People

Principal Investigator

      Xiaozhou Luo is a professor and executive director at Center for Synthetic Biochemistry (CSB), Institute of Synthetic Biology (iSynBio), Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT), Chinese Academy of Sciences.
      Dr. Luo received his Bachelor degree from Nanyang Technological University in 2010, and PhD in chemistry from The Scripps Research Institute in 2016. He was a post-doctoral fellow at Jay D. Keasling’s lab at the University of California, Berkeley before joining SIAT.
      He is mainly engaged in the innovative research of synthetic biology of natural products and the directed evolution of enzymes. His work has been published in Nat Chem Biol, Cell Chem Biol, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, Angew Chem Int Ed and other top international academic journals.

Associate Professors

Hongting Tang(汤红婷)

Email:ht.tang@siat.ac.cn 

Education

PhD, 2011 – 2016, Shandong University, China; Supervisor: Prof. Xiaoming Bao

BS, 2007 – 2011, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, China

Work Experience

Associate Professors, 2021-present, SIAT (Prof. Xiaozhou Luo and Jay D. Keasling)

Assistant professor, 2019 – 2020, SIAT (Prof. Xiaozhou Luo and Jay D. Keasling)

PostDoc, 2016 – 2018, Peking University (Prof. Tao Liu)

Research InterestEfficient biosynthesis of valuable products using cheap carbon sources such as cellulose and CO2

Assistant Professors & Postdocs

Qiaoli Liu (刘巧利)

Email:ql.liu@siat.ac.cn 

Education

PhD, 2012.09 – 2018.12, Jiangnan University, Prof. Zhiming Rao

MSc, 2006.09 – 2009.06, Northwest A&F University, Prof. Gehong Wei

BS, 2002.09 – 2006.06, Xinjiang University

Work Experience

PostDoc, 2019.04 – 2023.02, SIAT, Prof. Xiaozhou Luo

R&D Engineer, 2009.08 – 2012.02, Shandong BaoLaiLiLai Biological Engineering co. LTD

Research Fields: Biosynthesis of unnatural amino acids.

Yunfeng Zhang (张云丰)

Email:yf.zhang@siat.ac.cn 

Education

PhD, 2013-2019, Jiangnan University (Prof. Guocheng Du)

Visiting Scholar, 2017-2019, University of California at Berkeley (Pro. Jay D. Keasling)

BS, 2009-2013 Inner Mongolia Normal University (Prof. Min Li)

Work Experience

Assistant professor, 2021- present, SIAT (Pro. Xiaozhou Luo & Jay D. Keasling)

Post doctor, 2019-2021, SIAT (Pro. Xiaozhou Luo & Jay D. Keasling)

Research interest: Engineering yeast chassis to produce terpenoids; Direct evolution of enzymes for specific reactions.

Dan He (何丹)

Email:dan.he@siat.ac.cn 

Education

PhD, 2012.09 – 2019.06, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University (Prof. Youliang Peng)

BS, 2008.09 – 2012.06, College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University

Work experience

Assistant professor, 2021.08 – present, SIAT (Prof. Xiaozhou Luo and Prof. Jay D. Keasling)

PostDoc, 2019.07 – 2021.07, SIAT (Prof. Xiaozhou Luo and Prof. Jay D. Keasling)

Research interest: Establishment of efficient synthetic pathways for fatty acid derivatives in Escherichia coli.

Huaxiang Deng(邓华祥)

Email:hx.deng@siat.ac.cn

Education

PhD, 2012 – 2019, Jiangnan University (Prof. Yujie Cai)

Visiting PhD student, 2018 – 2019, University of California, at Berkeley (Prof. Jay D. Keasling)

BS, 2008 – 2012, Sichuan University of Science & Engineering (Prof. Dan Huang)

Work Experience

Assistant professor, 2021 – present, SIAT (Prof. Xiaozhou Luo and Jay D. Keasling)

PostDoc, 2019 – 2021, Jiangnan University (Prof. Yujie Cai)

Research interest: An efficient chemical platform in E. coli by biofoundry-assisted pathway debottlenecking

Jing Liang(梁菁)

Email:jing.liang@siat.ac.cn

Education

PhD, 2013.08 – 2018.10, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, USA (Prof. Jianyong Li).

MSc, 2010.09 – 2013.07, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai, China (Prof. Juan Lin)

BS, 2006.09 – 2010.07, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an, China

Work Experience

PostDoc, 2019.12-present, SIAT (Xiaozhou Luo)

Practical training, 2018.10 – 2019.10, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, USA

Reasearch interest:

Xinran Wang(王欣然)

Email:xr.wang@siat.ac.cn

Education & work experience:

2020-now, SIAT, Keasling and Luo lab

PhD&PostDoc, 2012-2020, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Prof. Linquan Bai’s lab;

BS&MSc, 2005-2012, Shandong University, Prof. Qingsheng Qi’s lab;

Research direction: Development of engineering tools for streptomyces chassis

Lingfeng Zhu(朱凌峰)

Email:zhulf@siat.ac.cn

Education

PhD, 2016.09 – 2020.06, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (Prof. Michael Bott)

MSc, 2012.09 – 2016.01, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Prof. Bo Yu)

BS, 2008.09 – 2012.06, China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing

Work Experience

Assistant professor, SIAT (Prof. Xiaozhou Luo and Prof. Jay D. Keasling)

PostDoc, 2020-2022, SIAT (Prof. Xiaozhou Luo and Prof. Jay D. Keasling)

Research Interest:

Pan Zhang(张盼)

Email:pan.zhang@siat.ac.cn

Education

PhD, 2013.09-2020.06, China Agricultural University (Prof. Wenxin Chen and Prof. Changfu Tian)

BS, 2009.09-2013.06, Tianjin Agricultural University

Work Experience

Assistant professor, 2023.03- present, SIAT (Prof. Xiaozhou Luo)

PostDoc, 2020.07-2023.03, SIAT (Prof. Xiaozhou Luo)

Research Interest: Biosynthesis and Application of Unnatural Amino Acids

Yang Zhang(张洋铭)

Email:ym.zhang@siat.ac.cn

Education

MD, 2017.09-2020.06, Peking University (Prof. Changtao Jiang)

BS, 2012.09-2017.06, Peking University

Work Experience

Assistant professor, 2022.08- present, SIAT (Prof. Xiaozhou Luo)

PostDoc, 2020.08-2022.08, SIAT (Prof. Xiaozhou Luo)

Research interest: Commensal microbiome and human diseases; AI-based discovery on multi-omics.

Tongjian Yang(杨统见)

Email:tj.yang@siat.ac.cn

Education

PhD, 2013-2020, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Prof. Yihua Chen and Prof. Keqian Yang).

Research interest

Assistant professor, 2022-present, SIAT (Prof. Jay Keasling and Prof. Xiaozhou Luo)

PostDoc, 2020-2022, SIAT (Prof. Jay Keasling and Prof. Xiaozhou Luo)

Reasearch area:

My primary research aims to develop an automated platform for creating industrial microbial chassis that are more efficient and streamlined, with the goal of making it easier to discover bioactive secondary metabolites through high-throughput mining.

Haibing He (何海兵)

Email: hb.he@siat.ac.cn

Education
2016 – 2020, PhD, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo; Supervisor: Prof. Ikuro Abe

2013 – 2016, MSc, Ocean College, Zhejiang University, China; Supervisor: Prof. Zhongjun Ma

2009 – 2013, BS, Jilin University, China

Work Experience

2022 – present, Senior Research Associate, SIAT, Prof. Xiaozhou Luo

2020 – 2022, Postdoctoral Research Associate,  Supervisor: Prof. Xiaozhou Luo

Research Interest: Enzyme engineering and metabolic engineering

Zhibo Li (黎志波)

Email: lizb@siat.ac.cn

Education:

PhD, 2015.12-2020.8, University of Groningen, the Netherlands, Molecular Genetics group, Prof. Oscar P. Kuipers

MSc, 2013.9-2015.7, China Agricultural University, Plant nutrition, Prof. Lixing Yuan

BS, 2009.9-2013.7, Northwest Agricultural & Forestry University, Resources and Environmental Science

Work experience:

Assistant Professor, 2022.12-present, SIAT, Keasling&Luo lab

PostDoc, 2020.12-2022.11 postdoc, SIAT, Keasling&Luo lab

Research interest: Heterologous expression of secondary metabolite BGCs.

Yun Liu (刘云)

Email: yun.liu@siat.ac.cn

Education

PhD, 2016.09-2020.12, Huazhong Agricultural University, Horticulture, Supervisor, Prof. Xiuxin Deng

MSc, 2014.09-2016.06, Huazhong Agricultural University, Horticulture, Supervisor, Prof. Xiuxin Deng

BS, 2010.09-2014.06, Shanxi Agricultural University

Work Experience

PostDoc, 2021.05-present, SIAT, Prof. Xiaozhou Luo

Research: Synthetic biology of microorganisms, and discovery, biosynthesis and evolution of plant natural products

Yaying Xu (徐亚英)

Email:yy.xu2@siat.ac.cn

Education

PhD, 2017.09-2023.01, East China University of Science and Technology (Prof. Zhimin Li)

BS, 2009.09-2013.06, Jiangsu Ocean University

Work Experience

PostDoc, 2023.02-present, SIAT (Prof. Xiaozhou Luo)

Research Interest: Metabolic engineering yeast chassis for terpenoid product.

Research Assistants

Rui Di(狄睿)
Chinese University of Hong Kong, Food nutrition
Metabolic engineering of yeast for fermentation of natural products

Biming ZHONG (钟必鸣)
The University of Melbourne, Food science
Characterization and quantification of polyphenols in plants using LC-QTOF-MS/MS

mixian Zhao(赵米贤)
China Agricultural University, Agronomy and Seed Industry

Function of gut microbiota

Shumin Lin(林淑敏)
Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Pharmaceutical Analysis
Complete biosynthesis of natural products

NINGXIN CHEN(陈宁辛)
Soochow University, Microbiology
Function of Organic Hydroperoxide Resistance Gene against Organic Peroxides in Vibrio parahaemolyticus

Banlai Ruan(阮班来)
China Medical University, Basic Medical
Function of gut microbiota in diseases

Jing Wang(王景)
Southwest University, Genetics

Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology of Natural products

Technicians

Dadeng Zhang(张达登)
Yunnan Agricultural University,Cultivation and identification of Chinese herbal medicine
Fungal Culture and fermentation

Qiuchi Song (宋秋池)
Sichuan Agricultural University, Plant biotechnology

biosynthesis of plant natural products

Engineers

Junfeng Shen(沈俊峰)
Shenzhen University, Microbiology
Fungal secondary metabolites

Yulan Qiu(邱玉兰)
Zhejiang Wanli University, Biotechnology
Next generation sequencing

Graduate Students

Yanling Wu(吴燕玲)
PhD Student
University of Melbourne, Biotechnology
Regulation of gene expression by controling transcription factor, biosynthesis of terpenoid and automation technique transformation

Han Yu(余函)
Master Student

Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Intelligent science and technology
Characterization of enzyme function, machine learning

Yan Chen (陈燕)
Master Student

Dalian University of Technology, Bioengineering
Biosynthesis of unnatural amino acids

Visiting Scholars

Feifei Li(李菲菲)
Inner Mongolia University, Biology
Biosynthesis, separation and extraction of natural products

Shuo Yang (杨硕)
Qilu University of Technology, Biology and medicine

Construction and Optimization of Microbial Cell factories

Yanan Qiao(乔亚南)
Institute of Microbiology, Shandong University, Natural Medicinal Chemistry
Synthetic biology about secondary metabolites from liverworts

Shengli Zhuang (庄胜利)
The University of Hong Kong, Postdoc
The University of Science and Technology of China, PhD

Main research fields are centered on the synthesis of metal clusters and their catalytic organic chemistry

Linlin Xu(徐林琳)
Northeast Forestry University,
Cell biology
Synthesis and regulation of plant natural products

Administrative Assistant

Zhenqin Wei(魏珍琴)
Nanchang Institute of Technology, Business Administration
Accounting Direction

Alumni

Postdoctoral Fellows

Xixi Zhao(赵西西)
University of California, Berkeley

Jiazeng Yang(杨加增)

Dr. Que Chen(陈鹊)
Dr. Yin Zhang(张尹)
Dr. Ruidong Chen(陈瑞东)
Dr. Xiaoxue Zhou(周小雪)

Research Assistants

Shengtao Bo(薄胜涛)
Huan Lu(卢欢)
Shasha Li(李沙沙)

Tingye Feng(冯庭叶)

Nanzhu Chen(陈南柱)

University of Hong Kong
Doctoral student

Jiliang Deng(邓吉良)

WuHan University
Doctoral student

Changle Zhao(赵长乐)
Tianjin University
Doctoral student

Dawei You(尤大伟)

Peking University
Doctoral student

Yimeng Cui (崔一萌)
Xufan Lian(廉旭凡)
Yufei Chen(陈俞妃)
Ce Dong(董策)
Yanwu Deng(邓艳午)

Visiting Scholars

Weiyue Liang(梁维悦)
Jiangnan University
Master student

Yamin Lin(林亚敏)
Institute of Microbiology, CAS – Doctoral Student

Zexin Wang (王泽新)

Lijuan Liu (刘丽娟)
HongKong University

Donyi Liu (刘冬艺)
HongKong University

Technicians

Zhaohui Zheng(郑兆辉)

Haolin Luo (罗浩林)
Shenzhen University
Master Student

Yuxian He (何雨贤)
Zao Zhuang University, Biotechnology