I was born in 1978 and began my academic journey studying biology at Shandong Normal University in China. From there, I moved on to earn my doctorate at the Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. After completing my doctorate, I had the opportunity to work as a postdoc at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) from 2005 to 2010. It was a valuable experience that laid the foundation for my future research. In 2011, I took on the role of head of the Helmholtz Young Investigator Group. This eventually evolved into the Molecular Neurogenetics Department, which I proudly established in 2015. My department is part of the DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, and the university’s Interdisciplinary Center for Neurosciences.
I’ve been fortunate to receive recognition for my work, including the prestigious EMBO Young Investigator Award, which I was proud to be the first Chinese recipient of. Other honors include the ERC Consolidator Grant and the Chica and Heinz Schaller Award. Along the way, I've also secured several international patents for my research.
In my lab, we have made some significant discoveries, like identifying neural stem cells as the cell-of-origin for glioblastoma. We even performed the first cancer stem cell knockout in GBM mouse models! Additionally, we uncovered GPD1 as the first-known marker and regulator of dormant cancer stem cells.
Innovation is a huge part of my work; we developed some cool brain tumor organoid technologies, LEGO and IPTO, and the single-molecule RNA visualization technique known as HuluFISH—both of which are patented and commercialized through DKFZ spin-off initiatives.
Currently, I’m focused on cancer dormancy, drug development, and clinical translation, all with the ultimate goal of curing glioblastoma. It’s an exciting journey, and I’m passionate about the work we’re doing to make a difference in this extremely challenging field.