My research program, ‘Regeneration Genomics’, is dedicated to unraveling the gene regulatory mechanisms that drive cell fate changes in development and regeneratio. In our quest to decode the fundamental principles of gene regulation, I have been developing several cutting-edge genomic tools, such as CREST-seq, CARGO-BioID, HiCAR and scHiCAR that benefit both our own research and the broader scientific community.

My passion for this research was sparked during my PhD training with Dr. Zhenguo Wu in Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, where I explored the epigenetic mechanism underlying skeletal muscle regeneration using mice as model organisms. This experience highlighted the crucial role of non-coding gene regulatory elements, such as enhancers, in controlling stem cell fate in regeneration and many diseases. To deepen my research expertise in epigenetics and genomics, I joined Dr. Bing Ren’s lab at UCSD (now at New York Genome Center) as a Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) Postdoctoral Fellow. As a trainee, I have published eight first-authored papers in strong journals, including PNAS, Cell Stem Cell, Dev Cell, Genome Research, Nature Methods, and Nature Genetics, demonstrating my solid training in stem cell biology, regeneration, and genomics.

Duke Cell Biology Faculty Page

Positions

• Associate Professor of Cell Biology
• Assistant Professor in Pathology
• Assistant Professor in Orthopaedic Surgery
• Affiliate of the Duke Regeneration Center
• Member of the Duke Cancer Institute

Interests

• Gene Regulation and Cell Fate Decisions
• Epigenomics and Functional Genomics
• Regeneration and Developmental Biology