Group Members — The Babak Lab at CityU

Integrating chemistry, molecular biology and experimental oncology

Principal Investigator

Prof. Maria (Masha) Babak

Country of origin: Russia
Majoring in: Chemistry
Previous Affiliation: University of Vienna (PhD), Harvard Medical School (HICR scholar)
Hobbies: singing, dancing zouk, art-house movies, learning languages
Research Interests: drug discovery, cancer cell signaling, proteomics, brain metastases
My unusual desire: I want to do my sabbatical in Brazil and dance zouk all night long
My life credo: If plan A doesn’t work, the alphabet has 25 more letters!

Postdoc

Yiyi Zhang

Country of origin: China
Majoring in: Biotechnology
Previous Affiliation: Chimie ParisTech, PSL University (PhD)
Hobbies: singing, traveling, exploring different cuisines
Research Interests: Cancer research; Cancer immunology; Tumor microenvironment
My unusual desire: Try every dessert in the world without gaining weight.
My life credo: The present moment is the best.

PhD Students

Anna (Kira) Kirsanova

HKPFS scholarship 2022
Belt and Road Scholarship

Country of origin: Russia
Majoring in: Chemistry
Previous Affiliation: Lomonosov Moscow State University, Chemistry Department
Hobbies: house plants, music, books, art, Asian cultures
Research Interests: organic and organometallic synthesis, chemistry of heterocyclic compounds, cross-coupling reactions, drug discovery
My unusual desire: achieve enlightenment
My life credo: Each cuttlefish backs away in its own way

Daniil Rusanov

HKPFS scholarship 2023
Belt and Road Scholarship

Country of origin: Russia Majoring in: Chemistry Previous Affiliation: Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology (BSc, MSc); Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry (RA); City University of Hong Kong (RA)
Hobbies: Fitness, Music, Movies, Games, Cooking, Traveling Research Interests: Organic/Inorganic Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Drug Discovery, Natural Products, Cancer Research
My unusual desire: Ever Go to Distant Galaxies
My life credo: Per Aspera ad Astra

Egor Matnurov

HKPFS scholarship 2024
Belt and Road Scholarship

Country of origin: Russia
Majoring in: Fundamental and Applied Chemistry, Medicinal chemistry
Previous Affiliation: Lomonosov Moscow State University, Chemistry Department
Hobbies: volleyball, coffee, Netflix
Research Interests: Clinical and Pre-Clinical Trials, Immunology, Molecular Biology
My unusual desire: Become a vampire from Twilight
My life credo: Turn obstacles into opportunities

Chengnan (Andy) Wu

2022

Country of origin: China
Majoring in: Biology-Biotechnology
Previous Affiliation: Copenhagen University (MSc)
Hobbies: Tennis, badminton, traveling
Research Interests: Cancer research
My unusual desire: live in where can see stars, sea, prairie and mountains.
My life credo: Life is blank in the beginning, so we should collect nice clips as many as possible. And we only live once, you should go and love yourself.

Samah Mutasim Alfadul

2023

Country of origin: Sudan
Majoring in: Molecular biology
Previous Affiliation: Ahfad Center for Science and Technology (ACST) (BSc, MSc)
Hobbies: Crochet and table tennis
Research Interests: Cancer research
My unusual desire: Cooking the sweetest chocolate cake
My life credo: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present.

Nikita Kuznetsov

HKPFS scholarship 2025

Country of origin: Russia
Majoring in: Chemistry
Previous Affiliation: Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology, Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Hobbies: Table tennis, badminton, alpine skiing, swimming, guitar, chess
Research Interests: Organic and organometallic synthesis, molecular docking, computational chemistry
My unusual desire: Climb Kilimanjaro
My life credo: If a job is worth doing, it's worth doing well

Kirill Kriukov, MD

HKPFS scholarship 2025

Country of origin: Russia
Majoring in: Medicine, Oncomorphology
Previous Affiliation: Saint Petersburg State University (MD), Pavlov University (residency)
Hobbies: volleyball, futsal, karting, chess
Research Interests: Relationship of tumor morphology with genetic defects and microenvironment
My unusual desire: I want to travel all continents by car
My life credo: You’ll only regret the things you didn’t do

Research Assistants

Country of origin: Russia
Majoring in: Bioinformatics
Previous Affiliation: Sechenov University
Hobbies: volleyball, videogames, football, basketball, table tennis, board games, studying stoicism
Research Interests: Transcriptomics, single-cell RNA-seq, genomics, ML
My unusual desire: Visiting Tame Impala concert
My life credo: Live by the virtues: Wisdom, Justice, Courage, Temperance

Pavel Ivanov-Rostovtsev

Country of origin: Russia
Majoring in: Bioengineering
Previous Affiliation: Sechenov University, Lomonosov Moscow State University
Hobbies: learning Mandarin, self-development books, spending time with dogs, swimming
Research Interests: drug development, gene and cell therapy
My unusual desire: go to Mars
My life credo: Life is the greatest project

Alisa Potapova

Country of origin: Russia
Majoring in: Engineering
Previous Affiliation: Moscow Aviation Institute
Hobbies: videogames, game development, board games, 3d printing
Research Interests: ML, AI
My unusual desire: Skydiving
My life credo: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity

Dmitrii Vasilev

Country of origin: Russia
Majoring in: Nanotechnology, biology
Previous Affiliation: Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology, Shemyakin-OvchinnikovInstitute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Hobbies: alpine skiing, badminton
Research Interests: modern approaches to tumor treatment
My life credo: einmal ist keinmal

Daria Kapustkina

Undergraduate Students

Country of origin: Chile
Majoring in: Biological Sciences
Previous Affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong
Hobbies: Volleyball, photography, games, yapping, drinking boba
Research Interests: Cancer research, Neuroscience
My unusual desire: To conduct an experiment that actually works on the first try.
My life credo: Gwenchana, mei guanxi, mm gan yu, its okay.

Fabian Pino Hormazabal

Country of Origin: Kazakhstan
Majoring in: Chemistry
Previous Affiliation: City University of Hong Kong
Hobbies: learning languages, drawing, playing video games, watching too much youtube
Research interests: Organic Chemistry, Drug Discovery
My unusual desire: Make people kinder to themselves and everyone around them
My life credo: Tomorrow is another day

Assem Kanabek

Country of Origin: Kazakhstan
Majoring in: Chemistry
Current Affiliation: City University of Hong Kong
Hobbies: World literature, playing video games
Research Interests: Organic Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry
My unusual desire: Drinking coffee and meeting new people
My life credo: Learn something new every day

Kairat Muratbek

Country of origin: Russia
Majoring in: Chemistry
Previous Affiliation: Higher School of Economics
Hobbies: anything creative, anime, video games
Research Interests: Organic chemistry, energetic materials, poly-nitrogenous compounds
My unusual desire: play all my favorite video games and cosplay all my favorite characters
My life credo: we were born to make history

Tikhomirova Anna-Mariia

Country of origin: China
Majoring in: Pharmacology
Previous Affiliation: University of Toronto
Hobbies: Learning languages, dancing, hiking, cycling, swimming, painting
Research Interests: Cancer research, drug delivery, immunopharmacology
My unusual desire: Listening to people’s favourite childhood memory
My life credo: Everything happens for a reason

Celina Xinyue Zhang

Country of origin: Russia
Majoring in: Chemistry
Previous Affiliation: Higher School of Economics
Hobbies: football, table tennis, gym
Research Interests: Organic chemistry, energetic materials, poly-nitrogenous compounds
My unusual desire: Travelling around all Japan
My life credo: Don't say anything behind someone's back that you wouldn't say to their face

Belikov Mikhail

Country of origin: Russia
Majoring in: Chemistry
Previous Affiliation: Lomonosov Moscow State University, Chemistry Department
Hobbies: Fitness, music, games
Research Interests: organic and organometallic synthesis, drug discovery
My unusual desire: to visit Antarctica
My life credo: Live as if there's no tomorrow

Alexandra Maydannikova

Country of origin: Kyrgyzstan
Majoring in: Biomedical Engineering
Previous Affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong
Hobbies: gym, chess, running marathons, learning Mandarin, psychology
Research Interests: Drug discovery
My unusual desire: start djing Brazilian Phonk
My life credo: Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving