People

Principal Investigator

Chen grew up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He moved to the US for college where he attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and majored in biochemistry. Chen received his PhD in cell biology from Northwestern University and carried out his postdoctoral training with Valentina Greco at Yale. The Kam lab opened its doors in February 2025 in the UCLA Department of Medicine, Division of Dermatology and Broad Stem Cell Research Center (BSCRC).

Staff Research Associate

Matthew was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. In 2023, Matthew graduated from Wake Forest University with a BA in Psychology. During his undergraduate studies, Matthew joined an accelerated master’s degree program which allowed him to graduate with his MS in neuroscience in 2024. Matthew’s graduate research investigated the relationship between early life stress, anxiety-like behaviors, and microglia activity in rodent models. Following graduation, Matthew moved back to Los Angeles, where he worked as a lab technician at USC’s Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology. Matthew joined the Kam Lab in May of 2025 as a staff research associate.

Lab Assistant

Lina was born in China and raised in Idaho. In 2024, she graduated from UCLA with a B.S. in Cognitive Science and a Specialization in Computing. During her undergraduate years, she conducted research on organic photovoltaic materials at the Computational Materials Engineering Laboratory at Boise State University and later at the Yang Yang Lab at UCLA. Most recently, she worked in the Blaisdell Comparative Cognition Laboratory, exploring how associative feedback shapes learning. Lina joined the Kam Lab in June 2025 as a laboratory assistant.

Undergraduate Researcher

Kao was born in Boston and raised in Seattle. She is currently an undergraduate student at UCLA majoring in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology with a minor in Biomedical Research, and is expected to graduate in 2027. Her interest in research began in 2022, when she worked in Dr. Christopher Chen’s bioengineering lab through Boston University’s RISE summer program. In the summer of 2024, she continued exploring vascular and developmental biology in Dr. Yosuke Mukoyama’s lab at the National Institutes of Health. During her time at UCLA, she has also contributed to research in Dr. Linda Cai’s lab in the Department of Anesthesiology. Kao joined the Kam Lab in June 2025 as an undergraduate researcher.

Undergraduate Researcher

Vincent was born and raised in San Diego, California. He is currently an undergraduate at UCLA majoring in Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology (MCDB), with an expected graduation in 2028. His interest for research sparked in the summer of 2023 when investigating the connection between Epstein-Barr virus reactivation and cancer under Dr. Amy Tarangelo through the Polygence Research Program. Outside of the lab, he volunteers with the Transforming Care at Bedside (TCAB) program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and serves as the CERT Logistics Advisor for the American Red Cross Club at UCLA. Vincent joined the Kam Lab in June 2025 as an undergraduate researcher.