Welcome to the Lang Lab! We have a great group of people working with us.
Jessica Lang, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Center for Precision Medicine Faculty Member
Center for Genomic Science Innovation Affiliate Faculty Member
Jessica obtained her bachelors (Genetics, 2009) and doctorate (Cancer Biology, 2014) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She then completed two postdoctoral fellowships at Arizona State University and The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen). Jessica was awarded an NCI K99/R00 in 2019 to focus her studies on the role of super-enhancers in high-grade serous ovarian carcinomas. She joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty in 2021, where she will leverage her experience in translational biology, genomics, and epigenetics.
In her spare time, Jessica enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, outdoors activities, reading, and game nights.
Kristin Adams, MS
Researcher I
Kristin obtained her bachelors (Human Biology-Health Science Emphasis, 2015) at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and her masters (Cell and Molecular Biology, 2017) at University of Wiconsin-La Crosse. Her masters thesis work characterized BRCA1-deficient breast cancer cells with acquired resistance to CHK1 inhibitor therapy. Kristin joined the Lang lab as Research Specialist in 2021 after spending almost 4.5 years as a Research Specialist and Lab Manager within UW’s Human Oncology Department. Outside of work Kristin is an active volunteer with various dog rescue groups and is a part-time assistant trainer with Dog’s Best Friend Training in Madison. She enjoys spending her free time with her family at home, and her favorite activity is exploring new hiking spots in the area.
Jae Rim (Kendra) Wendt, MS
Research Specialist
Kendra obtained her bachelors (Microbiology, 2015) and masters (Veterinary Medicine, 2017) at Chungbuk National University in South Korea. For her master’s thesis, she studied the potential of engineered stem cells as delivery vehicles for treatment of malignant melanoma. Kendra joined the Lang lab as a Research Specialist in 2022. Outside of work, Kendra enjoys reading, working out, traveling, and spending time with her family.
Zhongmou Jin, MS
Graduate Student
Jin is a graduate student from the Cellular and Molecular Biology program. His work focuses on characterizing the functional requirement of super-enhancers in ovarian cancer.
Lauren Kersten
Research Assistant
Lauren is a double Major in Molecular and Cell Biology and Spanish. She joined the Lang lab in February of 2024. Lauren has aspirations of going to medical school after receiving her bachelor’s degrees. In her free time, Lauren enjoys cycling, going on walks with her dog, horseback riding and volunteering at a local therapeutic horseback riding center.
Amelia Rancour
Research Assistant
Amelia is an undergraduate majoring in biochemistry at UW-Madison. She joined the lab in May of 2024 as a research assistant. Amelia plans to go to graduate school and become a scientific researcher. In her free time, she likes to play the piano, read, crochet, hang out with friends, and play soccer.
Former Lab Members:
Josie Wood - Research Intern and Research Assistant (2022-2024) Srihari Gopalan - Research Assistant (2022-2024) Kevin Shine George - Research Assistant (2024-2025) Ryan Moreno - Graduate Student (2023-2024) Sydney Olson - Research Assistant (2022-2025)
We’re growing our team!
Postdocs
We continuously review highly qualified postdoc applicants. Send Dr. Lang an email with CV and cover letter.
Affiliated graduate programs
Cellular & Molecular Pathology
Cancer Biology
Cellular & Molecular Biology