I am a developmental neurobiologist with interdisciplinary training in genomics, proteomics and neuroscience. My research seeks to understand how cellular and synaptic diversity arises during human brain development and evolution, and how these same mechanisms may be hijacked in diseases such as brain cancer.

I received my BS from Fudan University, where I studied synaptic plasticity during critical periods in the visual cortex. During my PhD with Huda Zoghbi at Baylor College of Medicine, I explored the molecular basis of neurodevelopmental disorders, uncovering how mutations in key proteins like SHANK3 and MeCP2 disrupt neural function. My postdoctoral work with Arnold Kriegstein at UCSF expanded this focus to human brain development at single-cell resolution. I generated multi-omic atlases and cross-species proteomic maps that revealed novel progenitor cell types and human-specific synapse maturation programs, with implications for cognition and brain cancer. I launched my independent lab at Stanford University in October 2025, where I continue to study human brain development, with a particular focus on stem cell lineages, synaptic diversity and how dysregulated developmental processes contribute to brain tumors.

I have received many awards, including the NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, the Trainee Professional Development Award from the Society for Neuroscience, the Keystone Symposia Scholarship, the Dennis Weatherstone Predoctoral Fellowship from Autism Speaks and the Dean’s Award for Excellence from Baylor College of Medicine.