Professional Summary:

Neurons undergo dramatic remodeling during development to become fully mature. A remarkable feature of neuronal remodeling is to complete the opposing degeneration and regeneration in sequence to replace juvenile with adult morphology, and aberrant remodeling leads to developmental diseases such as autism and blindness that affect millions of people. This process heavily relies on temporal gene expression, but how chromatin is regulated to achieve such gene expression dynamics remains poorly defined. A major challenge is to determine precise mechanisms with cell type resolution and solid quantification, given the extraordinary cellular heterogeneity in the nervous system.

My lab investigates regulation of chromatin 3D organization that ensures proper transcriptomic dynamics during neuronal remodeling with unprecedented temporal and cell-type resolution. We focus on neurons that are explicitly defined for their synchronized development to mechanistically study specific developmental phase. With full bench and computational capacity, we use FACS-isolated cells to identify cell type-specific mechanisms while considering both solid quantification and cell-cell heterogeneity by integrating bulk, single-cell omics and imaging. The obtained knowledge provides unparalleled accuracy and dimensions to guide medical and clinical studies of developmental disorders.

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*************We are seeking postdocs, technicians, and students at all levels. See lab website on right*********

Education and Training:

• Fellowship, Postdoc, National Institutes of Health
• PhD, Cellular Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Oklahoma

Employment:

• Assistant Professor, Biochemistry, University at Buffalo (2024-present)

Awards and Honors:

• K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, National Institutes of Health (NIH) (2019)
• Fellows Award for Research Excellence, 2018-2019, NIH (2018)
• Nancy Nossal Fellowship Award, NIH (2017)
• Honor Presentation Award, University of Oklahoma (OU) (2014)
• Loren G. Hill Excellence Research Award, 2012-2013, OU (2012)
• M. Blanche Adams and M. Frances Adams Scholarships, 2012-2014, OU (2012)
• Alumni Travel Fellowship, 2008-2013, Graduate College, OU (2008)
• Alumni Fellowship, 2008-2013, OU (2008)
• Excellence Research Thesis, Ocean University of China (OUC) (2008)
• Excellence Honor Research Award, OUC (2007)