Meet the team
Isaac Fianu (Principal Investigator)
Email: [email protected]
Biography: I grew up in Ghana and earned my B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Ghana in Accra. I then joined the International Max Planck Research School for Molecular Biology in Göttingen, Germany, to pursue my M.Sc. and Ph.D. I conducted my doctoral and postdoctoral research in Professor Patrick Cramer's laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Science before joining Caltech in 2024. In my free time, I enjoy playing football and volleyball, as well as dancing salsa.
Admin Assistant: Andy V. Lo
Email: [email protected]
Tiao Tan (Research Assistant)
Email: [email protected]
Biography: Tiao grew up in China and earned her B.Sc. degree in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles. During her undergraduate program, she studied the spontaneous loss of X chromosome inactivation in human female induced pluripotent stem cells. She joined the Fianu Lab as a research assistant in December 2024. Outside of the lab, Tiao enjoys exploring new food and coffee spots, as well as visiting the pottery studio.
Anjali Mirmira (Graduate Student, CB&MB)
Email: [email protected]
Biography: I am a graduate student in chemistry, specifically in the CBMB track. Before joining Caltech, I earned my Bachelor of Arts in chemistry from the University of Chicago, where I conducted research under the guidance of Prof. Cathryn Nagler. I then spent a year as a post-baccalaureate researcher in the lab of Prof. Jack Szostak. In the Fianu lab, I study transcription attenuation within the gene body.
Tracy Tan (Postdoctoral Scholar)
Email: [email protected]
Biography: Tracy earned her B.S. and Ph.D. from UC Davis, where she studied how microtubule-associated proteins regulate microtubule activity and cytoskeletal organization in the lab of Dr. Ori-McKenney. She joined the Fianu lab in April 2025. Outside the lab, she enjoys hiking with her dog, trying new restaurants, and sipping good sake and wine.
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Zachary B. Green (Graduate Student, CB&MB)
Email: [email protected]
Biography: Zach grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and earned his B.S. in Chemical Biology from UC Berkeley in 2025. During his undergraduate studies, he worked in the lab of Professor Michael Marletta to characterize choanoflagellate soluble guanylate cyclase enzymes. He joined the Fianu Lab in March 2026 to study transcription attenuation mechanisms. Outside of the lab, Zach enjoys playing music and exploring SoCal.
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Stephen Lo (Undergraduate Student)
Email: [email protected]
Biography: I am an undergraduate student in bioengineering interested in protein-protein interactions. Previously, I was in Wah Chiu's Lab at Stanford studying mitochondrial-microtubule interaction in iPS-derived Huntington's disease cells. In the Fianu Lab, I am working on the intersection of transcription and DNA replication. I hope to continue pursuing research in graduate school. When I am not working, I love to hike, backpack, snowboard, free dive, and play guitar.
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Yen-Ju Lu (Graduate Student, CB&MB)
Email: [email protected]
Biography: I completed my Master's degree at National Taiwan University, specializing in structural biology and X-ray crystallography, and I have expertise in protein purification and structural analysis. I am excited to join the Fianu Lab to study RNA polymerase II transcription.
Ho Ching Alex Au (Postdoctoral Scholar)
Email: [email protected]
Biography: I grew up in Hong Kong and the UK. I did my undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at King's College, London. In 2019, I joined the laboratories of Professors Jonathan Grimes and Lidia Vasilieva at the University of Oxford as a doctoral student studying eukaryotic pre-mRNA processing in fission yeast. After earning my doctorate in 2024, I joined the Fianu Lab at Caltech in April 2025.
Noah Epstein (Graduate Student, BMB)
Email: [email protected]
Biography: Noah grew up in Costa Mesa, CA. He obtained his A.S. in Chemistry at Orange Coast College before transferring to UC Berkeley, where he earned his B.S. in Chemical Biology in 2020. While at UC Berkeley, Noah worked in the lab of Prof. Jonathan Rittle studying the structure and enzymatic chemistry of a novel archaeal iron-sulfur protein, the hybrid cluster protein (Hcp). Noah spent the earlier years of his PhD at Caltech in the lab of Prof. Mitchell Guttman studying the role of non-coding RNA in transcriptional regulation, before transitioning to the Fianu lab in March 2025. In his free time, Noah especially enjoys singing as a tenor in Caltech's choral octet, OcTech, and collecting minerals and gems.
Ines Ben Makhlouf (Graduate Student, BMB)
Email: [email protected]
Biography: Ines Ben Makhlouf is a PhD student in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and holds a degree in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology from the University of Toronto. Her past research experience focused on biochemical and structural approaches to understanding protein complexes, with experience spanning antimicrobial discovery and using structural biology techniques, including NMR and X-ray crystallography, to study drug–protein interactions. In the Fianu Lab, she is investigating the intersection of transcription and DNA replication. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, spending time with friends, and attending Pilates classes.
Jia-Xin (Bonnie) Nien (Undergraduate Student)
Email: [email protected]
Biography: I am an undergraduate student majoring in Biology. I was born in Taiwan and grew up in Diamond Bar, CA. I am interested in biochemistry, structural biology, and medicine. In the Fianu Lab, I study mechanisms of transcriptional regulation.