PEOPLE
John T. Ngo, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering
My students and I develop chemical and biophysical tools to probe, manipulate, and reprogram how cells communicate. We then leverage these tools to gain insight into natural biology and overcome roadblocks in developing therapeutic RNAs, proteins, and cells. Our current efforts are focused on understanding contact-dependent cell signaling mechanisms, including Notch signaling and synaptic transmission, and their downstream outcomes. I was born in 1983 in San Jose, California. My parents were Vietnamese-American refugees. I attended public schools in the San Jose Unified School District and graduated from Cupertino High School in 2001. I was the first in my family to go to college (UCSB), and I was the first to receive a Ph.D. (2012, Caltech, under the guidance of David Tirrell). I trained with Roger Tsien as a post-doc at UC San Diego between 2012 and 2015. In 2024, I was Co-Chair of the International Mammalian Synthetic Biology Workshop (mSBW), and I received the ACS Synthetic Biology Young Innovator Award in 2025. Students from the lab have received several awards and honors, including the BME Thesis of the Year Award and the College of Engineering's Earle and Mildred Bailey Memorial Award, among others.
John T. Ngo, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering
My students and I develop chemical and biophysical tools to probe, manipulate, and re-program how cells communicate. We then leverage these tools to gain insight into natural biology and overcome roadblocks in developing cell therapies and tissue-engineered systems. Our current efforts are focused on understanding contact-dependent cell signaling mechanisms, including Notch signaling and synaptic transmission, and their downstream outcomes. I was born in San Jose, California, and was the first in my family to go to college. I received a Ph.D. from Caltech in 2012 and was a post-doc at UC San Diego until 2015. In 2024, I Co-Chair of the International Mammalian Synthetic Biology Workshop (mSBW) in Boston, MA. Students from the lab have received several awards and honors, including the BME Thesis of the Year Award and the College of Engineering's Earle and Mildred Bailey Memorial Award, among others.
Alex Marzilli, PhD
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Biomedical Engineering
Alex’s research is focused on developing tools to study and manipulate mRNA in living cells. Alex’s work uses a combination of protein and nucleic acid engineering to create novel post-transcriptional mRNA circuits that are responsive to a variety of biological ques, including small-molecule drug, light, and intracellular antigen levels.
Jeremy Tran
Graduate Student, Biomedical Engineering
Jeremy's research is focused on developing synthetic Notch (SynNotch) systems to program mammalian cells to sense and interpret signals in their environment, such as mechanical force, ECM composition, and pericellular proteolysis.
Chris Kuffner,
Graduate Student, Biomedical Engineering
Chris uses genetic engineering to incorporate new functionality into RNA-protein interaction systems. He is currently applying these systems for high-contrast real-time imaging of single RNA molecules in live cells, where the system's engineered functionality has uncovered new insight into the spatiotemporal dynamics of post-transcriptional phenomena.
Quan Le,
Graduate Student, Biomedical Engineering
Quan's research involves engineering drug-responsive nanobodies for controlling protein activities and signaling pathways, as well as nanobody-based tools for targeted protein degradation and visualization of translational activities in live cells.