of science and medicine, Kirk enjoys biking, skiing and travel. See Kirk's clinical profile at Penn Medicine.

Agnes Holczbauer, MD/PhD

Agnes received her MD and PhD from Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary. She completed postdoctoral training at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. Her PhD and postdoctoral research focused on the role of cancer stem cells and claudins in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma and metastatic liver cancer. She later joined the internal medicine residency program at Semmelweis University and achieved board certification in internal medicine. Agnes enjoys sailing, hiking, painting, and reading. 

Dingzi Yin, PhD

Dingzi obtained his PhD as the Shanghai Institute of Biological Sciences. After graduating, he worked at Eli Lilly's and Johnson & Johnson's research divisions for 3 three years. He is excited to apply his basic science knowledge and Pharma experience to help develop new therapeutic approaches for liver diseases. He likes to play basketball and to go jogging in his spare time.

Alexandra M. Vázquez Salgado

Alexandra completed her BS in Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus. During undergrad, she participated in summer internships at UPenn, UChicago, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, engaging in research ranging from evaluating drugs against trypanosome parasites to elucidating mechanisms of action of drugs against several types of cancers. Alexandra likes to read, watch netflix, and go to the beach!

Markcus Lee

Markcus received his BS in Biology at Saint Joseph's University where he performed research in two labs, one focused on neuroendocrinology, and another on cellular biology. He enjoys listening to music, playing basketball, and spending time with family.

Ruoming Fan

Ruoming is an undergraduate student at UPenn majoring in Bioengineering with a pre-medicine track. He is new to lab research and first engaged with the lab through the Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program. He enjoys biking, chess, and exploring the city.

Dineth Karunamuni

Dineth is a Vagelos MLS scholar at UPenn studying Biochemistry on a pre-medicine track. He is excited to explore and conduct lab research. In his free time, he enjoys supporting his favorite sports teams, and spending time with his family and dog, Sasha.

Shirui He

Shirui is an undergraduate student at UPenn majoring in biology with a pre-med track. He is new to lab research and is particularly interested in cancer research. In his free time, Shirui enjoys playing piano, swimming, and watching movies with friends and family. 

Chen Jie, MD/PhD
Research scholar

Dr. Chen is a hepatobiliary surgeon and joined the lab as part of his doctoral research program at Sun Yet-sen University in Guangzhou, China. He succeeded to obtain his PhD. He is continuing translational work in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Julia Kieckhaefer, PhD
post-doctoral researcher

Dr. Kieckhaefer graduated with a PhD at Penn working in Dr. Klaus Kaestner's laboratory, where she studied genes involved in intestinal development and inflammatory bowel disease. In the Wangensteen lab, she characterized different CRISPRa systems for activity in our in vivo assay. She moved with her partner to Utah and is currently working in industry.

Morgan Preziosi, PhD
Post-doctoral researcher

Morgan obtained her PhD in Cellular and Molecular Pathology in Dr. Paul Monga's lab at Pitt. In the Wangensteen lab, she used a screening assay to determine which genes lead to sensitivity to sorafenib. She is currently working as a biotech consultant.

Noam Erez, M.Med.Sc.
Research Specialist

Noam Erez completed his Masters at Ben Gurion University in Beersheva, Isreal. He worked with Dr. Wangensteen for several years as a Research Specialist before returning to Isreal with his family.

Jenna Mancinelli, DO
Master's in Translational Medicine

Jenna completed her Master's in Translational Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She tested different transposon systems for efficiency in gene transfer in our liver injury and repopulation assay. She is currently finishing her surgery residency.

Amber Wang, PhD
Doctorate in Pharmacology

Amber Wang graduated from Penn's Pharmacology Graduate Program, and studied the genetic regulation of liver repopulation. Dr. Wangensteen was her co-mentor during her PhD. She likes to play with her cute dog Mochi. She is now a bioinformaticist working in the biotech industry.