Prof. YAN Jian (嚴健)

Dr Yan received his BSc in biological sciences at Tsinghua University (in 2005) and PhD in Medical Science at Karolinska Institutet (in 2014), investigating molecular mechanism of transcriptional regulation in colorectal cancer cells (Mentor: Prof. Jussi Taipale). Dr Yan obtained postdoc training with Prof. Bing Ren at UC San Diego to study 3D genome organisation and gene regulation (2015–2018). In 2018, Dr Yan joined Department of Biomedical Sciences as a tenure-track assistant professor. In 2021, Dr Yan received the university’s prestigious prize of “Outstanding Research Award for Junior Faculty”.

Due to high mutation burden in regulatory elements, affected cells develop aberrant gene transcription compared with surrounding normal cells that could device them with growth advantage. Some noncoding RNA transcripts have been used as clinical diagnostic markers for some diseases whereas the molecular mechanism of their relevance largely elusive. Our research goal is to unveil molecular mechanism of how transcriptional aberration affects cellular function and human health issues, using high throughput, state-of-the-art tools. My current interest focuses on developing genomic tools to:

1. Dissect of lncRNA function and mechanism in disease
2. Identify of genetic variations that contribute to disease pathogenesis
3. Study protein-nucleic acid interaction with high throughput pipeline