Members

Masayuki Onishi, PhD.
Principal Investigator

Assistant Professor of Biology, Duke University
Email: masayuki.onishi@duke.edu

Masa received his PhD from the University of Tokyo and postdoc training from Stanford University.  His long-term interest is in understanding how cells of a diverse range of organisms go about fundamental biological processes such as cell division.  Is there a common core in the diversity?  What are the pathways and machineries that make each organism unique?  The Onishi lab currently uses the green alga Chlamydomonas, which is phylogenetically close to plants but divides like animals by furrowing, yet lacks the machinery that has long been thought to be essential for the process: the contractile actomyosin ring.  Besides science, Masa likes cooking, cycling, and hiking.

Yaning Yuan
Graduate Student, Biology

Email: yaning.yuan@duke.edu

I received my B.S. in Biological Sciences from Peking University in 2020. Before entering Duke as a graduate student, I studied the development and biochemistry of the homosporous fern Adiantum capillus-veneris. A. capillus-veneris is not a common model species, I have devoted considerable time to develop protocols for its research, which I would be happy to share with anyone interested in fern biology. In Onishi lab I am interested in studying the roles of microtubules and the accessory proteins in cytokinesis. I will use genetics, biochemistry, microscopy and quantitative strategies to answer the biological questions involved. For example, what is the function of each protein and how are they regulated throughout cytokinesis. Besides lab and school, I enjoy hiking, archery, learning about culture and history, as well as spending time with my two cats and myself.

Sheng-An (Samuel) Chen
Graduate Student, Biology

Email: shengan.chen@duke.edu

I received my Master’s degree in the Genome and Systems Biology Program, a collaborative graduate program established by National Taiwan University and Academia Sinica. I enjoy answering biological questions with an integrative approach that cover the fields of genomics, transcriptomics, molecular biology, and cell biology. In the Onishi lab, I am interested in identifying novel regulators of F-actin homeostasis in C. reinhardtii and understanding the roles of actin cytoskeleton in cell division and various biological processes. Outside the lab, I like birdwatching, hiking, herping, and occasionally mountaineering.

David Su
Research Associate

Email: david.su@duke.edu

I have been working in the Onishi lab since my freshman year. After graduating from Duke, I continue to do research in the lab for my gap year while applying to medical schools. I am interested in using cellular and molecular biology tools to look at fundamental mechanisms of cells. Outside of the lab, I enjoy going to the gym, playing basketball, cooking, and music.

Noor Singh
Postdoc

Email: noor.singh@duke.edu

I completed my undergraduate studies at the University of Chicago in Biological Sciences followed by earning my Ph.D. in Genetics and Molecular Biology (BBSP) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2026, where I worked on long-distance cell migration in C. elegans larval morphogenesis. My broad, persisting research interests are in how cell and sub-cellular architecture, deformation and organization are achieved and inform markedly diverse functions across species. Consequently, I’m very passionate about the roles and interactions of cytoskeletal elements that enable cells to dynamically govern these processes. As a postdoc in the Onishi lab, I’m thrilled to extend my curiosities to the organellar level, marrying this with the study of how these cellular functions and roles for cytoskeletal elements – specifically septins – originated and diversified across eukaryotic lineages.
Outside of lab, I enjoy baking, swimming, the Triangle’s live music scene and watching too many movies.

Qianqian Li
Graduate Student, Biology

Email: qianqian.li@duke.edu

I received my B.S. in Biology from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. As an undergraduate, I studied cytoskeletal regulation of vacuole fission using live-cell imaging. My fascination with cell biology was further shaped by a summer research internship at UC Davis, where I investigated the regulation of callose deposition during cell division. I am broadly curious about how cells organize themselves, especially how the cytoskeleton coordinates dynamic processes such as cell division and chloroplast division. In Onishi Lab, I’m excited to keep exploring these questions and to see where new ones take me.

When I’m not in the lab, I enjoy bird watching, kayaking and exploring new places, and also spending an unreasonable amount of time cooking.

Deniz Ercetin
Undergraduate Student

Email:deniz.ercetin@duke.edu

I am a sophomore majoring in biophysics and computer science. The pyrenoid is a RuBisCO-dense compartment at the heart of the CO₂-concentrating mechanism of eukaryotic microalgae, where locally elevated CO₂ suppresses photorespiration and increases photosynthetic efficiency. Its architecture differs substantially across lineages, yet nearly everything we know mechanistically comes from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. I am interested in turning that imbalance into a tool: establishing Chlamydomonas as a model for building and testing non-native pyrenoid architectures, starting with the hornwort’s, so that the toolkit built for Chlamydomonas, one of the most well-studied unicellular photosynthetic organisms, can be utilized. Outside the lab I enjoy going on walks, learning history, and text-based RPGs.

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Alumni (current position)

2026
Samed Delic, Ph.D. Graduate Student. (Postdoc in the Fox lab, Duke University)
Ayuzah Shah. Early College at Guilford/NCSSM

2025
Manuella R. (Rossie) Clark-Cotton, Ph.D. Postdoc. (Clinical Research Coordinator at UNC Chapel Hill)
Pat Hofe, Rotation Student, Duke DSCB
Lilly Papell, Rotation Student, Duke CMB

2024
Natsumi Tajima-Shirasaki, Ph.D. Lab Manager.
Adah Welsch, Rotation Student, Duke Biology
Eleena Chacko, NCSSM (UNC Chapel Hill)
Trinity Bai, Old Scona Academic High School, Alberta, Canada (UW-Madison)

2023
Anika Ramanujam, Northwest Cabarrus High School/NCSSM  (Cornell University)
Harika Petchetti, Raleigh Charter High School/NCSSM (Rowan University 3+4 BS/DO Program)

2022
Happy Yao, Undergraduate Student, Biology / Bass Connections (PhD student at Duke Pathology)
Anushka Goel, Undergraduate Student, Biology / Bass Connections

Varenyam Malhotra, Enloe High School/NCSSM (Johns Hopkins University)
Adriana Perry, City of Medicine Academy/ACS Scholar (East Carolina University)

2021
Jared Andrade, Undergraduate Student, Biology
Huzyfa Fazili, Undergraduate Student, Public Policy

Erika Chan, Athens Drive High/NCSSM (UNC Chapel Hill)
Aracely Gomez, Millbrook High/ACS Scholar (UNC Chapel Hill)
Aditya Mulabagal, Cornerstone Charter Academy/NCSSM (Wake Forest University)

2020
Ryan Cook, Associate in Research (Scientist II, Syngenta)