Education:

2008    Michigan State University, PhD

2004    Michigan State University, MS

2001    Peking University (China), BS

Teaching:

CHM 414/514 Biochemistry Laboratory

CHM 416 Computer Methods in Biochemistry and Bioinformatics

CHM 411/511 Biochemistry I

CHM 412/512 Biochemistry II

CHM 550 Methods in Structural Biology

 

I am a biochemist and structural biologist. For my doctoral research, I worked in a joint project led by Drs. James Geiger and Babak Borhan, where we engineered a protein mimic of Rhodopsin to investigate the wavelength regulation mechanism in primate color vision. During my postdoctoral research in Dr. Yong Xiong’s lab at Yale University, I began to study how the HIV-1 virus disables antiviral mechanisms by forcing protein mistrafficking. I joined the department of chemistry and biochemistry at UMass Dartmouth in fall 2016. Here I continue to follow my interests in studying the immune evasion strategies of HIV-1.

It is a privilege for me to be engaged in academic research. I hope that my interests continue to grow and that our work can bring value to the scientific community and possibly beyond. I try to make research a fulfilling experience for everyone in the team, including myself. I also believe that passion nurtured through research is the best fuel for teaching. Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with family, reading, and playing sports.