Meet CellTrans
Our mission, our history, our team. Learn more about CellTrans.
CellTrans Mission
The Story
CellTrans is a faculty start-up company launched out of Dr. José Oberholzer’s scientific research group at the University of Illinois. Dr. Oberholzer has led the Islet Transplant Program at the University of Illinois since August of 2003 and his team has completed over 600 islet isolations as well as successful Phase I, II, and III clinical trials for islet transplantation. CellTrans aims to bring cell-based therapies including isolated islets, encapsulated islets, and human derived stem-cells to clinical application to combat the global epidemic of diabetes and other endocrine disorders.
The team includes expert scientists in the fields of diabetes and biomaterials and has highly-trained technicians, experienced surgeons, and professional administrative staff. At the core of CellTrans is the ethical and efficacious utilization of human organs and tissues for either therapeutic application or to provide exclusive research services.
Meet the CellTrans Team.
José Oberholzer, MD
Founder & President
James McGarrigle, PhD
Chief Operating Officer
Prior to CellTrans, Dr. McGarrigle served as Assistant Research Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, in the Department of Surgery, evaluating various cell therapies and biomaterial products to combat diabetes, as well as research projects aimed to improve and better assess human islet manufacture and transplantation. Earned bachelor’s degree in Microbiology and Biochemistry and a PhD in Microbiology, both from the National University of Ireland, Galway.
Giovanna La Monica, PhD
Director of Quality
Peter Rios, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
Ying Liu, Ph.D.
Chief Technology Officer
Ying Liu’s academic journey is marked by interdisciplinary training. She received her B.S. in Engineering Mechanics from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China in 2001, followed by her Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University in 2007. Notably, she was offered a tenure-track assistant professor position by UIC in 2006 before her graduation from Princeton University. Before officially joining UIC in 2008, Ying Liu deferred her position and spent a year as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Chicago in the Department of Chemistry and James Frank Institute. Throughout her career, Dr. Liu has been recognized with several prestigious awards, including Howard Carthoren Phillips Graduate Fellowship of Princeton University (2003), National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2014), UIC Researcher and Scholar of the Year Award (2016), UIC Graduate Mentor Award (2017), and Faculty and Student Team Research Award at NSF’s ChemMatCARS (2019). Dr. Liu has published more than 50 peer-reviewed articles, authored two book chapters, and held the inventorship for 10 patents and published PCTs.
Dr. Liu’s expertise lies in the fields of soft-matter physics and biophysics. Specifically, through her in-depth understanding of molecular interfacial packing, interactions, reactions, and self-assembly, Dr. Liu takes the lead in developing knowledge-based designs for bioreactors and biomaterials, with a particular focus on drug and therapeutic cell delivery. Within the Liu research group, several scalable, continuous, and self-assembling processes have been developed to enable the high-throughput screening and mass production of well-controlled nano- and microparticles, meticulously engineered for precise targeting delivery and sustained release of small molecular compounds, macromolecules, and therapeutic cells.
Ira Joshi, MS
Senior Research and Manufacturing Associate
Sofia Ghani
Quality Manager
David Cook, MS
Manufacturing Associate
Daisy Lopez
Research and Manufacturing Associate
Hafsa Nasir
Research Associate
Quetzalli Rodriguez
Undergraduate Research Assistant
In her free time, Quetzalli enjoys reading medical memoirs and spending time with her family.
Sharon Roberts
Undergraduate research assistant
Fun Fact: Sharon collects antiques that included novels and music boxes dating back to the 1800s.
Yi Li, Ph.D
Director of Biostatistics
Jenny Cook, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
Yong Wang, MD, MS
Vice President