Meet the Team

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Tyler Cepica

Tyler Cepica is a medical student at UT Southwestern Medical Center currently taking a year to pursue translational and clinical research with Drs. Chong and Jacobe. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Abilene Christian University and was recognized with the ACU University Scholar award. His research interests include rheumatologic and other complex skin diseases and advancing technologies in dermatology.

Being originally raised in Lubbock, Texas, Tyler's favorite collegiate sports team is Texas Tech University. He has also grown as a supporter of the Texas Rangers, Dallas Stars, FC Dallas, and Dallas Cowboys from his years in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. In his free time, Tyler loves spending time with his wife and son, playing disc golf, and finding the best local coffee shops. 

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Jenny Foster

Jenny Foster is a medical student at UT Southwestern medical center currently taking a year off to pursue clinical research with Drs. Chong and Jacobe. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry with a minor in sociology from UT Dallas. Her research interests include community-based research, vulvar dermatology, patient education, and qualitative and mixed methods research.

As an avid yoga instructor, Jenny teaches weekly at yoga studios and women's shelters in the Dallas area. Her spare time is spent cuddling her three cats (Valor, Zeppelin, and Cowboy), tending to her garden in East Dallas, and thrifting for vintage clothes. 

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Kangyi Zhang

Kangyi graduate magna cum laude with honors from Brown University. He received his Master of Science from Northwestern University and his PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a member of the following honorary societies: Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi, Phi Beta Kappa, and American Chemistry Society. He is a recipient of A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology, and Research) scholarships and he attained A*STAR Chairman's Honors List for all years in college. He served as research manager of the Consumer Care Technologies program at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (Singapore). His notable publications are in ACS Nano, ACS Applied Nano Materials, and Chemistry Society Reviews. His research has been featured in numerous news outlets such as Yahoo News, C&EN and ScienceDaily etc.

Kangyi is a classically trained flutist, composer, and audio engineer. He is passionate about skateboarding, snowboarding, and playing soccer. His favorite sports teams are Liverpool FC, Barcelona FC, and sports teams from Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.