People






 Yuping Chen 陈于平. Yuping grew up in Ningde, a coastal city in Fujian, China. As an undergraduate, he worked in the laboratories of Drs. Zhongzhou Chen and Bin Wang, where he became interested in CRISPR, an adaptive immune system found in bacteria and archaea. He later joined Dr. Jennifer Doudna’s group at the University of California, Berkeley to further study the spacer acquisition process in the CRISPR system. After graduating from college, he enrolled as a Genetics Ph.D. student at Stony Brook University in 2012, under the supervision of Dr. Bruce Futcher. There, he focused on two topics: 1) how the central cell cycle regulator, CDK (Cyclin-Dependent Kinase), directly regulates carbohydrate storage, and 2) how cell size is controlled through differential expression of cell cycle activators and inhibitors in budding yeast. He joined the Ferrell lab at Stanford University in 2019, where he is studying how organismic density drives the formation of organismic assemblies and how cytoplasmic density affects protein translation and degradation. He is currently a PI at Shenzhen Institute for Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciesnce.
Outside the lab, Yuping enjoys playing the guitar, reading books, fixing household items, playing soccer, and doing outdoor activities.

Qian Li 李倩. Qian was raised in Hunan, a Chinese province renowned for its legendary figures. She studied biological sciences at Hunan University of Arts and Sciences and developed a strong interest in the complex functions of the human brain. After graduation, she joined the Xiangya Human Brain Bank at Central South University to engage in research related to the human brain. For her master's degree, Qian focused on exploring the structural variations and functions of the insula by combining microscopic anatomy research with imaging studies on postmortem brains. She is now working as a research assistant in the Chen lab at Shenzhen Institute for Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Science.
During her free time, Qian enjoys reading books, watching movies, hiking, and listening to music.

Xiaoting Xu 徐小婷. Xiaoting grew up in Liuzhou, a small yet picturesque city. She earned her bachelor's degree from Hubei Normal University and later pursued her master's in ecology from Hubei University, where she studied the chromosome behavior of autotetraploid rice during meiosis. Currently, she serves as a research assistant in the Chen lab.
In her leisure time, Xiaoting enjoys playing with cats, photography, and singing.

Xiaofang Zhong 仲小芳. Xiaofang Zhong was born and raised in Taizhou, Jiangsu, China. She earned her master's degree in fish immunology at South China Normal University (SCNU), under the supervision of Prof. Ye Jianmin. After graduating from SCNU in 2018, she joined Prof. Woody Chan's group at the Chinese University of Hong Kong to pursue a doctoral degree. During her studies in Hong Kong, she researched stem cell induction and therapy in mammalian cells. She discovered that mouse iPSCs could be induced into vagal neural crest cells (VNCCs) with high efficiency, proposing these induced VNCCs as a promising tool for cell therapy in Hirschsprung’s disease. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Chen lab working on regulation of cytoplamsic density in mammalian systems.
Xiaofang has a wide range of hobbies, including running, mountain climbing, hiking, and playing table tennis.

Yunxiao Dai 代云霄. Yunxiao grew up in Sichuan, a Chinese province renowned for its pandas and iconic cuisine. He earned his bachelor's degree from Wuhan University, majoring in both chemical biology and computer science and technology. His primary research interest lies in utilizing computers to simulate life activities and explore the phenomenon of cellular aging. Currently, he is a research assistant intern in the Chen lab.
In his free time, Yunxiao enjoys cycling, reading poetry of the Hazy School, and engaging with ACG (Anime, Comics, and Games). He is also an admirer of Yu Qiuyu's prose and Wen Tiejun's economic theories.

Staff

Yang Xiang 向杨. Yang is a Shenzhen native, with ancestral roots in Hunan, China. She pursued postgraduate studies at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom, specializing in Finance and Investment. Currently, she works as an Administrative Associate in the lab.
Beyond her work, Yang has a passion for visiting art exhibitions and traveling.

Alumni

Yimeng Xu 徐翼萌. Yimeng hails from Shihezi, a small yet talent-rich city in the Xinjiang province of China. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Marine Science, with a focus on Marine Biology, from Shandong University, Weihai. Yimeng is deeply fascinated by bioinformatics, particularly the integration of Artificial Intelligence in the fields of Biology and Medicine. His interests include exploring RNA sequencing and the discovery of new medicinal drugs. He is currently a graduate student in Tsinghua University Shenzhen International Graduate School.
Outside of his professional pursuits, Yimeng dedicates his leisure time to a variety of interests. He is passionate about Weiqi (Go), enjoys playing the piano, and finds relaxation in slow walking.