I did my PhD in organic chemistry from Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science, China. In my PhD research, I focused on developing novel small molecule-based fluorescent/bioluminescent probes, which could be applied for detecting important biomarkers in vitro and in vivo.
After finishing my PhD, I joined Professor Yaowen Wu lab and continued my research career as a postdoc fellow. Currently, my research focus on investigating ESCRT-III protein complex. The endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT) pathway are a conserved protein machinery that plays a critical role in membrane remodeling processes such as the endosomal intralumenal vesicle (ILV) formation, enveloped virus budding, membrane repair, nuclear envelope closure, and cytokinetic abscission.
We intend to understand and study the role and function ESCRT-III complex by using chemical genetic tools. For my project, I use a range of biochemistry techniques such as microscale thermophoresis (MST), electron microscopy and hydrogen deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) to identify and characterize the mode of action.