Julia Ju, M.S.E., Ph.D.
Post-doctoral Fellow
jju@som.umaryland.edu
Research
Julia’s research has been focused on the interactions between neutrophils and circulating tumor cells in the bloodstream and how microtentacles can mediate heterotypic clustering between them to drive enhanced metastasis. She is also working on how different drug treatments affect the cytoskeleton and influence homotypic clustering between tumor cells.
Previously, Julia was a research specialist with the Martin and Vitolo labs, where she has developed and optimized the TetherChip technology to capture and analyze live CTCs from mouse models and patient blood samples post-isolation for downstream analysis.
Accolades
- NIH-T32 Training Grant in Cancer Biology (2024-2025)
- Best Poster Winner at the ACTC conference 2023 in Skiathos, Greece
Education
- B.S. and M.S.E. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
- Johns Hopkins University (2016 and 2017)
- Ph.D. in Molecular Medicine – Cancer Biology Track
- University of Maryland School of Medicine (2025)
Hobbies
Outside of the lab, Julia spends most her time spoiling her golden retriever puppy, Sandy, who is also a therapy dog for the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Martin Laboratory 