CONTRIBUTIONS TO SCIENCE

1. Discovered novel physiological roles of TMEM16 Ca2+-activated ion channels and lipid scramblase. I uncovered the physiological function of a new Ca2+-activated conductance in controlling inferior olivary neuronal activities and mediating cerebellar motor learning (Zhang et al., Neuron 2017). These findings will help understand the IO contributions to motor control and potentially provide new therapeutic targets for treating related devastating disorders such as tremor and ataxia. Recently, I discovered that TMEM16F, a Ca2+-activated phospholipid scramblase, is indispensable in controlling trophoblast syncytialization and placental development by translocating PS to cell surface independent of apoptosis (Zhang et al., Science Advances 2020, ELife 2022). The findings provide unprecedented insight into the molecular basis underlying cell-cell fusion of not only trophoblasts but also other cell types. More importantly, they provide valuable clues towards the therapeutic development for mitigating pregnancy complications such as miscarriage, intrauterine growth restriction, and preeclampsia.

2. Discovered novel calcium signaling pathway in health, disease and therapy. As the upstream of TMEM16 protein families, calcium tightly regulates the function of TMEM16 Ca2+-activated ion channels and lipid scramblase. In our collaborative work with Dr. Qing Zhang in the department of pathology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, we discovered that gamma-butyrobetaine hydroxylase 1 (BBOX1) could serve a viable target for triple negative breast cancer. Our works offer hope to this subset of patients who have few effective treatment options and often face a poor prognosis (Cancer Discovery, 2020).

3. Non-invasive techniques for disease detection and drug screening. With my expertise on optical imaging, I developed multiple non-invasive optical method to monitor the dynamics of brain vasculature and neuronal circuits in vivo (IEEE Transactions on Medical imaging, 2016. Quantitative Imaging in Med