Principal Investigator
Zhijian Qian
Zhijian Qian Ph.D. is a tenured full Professor in the Department of Medicine, at the University of Florida. Before that, he had been serving as a tenured Associate Professor of medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago for several years.
Dr. Qian received his Ph.D. degree from Shanghai Institute of Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China, and then conducted postdoc training at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Chicago. He established his independent research laboratory in 2010 in the Department of Medicine at University of Illinois at Chicago.
Dr. Qian is a scholar of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (2018) and Research of the year. His research has been supported by multiple RO1 grants from NIH and other private foundations.
Postdocs
Research assistant professor
Fang Yu
Dr. Fang Yu received his Ph.D. degree at the Institute of biomedical sciences, East China Normal University. He mainly focused on the epigenetic studies and protein post-translational modifications (PTMs), particularly protein SUMOylation and its role in transcriptional regulation during his Ph.D. stage. After that, he joined Dr. Qian’s lab as a postdoc in 2018. Since then he shifted his research directions to work on deciphering the basic mechanisms for RNA m6A methylation and its role in tumorigenesis and leukemogenesis.
assistant scientist
Chunjie Yu
Dr. Chunjie Yu joined the Qian Laboratory in September 2015. She obtained her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular biology from Wuhan University in China. Her graduate research focused on the effects of Chinese medicine, Bacalein treatment, on AMKL (Acute Megakaryoblastic Leukemia) and the investigation of how MPL mutations influence the development of Myeloproliferative Neoplasms. Her current research is focused on hematopoietic malignancy, megakaryocyte development, and combinational therapeutic strategies.
Post-Doc
Yafang Li
Dr. Yafang Li got her Ph.D. degree from the Institute of Hematology, Peking Union Medical College in China. She mainly focused on small molecular compounds targeting leukemia stem cells and the Hippo signaling pathway in hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis. She joined Dr. Qian’s lab in 2021 to continue studying the mechanisms and targeted therapy of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS).
assistant scientist
Jue Wang
Dr. Wang earned his Ph.D. degree from Saarland University in Homburg, Germany, and received his master’s degree from the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research has primarily concentrated on thrombosis and hemostasis within the field of hematology. In 2022, he joined Dr. Qian’s laboratory as an assistant scientist (faculty). His current research is focused on drug development for leukemia, based on RNA m6A methylation.
Post-doc
Sanhui Gao
Dr. Sanhui Gao gained her Ph.D. degree at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. After that, she joined Dr. Qian’s lab in 2022. Her current research is focused on deciphering the function and mechanism of RNA modifiers in leukemia and hematopoiesis.
POST-DOC
Yue Han
Dr. Yue Han earned her Ph.D. degree from the Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and joined Dr. Qian’s lab in June 2023. Her primary research focus lies in investigating the impact of RNA modification-regulated proteins on acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
POST-DOC
Xiulin Jiang
Dr. Xiulin Jiang received his Ph.D. degree at the Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He mainly focused on the function and mechanism of long non-coding RNA in cancer stem cell self-renewal and drug resistance during his Ph.D. stage. After that, he joined Dr. Qian’s lab as a postdoc in 2023. Since then he shifted his research directions to work on deciphering the function and mechanisms of RNA-binding protein in tumorigenesis and leukemogenesis.
POST-DOC
Dantong Shang
Dr. Dantong Shang got her Ph.D. degree in cell biology at Wuhan University in China. She mainly focused on the molecular mechanisms of specification of human PGCs (primordial germ cell) by using a 3-D organoids induced by iPSCs (induced pluripotent stem cells) during her Ph.D. stage. After graduation, she joined Dr. Sheng’s lab in the second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University as a postdoc in 2023, and then she worked in Dr. Qian’s lab as a visiting scholar. Since then, her research focused on the mechanisms and targeted therapy of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS).
ASSISTANT SCIENTIST
Rukiye NAR
Dr. Rukiye NAR graduated from Ege University Faculty of Medicine and completed her Medical Biochemistry specialization at Ondokuz Mayis University in Turkey. During her residency, she developed a strong interest in molecular and cellular biology. In addition to her involvement in laboratory medicine and clinical studies, she dedicated her focus to molecular research. In 2022, Dr. NAR joined Dr. Qian’s lab, where she directs her efforts toward developing innovative strategies for the treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).
Graduate Students
Ph.D
Yixiao Yuan
Yixiao Yuan is a Ph.D student from the Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology and Epigenetics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China. She mainly focused on the function and mechanism of DNA methylation in breast cancer drug resistance during his Ph.D. stage . She joined Dr. Qian’s lab in 2023 to continue studying the function and mechanisms of m6A-binding protein in the maintenance of tumorigenesis of HNSCC.
PH.D
Zuqi Shen
Zuqi Shen is a Ph.D student from Department of Integrative Medicine and Neurobiology, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. She mainly focused on Neurobiological mechanism of anxiety and depression induced by chronic pain and neurobiological mechanism of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine against depression. She was also interested in tumor therapy. She joined Dr. Qian’s lab in 2023. Now, her research is focus on bioinformatics and machine learning-based consensus virtual screening.
Staff
R.A. and Lab Manager
Zhexin Liu
Zhexin Liu joined the University of Florida in 2019. Majored in pre-professional biology for 4 years, he graduate with a B.S. degree in 2023 Spring. During his undergradute research, he focused on the genetics of the C. Elegants stress responses and then the genetics of AML .
Undergraduate Student
Undergraduate Student
Jeff John
Jeff John is a third-year student at the University of Florida majoring in Microbiology and Cell Science and minoring in Public Health. He has a strong passion for cancer and public health research and is on the pre-medical track. Jeff’s future goals are to attend medical school and specialize in Emergency Medicine with aspirations to eventually become a clinical researcher.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT
Diego Roman
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT