People

Seham Ebrahim

PI

Seham obtained an M.Sc.in Biotechnology at the Hamuburg Institute of Technology in Germany before pursuing a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at Queen Mary University of London. Her passion for understanding how cytoskeletal networks regulate cells and tissues in health and disease using high-resolution microscopy then led her across the pond to pursue Postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health. Seham joined UVA as a Assistant Professor in early 2022.

Gaizun/Guyzuin Hu

Research Scientist

Gaizun Hu is a research scientist in Dr. Ebrahim’s lab. He previously worked in the field of renal physiology and metabolism. In 2022, he joined the Ebrahim Lab as a postdoctoral research associate and shifted his research focus from the kidney to the intestinal tract.He is involved in most of the lab’s research projects and also oversees general maintenance. His primary research interests are septin and myosin projects. Septins, as novel cytoskeletal elements, play diverse roles in cellular activities, yet many of their functions remain understudied. Gaizun is particularly interested in septin 9, which has been shown to regulate intestinal diseases, including colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel diseases. He is also exploring the broader roles of septin 9 in other diseases and organs.In his daily life, Gaizun describes himself as a generally boring person. His current hobbies include playing with his pet bunnies, watching TV, and sleeping.

Daiki Kajioka (KJ)

Senior Postdoctoral Fellow

KJ completed his PhD and served as an Assistant Professor at Wakayama Medical University, where he focused on sex differentiation and developmental biology. He then studied apoptotic cell death and dead cell clearance in tissue homeostasis at the University of Virginia (UVA). Currently, he is investigating the role of mechanosensory signaling—particularly that mediated by the TMC gene family—in maintaining intestinal homeostasis and in the pathogenesis of diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), using high-resolution imaging techniques in the Ebrahim lab at the UVA.

Dominik Robak

Graduate Student

Dominik completed his B.Sc. in Molecular and Cellular Biophysics at Jagiellonian University and is currently finishing his M.Sc. in Bioinformatics at the same institution. His scientific interests lie in microscopy and the application of machine learning in microscopic image analysis. Additionally, Dominik is also engaged in genomic/omic data analysis and participates in various projects related to novel cancer therapies.

Sharon Zheng

Graduate Student

Sharon graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.S. in biomedical engineering in May 2021. Before joining the Ebrahim Lab in April 2023, she has been working on imaging the release of neurotransmitters using genetically encoded fluorescent sensors. She is currently interested in studying the mechanism of how the cytoskeleton network regulates the vesicle release of secretory cells using in vivo imaging.

Fan Lin

Undergraduate Researcher

Fan is a third year undergraduate student pursuing a B.S. in Chemistry with a specialization in Biochemistry and minors in Chinese and East Asian Studies. She joined the lab in the Fall of 2023 as an undergraduate research assistant. Her interests lie in the intersections between chemistry and biology in the human body. In her free time she enjoys art, propagating plants, and trying new foods.