Yanan Xing, PhD

During my doctoral training at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences under the mentorship of Professor Hongxuan He, I investigated the molecular mechanisms by which home microRNAs modulate influenza virus pathogenesis, particularly in individuals with underlying cardiovascular conditions. Another study I co-led revealed that NEDD9 is a protein with emerging relevance in viral infection and coagulation pathways, with implications for cardiovascular and pulmonary function during influenza infection. Dr. Liu’s laboratory is dedicated to research on direct human cardiac reprogramming and heart regeneration. Compared with mouse models, this process takes longer in human cells and is less efficient, indicating that key regulators are missing. Dr. Liu’s research interests in this field are highly aligned with mine, and her expertise in the regulation of gene expression and omics technologies aligns precisely with the key areas I plan to study during my postdoctoral training. Therefore, I joined Dr. Liu’s lab at the Medical College of Wisconsin recently in August 2025. After joining the lab, I organized and plotted preliminary data previously collected in the lab on a silico screen and CRISPRa screen for master regulators to promote human cardiac reprogramming.