Current Members of the Gregory Lab
Richard I. Gregory, PhD
Principal Investigator, Gregory Lab
Email: richard.gregory1@umassmed.edu
Dr. Gregory is Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology at UMass Chan Medical School. He received a PhD from Cambridge University, UK in 2001, studying genomic imprinting at the Babraham Institute. Dr. Gregory performed his postdoctoral work at the Fox Chase Cancer Center and the Wistar Institute, Philadelphia. His postdoctoral research focused on mechanisms of miRNA biogenesis and function, and was supported by a Jane Coffin Childs Research Fellowship.
Titi Rindi Antika, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Email: titi.antika@umassmed.edu
Titi earned her PhD in June 2023 from National Central University, Taiwan, where she studied how tRNA structure and sequence influence its function and interactions with enzymes critical for gene expression. Driven by her passion for tRNA biology, she joined the Gregory Lab in October 2024 to explore how tRNA modifications regulate rapid tRNA decay and their potential as therapeutic targets for cancer.
Xiaobin Fan, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Email: xiaobin.fan3@umassmed.edu
Xiaobin received her PhD in 2020 from Sun Yat-sen University (Guangzhou, China). She then conducted postdoctoral research at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and UMass Chan Medical School. Her previous work investigated sensory biology across diverse model systems, including Drosophila, mice, and organoids. In 2025, she joined the Gregory Lab, where her current research focuses on the regulation of RNA modifications in disease-relevant organoid models.
Sunil Malonia, PhD
Instructor
Email: sunil.malonia@umassmed.edu
Sunil worked as a postdoctoral fellow and Instructor in the Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology at UMass Chan Medical School, where his research focused on understanding the mechanistic and functional basis of aberrant gene regulation in human cancers and rare genetic disorders. In 2025, he joined the Gregory Lab, where his current research interests include exploring the role of RNA modifications and RNA metabolism in altering immune cell function within the tumor microenvironment.
Erdem Sendinc, PhD
Instructor
After collaborating with the Gregory Lab on various projects, Erdem joined the lab in 2022. He is interested in investigating the roles of RNA modifications in RNA metabolism and cellular biology. He utilizes RNA mass spectrometry to characterize chemical modifications in RNA sequences. His current research focuses on mRNA and tRNA modifying enzymes in the context of regulation of gene expression.
Richa Singh
Graduate Student
Email: richa.singh8@umassmed.edu
Richa completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Delhi and earned a Master of Science in Microbiology and Immunology from Wright State University. She gained industry experience in the immuno-oncology field before starting the PhD program at UMass Chan Medical School. Richa joined the Gregory Lab in September 2025, and is being co-mentored by Lucio Castilla, PhD. She is interested in exploring the links between tRNA and clonal hematopoiesis in different cancers.
Boyang Shi, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Email: boyang.shi@umassmed.edu
Boyang received his PhD in 2020 from Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His projects mainly focused on RNA regulatory mechanisms in embryonic development and cancer, such as RNA structure and RNA binding protein phase separation. In July 2023 Boyang joined the Gregory Lab and started his research on RNA post-transcriptional regulation and the development of tRNA sequencing methods.
Xin Yang, PhD
Instructor
Email: xin.yang5@umassmed.edu
Xin received his PhD in 2018 from Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He studied the topology of mRNA m5C methylomes and the essential roles of m5C in mRNA export regulation. Xin also studied m6A and its role in the dynamic regulation of co-transcriptional R-loop formation and transcription termination. Xin joined the Gregory Lab in September 2019 and started his research on RNA modifications and their roles in gene regulation and cancer.
Longteng Zhang, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Email: longteng.zhang6@umassmed.edu
Longteng received his PhD in Medical Sciences from Tohoku University, Japan, in March 2025. His doctoral research focused on tRNA modifications and their roles in the aging process. At the Gregory Lab, he is interested in investigating how tRNA modifications contribute to gene regulation and the development of cancer.
