Current Members

Forest is a professor of biological engineering at MIT, a member of the Koch Institute, and a member of the MIT Center for Precision Cancer Medicine. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Framingham State College, and a doctorate in Analytical Chemistry from Florida State University. Following postdoctoral research with Donald Hunt at the University of Virginia, he joined MDS Proteomics, Inc. as a research scientist working his way up to group leader. Forest joined MIT as an assistant professor in 2003, where he has received several awards including the Mitsui Career Deveopment Professorship (2005-2008) and the Ruth and Joel Spira Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2010.

Hannah is a lifelong Massachusetts resident and earned her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern University, where she did co-ops focused on drug delivery in industry, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and at ETH Zurich in Switzerland. At MIT, she is interested in applying chemical engineering principles to understand cellular control and communication through phosphoproteomics. If she’s out of lab, she’s probably hiking, biking, planning her next camping trip, or cooking with friends.

Yufei received her B.S. in bioengineering from Rice University. Now she is exploring the interaction of tumor with immune cells during immunotherapy treatment using immunopeptidomics and phosphoproteomics approaches. Outside of lab, she enjoys playing volleyball, watching anime and exploring restaurants around the city.

Originally from Texas, Alicia received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University. At MIT, she is interested in using phosphoproteomics and systems biology to study T cell signaling networks to inform cancer immunotherapy. Outside of lab, she enjoys trying out new restaurants, traveling, and practicing with the MIT Triathlon Club.

Originally from Beijing, China, Weixi received his B.A. in Chemistry and History from Vanderbilt University. At MIT, he is interested in using immunopeptidomics and phosphoproteomics to develop new therapies for untreatable diseases such as pancreatic cancer. Outside of the lab, he enjoys traveling, tennis, and searching for good restaurants around the area.

Owen grew up in Los Angeles and studied Biological Chemistry at the University of Chicago. His current research focuses on identifying peptide antigens presented on MHCs by phagocytes infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis in order to select targets for the development of effective tuberculosis vaccines. Outside of research, his interests include writing fiction, web app development, and climate justice advocacy.

After finishing his medical studies at the University of Gothenburg in 2016, Marcus worked as a junior doctor before starting his medical internship and becoming a licensed medical practitioner in 2021 (Sweden). His Ph.D. studies focused on cancer signaling, especially the receptor tyrosine kinase Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK) and its role in neuroblastoma. He joined the White lab hoping to identify phosphoproteomic signatures and signaling events associated with worse outcomes among clinical tumor samples that could allow for individually targeted precision medicine in the future. Outside the lab, Marcus is a keen fisherman who also enjoys sailing and spending time with his wife and son.

Bokai Song received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences (why so many B.S.) at Tsinghua University in Beijing, close to his hometown Tianjin, China. He then came to the U.S. and got his Ph.D. in Ileana Cristea’s lab at Princeton University, where he applied proteomics to studying host innate immune response against viral infection. He is now a fan of PTMs and neoantigens in the White Lab, hoping to define potential therapeutic targets and mechanisms of resistance to existing therapies by analyzing clinical human tumor specimens.

Heidi grew up in northeast Pennsylvania before moving to New Jersey where she majored in molecular biology and minored in neuroscience at Princeton University. During this time, she researched under Professor Alexander Ploss to develop novel and efficient methods for the study of the hepatitis B virus. Currently, she works in the Spranger and White labs to study immune interactions and evasion in glioblastoma. In her free time, she enjoys baking, lifting, and dancing.