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Meet The Team

Xiangmin Zhang, PhD
Assistant Professor (Research)

Dr. Zhang is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Wayne State University’s Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. With a strong background in molecular biology, virology, immunology, and proteomics. Dr. Zhang brings extensive expertise to translational research focused on infectious diseases and host immune responses. His work aims to bridge basic science and clinical applications to advance our understanding of disease mechanisms and therapeutic development.

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Ruchi Jaswal, MS
PhD Candidate

Ruchi joined Dr. Yi’s lab in 2019 as a Master’s student and transitioned into the Ph.D. program in 2021. Her current research focuses on understanding how trans-Resveratrol and Hesperetin modulate the global proteome and phosphoproteome in diabetic wound healing. Through her work, she aims to uncover molecular mechanisms that could lead to improved therapeutic strategies for chronic wounds in diabetic patients.

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Arifur Rahman, M.Pharm.
PhD Candidate

Arifur Rahman joined Dr. Yi’s lab in 2021 as a Ph.D. student in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. His research integrates molecular biology, proteomics, and computational modeling to investigate the role of PNPLA3 and its interacting partners in the pathogenesis of metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD). His work aims to uncover novel therapeutic targets and predictive biomarkers for liver metabolic disorders.

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Sai Rasagna Yalavarthi, PharmD
PhD Student

Sony started at Dr. Yi's lab as a Master's student in 2023 and transferred on to the Ph.D. program in 2024. Her research involves characterizing the proteome and phospho-proteome of skeletal muscle from obese people who are insulin-resistant or insulin-sensitive but not diabetic. Her project aims to evaluate overall protein levels in muscle samples from both groups, and to analyze differences in how these proteins are phosphorylated, which may explain why some people are more sensitive to insulin than others.

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Peyton Long, BS
PhD Student

Peyton joined Dr. Yi’s lab in 2023 as a Ph.D. student. His research focuses on investigating the role of Protein Phosphatase 2A (PP2A) in the development of insulin resistance. By analyzing human skeletal muscle tissue, he aims to explore PP2A’s interaction partners and post-translational modifications using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).

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Maham Khalid Rao
MS Student

Maham Khalid Rao joined Dr. Yi’s lab in 2024 as a Master’s student. Her research focuses on identifying substrates of Bifunctional Apoptosis Regulator (BFAR) in human hepatic cells using advanced proteomic and ubiquitinome profiling techniques.

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Meet Our Lab Alumni

Lana Alghanem, PharmD, PhD

Research Scientist

Majed Alharbi, PhD

Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University

Aktham Mestareehi, PharmD, MS, PhD

Divyasri Damacharla, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Harvard Medical School

Yue (Andy) Qi

Staff Scientist at National Institute on Aging/NIH

Danjun Ma, PhD

Posdoc Fellow at Wayne State University

Michael Caruso, PhD

VPI Compounding Pharmacy

Heather Clakston, PharmD

Postdoctoral Fellow at Wayne State University

Zhao Yang, MS, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow at Wayne State University

Nishit Shah, MS

Senior Engineer I, Akston

Dhanashri Pawale, MS

NIH Program Manager (University of Pittsburgh / UPMC)

Shukurat Sulaiman, MS

Senior Clinical Research Associate