PI, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry

Yizhi is a biochemist specializing in protein biochemistry, cellular metabolism, and NMR. He received his B.S. from the Ocean University of China and completed his Ph.D. with Dr. Klara Briknarova at the University of Montana, Missoula. He then moved to Boston, MA, where he pursued his postdoctoral research with Dr. Dorothee Kern at Brandeis University/Howard Hughs Medical Institute and later with Dr. Bruce Spiegelman at Harvard Medical School. His work focused on protein structure and dynamics as well as mitochondrial metabolism and was supported by an American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship and an NIH/NIDDK K01 award. In 2022, he was appointed Instructor of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School, and in 2025 he joined the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, as an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry.

Lab Manager/Research Assistant

Lu Zhang earned her B.S. from Fudan University and M.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology (CEMB) from the University of Arkansas.

Before joining the Sun Lab, Lu spent over ten years at NOWDiagnostics, gaining extensive experience in assay development and diagnostic product research. She is proficient in molecular biology, protein engineering, cell culture, and nanomaterial synthesis & characterization, with strong skills in project management, scheduling & planning, and cross-functional communication. Lu hopes to leverage her technical and organizational strengths to create a productive and collaborative lab culture.

Outside the lab, Lu enjoys life with her husband and toddler son. She is a seasoned Toastmasters member and a two-time marathon finisher.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Aastha Sindhwani is a postdoctoral research scholar in the Sun Lab. Her research focuses on the molecular mechanisms that govern organelle dynamics and cellular adaptation, with a particular interest in how intracellular trafficking and metabolite-linked signaling shape cellular function in development and disease. Before joining the Sun Lab, she was an Associate Research Scientist at Yale School of Medicine and the Wu Tsai Institute, where she contributed to studies of human and non-human primate brain development and evolution. She earned her Ph.D. in Cell Biology from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali, where she defined how Salmonella manipulates host endolysosomal trafficking machinery to establish its intracellular replicative niche. In the Sun Lab, she is investigating how mitochondrial transporters and metabolite signaling influence mitochondrial dynamics, quality control, and adaptation to cellular stress.

Postdoctoral Fellow

Research Assistant

I earned my undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2014. After graduation, I worked as a biologist in the pharmaceutical industry, where my curiosity about the pathology of diabetes and infectious diseases grew. My research interest focuses on cell biology, particularly the mechanisms underlying cellular pathology. I completed my PhD in 2025 at the University of Arkansas and am currently working as a cell and molecular biologist in Dr. Sun’s lab. Outside of work, I enjoy hiking, traveling and collecting souvenirs.

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Mary O’Neill is a junior undergraduate studying Biology in the Fulbright Honors College. Her work as a research assistant focuses on investigating the chemical communication between mitochondria and nucleus. Her interests include animal diseases and cancer research, and she hopes to attend veterinary school after graduation.

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Undergraduate Research Assistant