Heart Development and Regeneration Lab Staff

Deqiang (“DQ”) Li, MD, PhD
Principal Investigator
Deqiang.Li@NationwideChildrens.org

Deqiang Li, MD, PhD, an associate professor at the Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University. He earned his master’s degree in clinical medicine from China Medical University, PhD degree in medical & molecular genetics from Indiana University School of Medicine. He completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Dr. Li is interested in understanding of cellular and molecular mechanisms of heart development and regeneration. His lab is exploring how epigenetic modifications and environmental alterations may impact on fundamental cellular processes such as cell proliferation, differentiation, transformation, cell-cell communications, etc, by leveraging various genetic mouse models and human induced pluripotent stem cells.

Sophie Hand
Research Associate, Lab Manager
Sophie.Hand@NationwideChildrens.org

Sophie joined the Li Lab as a research assistant in July 2023. She received her BS in forensic biology from The Ohio State University. She currently manages the lab’s mouse colony and performs numerous histological experiments for various projects throughout the lab. She is also a safe officer for the Li lab

Jin Bu
Postdoctoral Researcher
Jin.Bu@NationwideChildrens.org

Jin joined the Li Lab as a postdoctoral scientist in January 2024. She received her PhD in geriatrics from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Jin is currently investigating how epigenetics and long non-coding RNAs regulate cardiac hypertrophy. Her findings may unveil novel therapeutic targets for anti-hypertrophic therapy.

Yingwei Liu, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher

Yingwei joined the Li Lab as a postdoctoral scientist in December 2024. She received her PhD in cellular and molecular biology from Paris Cité University. Yingwei is currently investigating ZIP8-mediated zinc signaling in cardiac endothelial cells and HDAC3-dependent regulation of atrial identity. These studies aim to reveal how transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms contribute to heart development and congenital cardiomyopathies.

Eunu Seo, PhD
Postdoctoral Scientist

Eunu joined the Li Lab as a postdoctoral scientist in November 2025. She received her PhD in biomedical engineering from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology. She is investigating how HDAC3 regulates endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition during cardiac valve morphogenesis.

Shashank Pinnamaneni
Research Assistant

Shashank joined the Li Lab as a research assistant in June 2025. He received his BS in biomedical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. Shashank is currently investigating how hypoxic and hyperoxic cardiac conditions may alter signaling communications between endothelium and myocardium.

Angela Ryan
Undergraduate Student Researcher

Angela joined the Li Lab as an undergraduate student researcher in September 2024. She is currently pursuing her BS in neuroscience from The Ohio State University. Angela is currently conducting experiments in mouse models to determine the effects of maternal zinc deficiency in offspring.