Principal investigator
Mai Dang, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Neurology, Pediatric & Developmental Neurology
- Email: mai@nospam.wustl.edu
Mai Dang is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, clinical child neurologist, and principal investigator in the Brain Tumor Center. Her clinical specialty is in neurologic complications of brain cancer. She received her MD and PhD degrees at the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign. For her doctorate work, she made mouse models for and studied the mechanisms of Dyt1 dystonia, a pediatric movement disorder.
Dang completed her residency and fellowship training at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP, University of Pennsylvania). For post-clinic training, she remained at CHOP for a research fellowship and instructorship and obtained clinical outpatient neuro-oncology training. During this time, her research focus was on cell extrinsic regulators of medulloblastoma growth and response to treatment including myeloid cells in the tumor microenvironment. Her work identified the dynamic heterogeneity of macrophages and microglia in a genetic mouse model of medulloblastoma during tumor growth and response to various modalities of treatment.
Her current research program is an extension of this work and now encompasses several multi-disciplinary basic and translational projects that aim to improve efficacy and safety of treatments for children with high grade brain tumors.
Personnel
Michael Nguyen
Undergraduate student
Michael Nguyen is a junior at WashU studying psychology and brain sciences with a concentration on cognitive neuroscience. Nguyen aspires to be a doctor or even a neurosurgeon. In the Dang lab, he is currently studying the medulloblastoma’s immune response to various dose regimens and modalities of radiation. Being in the hospital observing his father who is a neurosurgeon sparked his interest in science. In his free time, he enjoys watching movies, spending time with friends and working out.
Logan Page
Research Technician II
Logan Page has been working in the Dang Lab as a research technician since 2022. He is a proud St. Louis native that hopes to never leave the Midwest. He graduated with a bachelor of science degree from WashU in 2020, majoring in biology and minoring in psychology. His interest is in neuroscience, particularly the role of glial cells, and hopes to explore this further as he applies for PhD programs. What draws Page to research is the excitement of finding something new and sharing it with others. He has particularly enjoyed sharing new techniques with undergrad students to help them chase their own questions. Outside of the lab, he loves to hike the outdoors, watch indie movies and play board games with friends.