About the Scientific Journey
On October 21st, Dr. Yuqi Tan shared her career trajectory, from obtaining her undergraduate degree at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in Cell and Molecular Biology to her Ph.D. training in the Cahan lab at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Imagine moving away from everything familiar to pursue a doctorate in computational biology in the US! It sounds exciting but also very challenging. She began her talk by charting her academic path for us. I often see the courage to confront the unknown in students who pursue a career in research. Research is as exciting as it is challenging, just like a trip to a foreign land.
About the Research Journey
Yuqi described how she developed the computation tool, SingleCellNet to quickly and quantitatively classify cells based on data derived from single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq). Modern sequencing technologies have made it possible to sequence all the RNA present in individual cells. This has allowed us to identify the differences in sequences between cell types i.e. skin cells vs. neurons.
SingleCellNet can compare sequences of a neuron and an engineered neuron (say a reprogrammed skin cell) to help predict whether the engineered cell will function properly.
Yuqi is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford School of Medicine where she is now developing 3D tools to analyze the significance of the location of cells in addition to their gene expression. A cell’s location within a tissue may influence or affect gene expression. It looks like the future is bright for Dr. Yuqi Tan and we can’t wait to find out what she does next!
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