Team

Xiaojing is a graduate of Princeton University (A.B. Chemistry), the MD-PhD program at Washington University in St. Louis (Computational Systems Biology), and the residency program in Radiation Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She was previously an Instructor in Clinical Investigation and a KL2 Scholar at The Rockefeller University, where she completed post-doctoral work in the lab of Paul Cohen. She was awarded a Young Investigator Grant from the Breast Cancer Alliance while at Rockefeller. Xiaojing joined the Department of Radiation Oncology at UMN in 2025 to become a principal investigator as well as a clinician treating breast cancer patients at UMMC-East Bank. Outside of science, Xiaojing enjoys spending time with her family and supporting the arts.

Mara is an experienced lab manager who loves teaching! She has initiated many an undergraduate and graduate student into the secrets of molecular biology and mouse handling. A native of Wisconsin, Mara has been at UMN for over 20 years and knows exactly who to call if she can’t fix something herself. When she’s not putting out fires in lab, Mara can be found gardening, cooking, baking, and spending time with her kids.

Anna earned her B.S in Genetics, Cell Biology and Development from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. During her studies, she focused on cancer biology and immunology. Outside of the lab, Anna enjoys reading while spending time with her cats.