Lab News
2026
Li-Jun receives 2026 Mahoney Life Sciences Prize
The Mahoney Life Sciences Prize is awarded annually to honor excellence and recognize academic achievement that propels significant advances in science and industry. Li-Jun has been chosen as this year’s winner of the Mahoney Life Sciences Prize for her work toward mitigating the effects of a fungal pathogen that is causing the functional extinction of the bananas most commonly found in U.S. supermarkets.
Ma Lab undergrads present at MassURC
Our talented undergraduate researchers present in the Massachusetts Undergraduate Research Conference. Rachel Griffiths presents her work on the evolution of human-pathogenic Fusarium oxysporum keratitis isolate, and Team Basil (Kiyan Moinzadeh, Luke Frey, Elsa Cranson, Merger Limanaj, Maria Basta, Sevin Ilgaz Hakioglu) presents their work on the effectors of basil downy mildew pathogen Peronospora belbahrii.
Ma Lab at the UMass CNS Graduate Student Research Symposium
Madi and Rachel presented their research at the UMass College of Natural Sciences Graduate Student Research Symposium in March. Madi won the Runner Up Poster Award in the theme area of Earth and Environments. Congrats on your great work!
Daniel Li defends his PhD in Feb
Gengtan (Daniel) Li defended his PhD Dissertation titled "Investigate Fungal Effectors and Their Contribution to Fusarium oxysporum Virulence from the Genome Evolution, Transcription Regulation, and Protein Function Perspectives".
Congratulations, Dr Li!
Madi receives NIH BTP Traineeship
Ma Lab is an active member in the Biotechnology Training Program at UMass Amherst. Congratulations on Madi for receiving a one-year NIH-funded BTP Traineeship! We are so proud of you!
Rachel receives CNS Teaching Fellowship
Congratulations to Rachel on becoming a CNS Teaching Fellow! Rachel will be teaching her self-designed First Year Seminar (FYS) course titled "Wilting World: The Hidden Plant Pandemic" in fall 2025.
Melanie and Joni representing VeriMyco in MALSI day pitch competition
Melanie and Joni represents "VeriMyco", a RNA-based antifungal therapeutics pre-startup translational project, in the 18th Massachusetts Life Sciences Innovation (MALSI) Day in The Engine, Cambridge, MA. Melanie prepares and delivers a 60-second pitch for an audience of researchers, investors, venture capitalists and other entrepreneurs.
Li-Jun and Melanie attends RNA Therapeutics Conference in UMass Chan Medical School
Ma lab explores the field of RNA therapeutics! Melanie is very happy to meet 2024 Nobel Prize winner Victor Ambros and Rosamund Lee.
2024
Fusarium goes bananas
Congratulations to Yong Zhang! We are proud to announce that one of Yong’s PhD research projects is published in Nature microbiology. The work studies Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense tropical race 4 (TR4) represents a major threat for both the global banana trade and for food security. As summarized by the journal Senior editor Francois Mayer that “What makes this current work stand out is that it explores the genetic diversity between different F. oxysporum strains and reveals that TR4 accessory genes are enriched for virulence and mitochondrion-related functions.” The collaborative work involves experts from US, China and South Africa.
Melanie receives UMass BTP Traineeship
This is the first year Ma Lab participates in the BTP program. Congratulations on Melanie on receiving a two-year UMass-funded Biotechnology Training Program (BTP) Traineeship!
Ma Lab Postdoc Kelly Allen attends the Sainsbury Lab Summer Conference
The Ma Lab’s postdoctoral researcher was among twenty early career researchers selected to participate in The Sainsbury Laboratory Summer Conference for Plant-Microbe Interactions (https://www.tsl.ac.uk/tsl-summer-conf-15th-26th-july-2024). As a delegate, Kelly attended seminars and lab practicals led by esteemed TSL Scientists and their research groups, as well as daily keynote lectures from invited leaders in the field. Kelly presented her research on the basil downy mildew pathogen Peronospora belbahrii and the evolution of new race(s), which drives current efforts to breed improved basil cultivars with more sources of genetic disease resistance. You can read more about this multi-institutional USDA-funded research here: https://usbasilconsortium.rutgers.edu/. We thank the IALS Models to Medicine Center Plant and Microbial Innovation team (https://www.umass.edu/m2m/research-themes/plant-and-microbial-innovation) and the Office of Professional Development (https://www.umass.edu/graduate/professional-development/postdoctoral-scholars/postdoc-professional-development-grant-program) for financial support for this opportunity through their Postdoctoral Professional Development Small Grants Programs!
UMass Fusarium Lab highlights researches at 32nd Fungal Genetics Conference
On March 12-17, the UMass Fusarium Lab, headed by Li-Jun Ma, joined the 32nd Fungal Genetics Conference at Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, California. Among the highlights of the event were the Fusarium workshop, plenary session, and poster sessions, where participants were able to connect and network with global leaders in fungal sciences. Madison Newman and Gengtan Li orally presented their works at the Fusarium Workshop, joining Domingo Martinez Soto, Siyuan Wu, Harun Cerzeki, Joni Campilan, and Mladen Petres at the poster presentation.
Li-Jun presents first lecture in Novi Sad, Serbia
As a Fulbright Scholar, Li-Jun presented her first public lecture entitled “Why Genomics” to a an engaging audience at the University of Novi Sad on February 12, 2024. Using her own career experience, Li-Jun illustrated the power of genomics in answering fundamental biological questions and solving some practical issues related to agricultural practices.
2023
Maeve joins Ma Lab for Summer 2023 Research
Maeve Doherty, who is currently a senior in Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School, completed her 2023 summer fellowship under joint mentorship in the Rao Lab and Ma Lab. During her time in the Ma Lab, she was working with graduate student Melanie Wu to optimize high throughput fungal cell viability assay as a tool to characterize safer antifungal drug delivery to combat Fusarium infection in human.
Houlin successfully defends PhD Dissertation:
A Glimpse into the Stars
Dr. Houlin Yu successfully defended his PhD Dissertation for the degree PhD in Plant Biology. His oral presentation on Uncovering transcriptomics responses and regulations during Fusarium oxysporum - plant interactions was held in Life Sciences Laboratory on June 29, 2023. In his talk, Houlin exemplify the power of transcriptomics and single cell RNA-seq in elucidating plant responses and Fusarium mechanism during infection. He concluded his talk, fondly recalling how the stars mirrored his wonder in the world of bioinformatics.
Li-Jun awarded Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award
PI Li-Jun Ma is one of the seven UMass Amherst faculty, researchers and administrators to receive prestigious Fulbright U.S. Scholar Awards for the 2023-2024 academic year. Li-Jun will be working with researchers at University of Novi Sad in Serbia to address an emerging apple rot disease.
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Melanie Attends Annual Conference for Chinese Antibody Society
Melanie is a volunteer at the Chinese Antibody Society, a nonprofit organization with focus on therapeutic antibodies. She is currently the design team lead and helped organize and attended the 2023 Annual Conference in Cambridge, MA, titled "Post COVID-19 Pandemic: New Frontiers and Opportunities of Antibody-based biologics".
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Cecilia presents FOSC PARP Poster at
#DiscoverBMB Conference
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Cecelia attended the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s #DiscoverBMB Conference in March 2023. She presented her poster, “Unique Expansion of PARP Family Proteins in the Fusarium oxysporum species complex” in the undergraduate poster competition and at a general poster. poster session.