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College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

The Bai Lab

Lab Members

PI

photo of Xiaofei Bai smiling directly at the camera. He is wearing black glasses, a gray blazer over a plaid shirt, and a blue cap with the Florida Gators logo on it. He is standing in front of a bookshelf that contains books and folders.

Xiaofei Bai Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Email: baixiaofei@ufl.edu
Phone: 352-294-8447
Office: Cancer & Genetics Research Complex, Room 438

Google Scholar Profile

 

Ph.D. – Department of Biochemistry Cellular and Molecular Biology,
University of Tennessee, Knoxville (2013-2018)

Postdoctoral fellow – NIDDK/NIH, Bethesda, MD (2018-2023)
Mentor: Dr. Andy Golden

Assistant Professor – University of Florida  (2023-Current)

 

Graduate Students

 

Ellie Brill

I attended Butler University (Indianapolis, IN), where I received my B.S. in Biology with a minor in Spanish. During my undergraduate years, I did independent research on the ethnobotanical uses of plant species native to the Midwest. My specific research interests focus on neurodegenerative diseases and cancer cell biology. In the Bai Lab, I will analyze the protein seipin and its role in regulating lipid droplet formation.

 

 

Milagros (Mila) Rincon Paz

Born and raised in Venezuela; I received my B.S. in Biology from the University of Central Florida. As an undergrad, I examined disease dynamics between fungal and viral pathogens in amphibian hosts using gene amplification and genomic data analysis. Started in the Bai Lab 2024, I have been  investigating the impacts of disease specific mutations on signaling and metabolic pathways, in order to better understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms of disease-associated genes.

 

Undergraduate

 

 

Graycen Horne

Graycen is a freshman at the University of Florida, majoring in Health Science with minors in Chemistry and Disabilities in Society, on the pre-med track. She is particularly interested in research focused on the pezo-1 project, and understand regulatory mechanisms underlying pezo-1. She aims to deepen her knowledge of experimental research and further develop her skills in a laboratory setting, and hopes to contribute to advancements in the treatment and understanding of genetic health conditions.

Jena Itraish

Jena is a sophomore at the University of Florida majoring in Biology with a minor in Arabic on the pre-medical track. She is passionate about investigating the molecular and cellular mechanisms of rare and often overlooked diseases and applying genomic tools to understand their genetic basis. Her research interests include CRISPR, sequencing, and bioinformatic approaches for studying genetic variation. Through this work, she seeks to contribute to advancing therapies and improving patient care for individuals with understudied conditions.

 

Claire Kain

Claire is a sophomore at the University of Florida majoring in Health Science with a minor in Health Disparities on the pre-med track. She is passionate about research and genome editing, as well as understanding molecular causes for genetic disorders and developing therapies for these disorders.

 

 

Alexis Koch

I am a sophomore at the University of Florida majoring in biology on the pre-medicine track. I’m passionate about research focusing on the applications of CRISPR, specifically that which leads to the development of genetic therapeutics, along with understanding specific molecular causes of genetic disorders.

 

 

 

Sophia Morton

Sophia is a sophomore at the University of Florida, majoring in Biotechnology. She is deeply interested in using CRISPR/Cas9 for genetic and disease-based research. She hopes that through her work with the Bai lab she can increase knowledge and skill to further pursue research opportunities in diseases and oncology in the future, and plans to get a PhD in Genetics/Genomics.

 

 

Anushka Patil

Anushka is a third-year undergraduate student at the University of Florida, pursuing a majoring in Health Sciences and a minor in Health Disparities. She is interested in rare disease genetics and is currently investigating genetic suppressors of the air-2(or207) allele in the context of breast cancer. Her focus is to help advance more targeted and effective treatments for individuals with rare or often overlooked conditions.

 

 

Christy Shao
Christy is a junior at the University of Florida, pursuing a major in Microbiology & Cell Science and a minor in Nutritional Sciences. With aspirations of attending medical school, she is passionate about research that enhances patient care and drives innovation in healthcare. Her current research centers around finding genetic suppressors for the temperature-sensitive sqv-8 mutant which models a rare connective tissue disease (Larsen-like Syndrome).

 

Honors and Awards:

2025 Recipient of UF University Scholars Program

 

Elva Shao

Elva is a sophomore at the University of Florida, majoring in Biology on a pre-med track. Her research interests lie in areas of genetic disease and reproductive health, with a strong emphasis on advanced technologies like CRISPR/Cas9. She is passionate about using these techniques to investigate rare genetic diseases and contribute to the advancement of treatments that improve health outcomes and shape the future of medicine.

Honors and Awards:

2026 Recipient of UF University Scholars Program

 

Kimberly Ung-Davy

Kimberly is a freshman at the University of Florida majoring in Biology with aspirations of attending medical school. Her research interests include using CRISPR/Cas9 to study and treat genetic diseases, as well as employing DNA sequencing and utilizing bioinformatics tools to identify disease-causing mutations. She hopes to integrate these genomic technologies to help pave the way for future clinical applications.

 

Honors and Awards:

2026 Recipient of UF University Scholars Program

 

Yooseong Wang

Yooseong is a junior at University of Florida, and majoring in Biochemistry. His research interests are cancer therapy and CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing. Yooseong works on identifying genetic suppressors of the pathogenic variants in the fatty acid synthase gene fasn-1.

 

 

 

Alumni

Rotation Students

Rhea Arya, UF Graduate (2025).      

Current: Graduate student in Dr. Thomas Burris’s lab.

Graduate Students

Cameron Vanhorn, UF Graduate (2024).      

Current: Teaching Biology at high school.

Undergraduate Students

Jason Sadiqi, UF Undergraduate (2023).

Kavin L. Kovachik, UF Undergraduate (2023-2024).

Isabela Tagala, UF Undergraduate (2023-2024).

Lucy Lopate, UF Undergraduate (2024).

Carly Serlenga, UF Undergraduate (2023-2024).

Kate Campbell, UF Undergraduate (2024-2025).

Ricardo Roure, UF Undergraduate (2023-2025).

Current: Graduate Student at UCLA Systems Biology program.  Honors and Awards: 2024 Recipient of McNair Scholars Program; 2024 Recipient of NSF REU

Publications in the Bai Lab:

Chao-Wen Wang, Phebe Chiu , Sophia mONSALVE#,  RICARDO ROURE# , xiaofei bai, Jia-Jin Law , Yu- Ching Wu , Yet-Ran Chen , You-Liang Cheng , Rey-Huei Chen and Yi-Chun Wu. High-glucose diets modulate phosphatidylcholine metabolism to varying Caenorhabditis elegans fecundity. Frontier in Cell and Developmental Biology 2025. Volume 13 – 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2025.1622695.

Crystal Shao, UF Undergraduate (2024-2025). 

Current: Graduate Student at UT-MD-Anderson Cancer Center

Honors and Awards:

2025 Recipient of McNair Scholars Program.

Sophia Monsalve, UF Undergraduate (2024-2026).

Caitlyn Garcia, UF Undergraduate (2025-2026).

Emaan Ahmed, UF Undergraduate (2024-2026).

Sadie Steuterman, UF Undergraduate (2026).