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Mentor Areas

The Cheng Lab is a brand-new lab that previously made significant contributions to understanding transcriptional control of neurodegeneration and neural repair (Nat Commun 2022; Neuron 2022;  J Neurosci 2023). Dr. Cheng is currently utilizing data-driven approaches towards to the development of targeted therapies for vision diseases. As a highly caring and supportive PI, Dr. Cheng will provide hands-on mentoring and full support to train your computational skills on top of your experimental and technology development skills to ensure you thrive in the career path you are choosing.

Description:

The Cheng Lab (https://www.chengyuyanlab.org) at Penn Medicine is actively looking for talented undergraduate students to join our team and conduct research at the intersection of functional genomics, computational biology, and neuroscience. Our group studies the mechanisms of degenerative eye diseases, toward the development of targeted therapeutics for neural repair. We use a wide range of approaches, including single-cell and spatial genomics, computational analysis, CRIPSR gene editing, and experimental models of neurodegenerative diseases. Students will have the chance to work with a multidisciplinary team of biologists, bioinformaticians, and engineers. 

We value an inclusive environment and welcome students from diverse backgrounds. If you are interested, please send an email Yuyan (yuyan.cheng@pennmedicine.upenn.edu) along with your resume, and explain briefly why you are interested in joining the lab.

Preferred Qualifications

We welcome students from diverse background including biology, computer science and engineering. No prior experience is required as we can train you in all these areas. 

Project Website

Learn more about the researcher and/or the project here.
https://www.chengyuyanlab.org

Details:

Preferred Student Year

First-year, Second-Year, Junior, Senior

Academic Term

Fall, Spring, Summer

I prefer to have students start during the above term(s).

Volunteer

Yes

Yes indicates that faculty are open to volunteers.

Paid

Yes

Yes indicates that faculty are open to paying students they engage in their research, regardless of their work-study eligibility.

Work Study

Yes

Yes indicates that faculty are open to hiring work-study-eligible students.

Researcher