Lab Members

Manaf Alsudaney, MD, earned his medical degree from Medical College in Baghdad, Iraq. He joined the Yang Lab at Cedars-Sinai in 2019. He is currently a project adviser at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he plays a key role in managing hepatology and transplant research programs. Alsudaney has extensive experience in clinical trials, regulatory affairs, financial management and team leadership.

Pin-Jung (Amy) Chen, MD, is a hematology and oncology fellow at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. She joined the Yang Lab in 2023 and works with Ju Dong Yang, MD, on clinical and translational research in hepatocellular carcinoma and gastrointestinal malignancies. Her research focuses on immunotherapy in HCC and biomarker development for prognostication, recurrence surveillance, and treatment response prediction. She contributes to investigator-initiated and collaborative clinical research projects and supports study development and execution within the Yang Lab.

Perla Hernandez is a UCLA graduate fluent in English and Spanish, and proficient in Portuguese, with over four years of clinical research experience. At Cedars-Sinai, she oversees the Yang Lab’s daily research operations, manages study budgets, regulatory submissions and supports study startup. She ensures compliance, coordinates audits and contributes to the successful conduct of multiple clinical trials.

Osama Khattab, MD, is a Clinical Research Data Specialist I at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He earned his medical degree from the Alexandria School of Medicine in 2024 and joined the Yang Lab in July 2025. His work focuses on coordinating clinical trials, managing research data, and supporting clinical and academic studies through data collection, chart review, and patient eligibility screening. He also contributes to academic projects and selected experimental activities that support the lab’s research mission.

Naomy Kim earned her bachelor’s degree in nutrition and a master’s degree in bioethics from Case Western Reserve University. She joined the lab in 2022 and plays a key role in prescreening for Ju Dong Yang, MD, and his colleagues’ ongoing research studies. She is fluent in Korean and supports communication with Korean-speaking study participants. In addition to supporting participant recruitment and eligibility assessment, Kim assists with data collection, data entry, and manuscript preparation for collaborative academic projects with research institutions worldwide, contributing to ongoing publications.

Daniel Marco Legaspi, MD, earned his medical degree from the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara in 2021. He joined the Yang Lab at Cedars-Sinai in March 2025, where he coordinates clinical interventional trials in hepatology oncology. He has extensive experience managing Phase I–III interventional studies in both pharmaceutical and medical device research, collaborating closely with industry sponsors.

Monserrat Marquez received her bachelor’s degree in molecular, cellular and developmental biology from Yale University. She joined the Yang Lab in 2022 and contributes to various studies by running patient visits, maintaining accurate records in study binders and EDC, and preparing for study monitoring visits.