Yang Hai, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of California, Santa Barbara
B.S. Chemistry, Peking University, 2011
Ph.D. Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, 2016
LSRF Postdoctoral Fellow, UCLA, 2020
Email: hai[AT]chem.ucsb.edu
Postdoctoral Scholars
Jinmin Gao, Ph.D.
Ph.D. Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, CAS (2021)
M.S. Institute of Microbiology, CAS (2017)
B.S. Ocean University of China, (2014)
Research Interests: Natural product biosynthesis and biocatalysis
Favorite Enzyme: Metalloenzyme
Science Hero: Emily Balskus
Fun Fact: Jinmin likes running. She has participated in several half marathons. She likes to tell lame jokes.
Shaonan Liu, Ph.D.
Ph.D. Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, CAS (2021)
M.S. Sun Yat-sen University (2017)
B.S. Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine (2014)
Research Interests: Natural product biosynthesis
Favorite Enzyme: Transmethylase
Science Hero: R. B. Woodward
Fun Fact: Shaonan likes eating delicious food.
Weiwei Chai, Ph.D.
Ph.D. Nankai University (2021)
B.S. Fuzhou University (2015)
Research Interests: Natural product biosynthesis
Favorite Enzyme: Oxidase
Science Hero: Karl Barry Sharpless
Fun Fact: Weiwei likes running, music, and photography
Graduate Students
Darwin Lara (22′, BMSE)
B.S. University of California Santa Barbara (2022)
Gene and Susan Lucas Undergrad Research Fund (2021)
Research Interest: Drug design and synthetic chemistry
Favorite Enzyme: Creatine Kinase
Science Hero: Elizabeth S. Sattely
Fun Fact: Darwin likes watching anime.
Alex Kyranos (22′, Chem&Biochem)
B.S. University of Massachusetts Amherst (2022)
- Benioff Scholars Program in Applied Environmental Science scholarship (2023)
- Mavroyannis Scholarship (2023)
Fun Fact: Alex is not aggressive, she is just from the east coast….
Zainab Batool (22′, Chem&Biochem)
B.S. Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan (2022)
Phi Lambda Upsilon Award (2023)
Wenhui Xi (23′, Chemistry)
B.S. Fudan University (2023)
Research Interest: Natural product biosynthesis and enzymology
Favorite Enzyme: Radical SAM enzymes and non-heme iron dioxygenase
Science Hero: Hailan Hu
Fun Fact: Wenhui writes Chinese poetry and she likes talking to her cats.
Undergraduate Students
Yuki Xu (Class of 2024, Biology Major)
Research Interest: Biomedical Science
Favorite Enzyme: Cyclin-Dependent Kinase (CDK)
Science Hero: Katalin Kariko
Fun Fact: Yuki raises a little parrot and his name is Dino because Yuki believes all birds are dinosaurs.
Carolyn Nguyen (Class of 2025, Biochem Major)
Bryan Zeng (Class of 2026, Biochemistry Major)
Research Interest: Natural products and metabolism
Favorite Enzyme: Laccase
Science Hero: me is my object of worshipping
Fun Fact: Bryan should be studying humanities and social science in another timeline.
Group alumni:
Silin Guo (Chemistry major), transferring to UC Berkeley in 2023.
Chris Perucho (Biochemistry major, Class of 2023, graduate student at Keck Graduate Institute)
Chen Zhou (Chem Major, Class of 2023, graduate student at Northwestern University)
Xu Shay He (Research Assistant, 2022-2023, graduate student at Caltech)
Joey Zhao (Undergraduate student, 2022-2023)
Jasper Moh (Biochem, Class of 2021, graduate student at JHU )
Chris Yeh (Pharm Major, Class of 2021, graduate student at UC Irvine)
Zhongrui Li (Research Assistant, 2020-2021, graduate student at TSRI)
Benjamin Jones (Graduate student, 2021)
Yan Jin (Graduate student, 2021)
Asish Chacko (Graduate student, 2021)
Zixuan Jiang (Undergraduate student, 2020-2021)
Chloe Reavill (Undergraduate student, 2021)
Matthew Hurtado (Undergraduate student, 2021)
Wendy Wang (Undergraduate student, 2021)
Darwin Lara (Chem Major, Class of 2022; graduate student at UCSB)
Hai Lab UCSB 