Biography: Originally trained as a physicist, Evgeny received his Master degree in Biophysics in 2008, and as a PhD student joined the laboratory of Dr. Rob Kay in the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (Cambridge), where he studied the molecular and biomechanical mechanisms of directed cell migration. After completing his PhD, in 2014 Evgeny joined the laboratory of Prof. Jan Skotheim at Stanford University as a postdoctoral fellow. Evgeny combined his mathematical skills and deep knowledge of cell biology to understand how cells make an irreversible decision to progress from G1 into S-phase of the cell cycle, and ultimately, divide. During his postdoctoral work, Evgeny made a seminal discovery that as cell grow larger, they dilute a key cell cycle inhibitor RB (retinoblastoma protein), which ultimately triggers size-dependent cell division. This inhibitor-dilution mechanism ensures that smaller-born cells have more time to grow and reach their target size before committing to cell division. Evgeny now strives to further understand the molecular mechanisms of cell size regulation and reveal why cells tightly control their size.

Yuntao (Wendy) Wang completed her DPhil in Biochemistry at the University of Oxford under the supervision of Professor Catherine Pears, where she investigated cell fate choice biases regulated by the mTOR signalling pathway using Dictyostelium discoideum as a binary cell fate model. In June 2023, she joined the Zernicka-Goetz Lab at the Department of Physiology, Development, and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, as a postdoctoral research associate. During her time in MZG Lab, Wendy studied mTOR-dependent cell fate decisions in mammalian embryonic development, developing molecular tools for live imaging and genetic perturbations of mTOR activity in mouse and human embryos, embryonic stem cells (ESCs), and stem cell-derived embryo organoids. In January 2025, Wendy joined the Zatulovskiy Lab, where her research focuses on using mammalian ESCs to explore the role of cell size as a potential cue in lineage specification. Wendy's work aims to uncover fundamental principles of cell size regulation and their impact on developmental processes.

Hisashi Moriizumi obtained his PhD in 2023 under the supervision of Professor Mutsuhiro Takekawa at the Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, where he investigated the regulation of the MAPK pathway and elucidated the molecular mechanisms underlying the development of RASopathies. During his PhD, Hisashi also applied mathematical modelling, live imaging, and protein quantification techniques to explore how cells convert graded stress stimuli (analogue input) into a binary dead-or-alive response (digital output). Through this work, he demonstrated that the spatiotemporal dynamics of the MAPK pathway are essential for generating this binary response. After completing his PhD, Hisashi remained in the same laboratory as an Assistant Professor. In March 2025, he joined the Zatulovskiy Lab as a postdoctoral fellow, where he investigates the regulatory mechanisms that maintain stem cells at a small size and how this contributes to stem cell identity at the molecular level.

In 2024, Ruyi received her Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Imperial College London, where she completed her final year project investigating the feasibility of using pomalidomide as a pharmacological approach to deplete the transcription factor SALL4. Driven by her strong interest in stem cell research, she joined the Zatulovskiy group to further study how cell size influences the proliferation and lineage propensities of stem cells.

Owen investigates the organelle scaling with cell size in cultured human cells.