The Woo lab uses cardiac surgery and coronary ligation as a model to study ischemic cardiomyopathy and stem cell biology, as well as to test novel molecular and cellular therapeutics.

Dr. Joseph Shrager practices all aspects of thoracic surgery but has specials interest and experience in lung cancer, surgery for emphysema, and mediastinal diseases. His clinical publications reflect these interests. In all cases, he looks towards minimally invasive approaches where appropriate, including VATS (thoracoscopic) lobectomy for early stage lung cancer and transcervical thymectomy.

Awarded in 2025
Home Department: Biophysics, Medicine
Faculty Advisors: Karl Deisseroth (Bioengineering and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences), Christopher Barnes (Biology), and Ron Dror (Computer Science)

Dr. Liao's laboratory research is translating molecular diagnostics for urological diseases from bench to bedside.