2014 Awardees at Ceremony

Di Zhao

 Background: Ms. Zhao received her bachelor degree fromZhejiang University in 2009, and is conducting her Ph.D. research in thelaboratory of Dr. Guan Kunliang at Fudan University. Her major project was todetermine the regulation of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and its alteration incancer.1) She shows that acetylation of one particular isoform, LDHA,contributes to pancreatic cancer development. 2) She discovered that North‐LDHA regulation is changed in a subsetof breast cancer cell lines.

Citation: Ms. Zhao shows clearunderstanding of her project. She was able to follow where the data lead andmade significant discoveries. She is very knowledgeable about proteinmodification and regulation of cancerous gene expression. It is very pleasantand it is easy to communicate with her. She is confident and aims high.Overall, all the judges were impressed and considered her as an outstandinggraduate student.

This prize is sponsored by Drs. JianminChen and Xiaoqiao Jiang.

Kun Li

Background:Ms. Li entered the Ph.D. program in Institute of Neuroscience, ShanghaiInstitutes for Biological Science, Chinese Academy of Science in 2008. Heradvisor is Dr.Hu Hailan. She focuses on examining the molecular mechanismunderlying habenular hyperactivity in depression. She and collaboratorsidentified a synaptic protein that modulates glutamatergic transmission in thelateral hebenula. They performed electrophysiological recording and behaviroltests to show that this synaptic protein (a form ofcalcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase) regulates glutamate receptor insertioninto postsynaptic membrane of hebenula neuron, leading to changes in the outputof these neurons in controlling depression-related circuits and thedepression-like behaviors.

Citation:She found an important regulator related to depression. She knows broad aspectsof neuroscience. She touched upon a number of different advanced techniques andmade strong combine different techniques to solve complicated problems. She offersan excellent expression in discussion. She has the determination to reach highgoals.

This prize issponsored by the Yu and Wei Foundation.

Yang Li

 Background: Mr. Li entered the PhD program at XiamenUniversity in 2010. His advisor is Dr.Lin Shengcai. He and his colleaguesdiscovered a novel signaling pathway that integrates protein phosphorylationand acetylation into the regulation of serum-deprivation-induced autophagy，an acute intracellular catabolismprocess that maintains energy and metabolic substrates even in the presence ofample nutrients.

Citation: Mr.Li is brigt, thoughtful andvery confident. He did a systematic search of the downsteam modification, andwas able to produce specific antibodies. The broad coverage of all aspectsleads to his new discoveries. He is knowlegeable outside his field. He knowsthe work of other labs and other fields. His presentation was very good. He ishighly interactive, and likes to collaborate. He has a broad vision.

This prize issponsored by Crown Bioscience Inc.

Xiangxi Wang

Background: Mr. Wang began his Ph.D. study under the direction of Dr. Rao Ziheat in the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2009. Hisproject mainly focuseson the uncoating mechanisms of Picornavirus and drugdesign based on viral structures. He has 1) solved several high resolutioncrystal structures of EV71 virus in distinct forms, 2) successfully designed afew leading compounds of high affinity toward the virus, which provide guidesto develop potential herapeutic drugs, and 3) solved crystal structures ofSCARB2 (an EV71 receptor) at neutral and acidic conditions, which shed light onthe molecular basis of SCARB2-mediated invasion of EV71.

Citation:Mr. Wang has independent and innovative ideas in structural biology.  He has advanced technical skills, andthinking in long terms. His work is outstanding. He is basically responsiblefor the two major papers. He is part of the leadership of the research team. Heknows a lot about virus studies, virus entry and antiviral studies as well asthe limitation in viral structural biology. He shows determination. He knowswhat he wants to do, and willing to meet tough challenges.

This prize is sponsored by ChineseBiological Investigators Society.

Jiayu Chen

Background: Mr.Chen received his bachelor degree from Shandong University in 2010, and isconducting his Ph.D. research in the laboratory of Dr. Li Chuanyun at BeijngUniversity. Mr. Chen works on three genomics. By taking the dual-advantages ofrhesus macaque as a model animal and a species closely related to human, as thefirst author, he found that more than 80% of the de novo-created humanprotein-coding genes encoded long non-coding RNAs in rhesus macaque, withsimilar transcript structure and correlated tissue expression profile.

Citation:He understands the field well, and was able to develop novel datasets andmethods to analyse de novo genes in primates. He is aware of broad medicalproblems but only addressed the other areas briefly. His presentation is clear,and his answers are sharp. He is ambitionus and will keep doing comparativeevolution biology.

Zhikai Wang

 Background: Mr. Wang enteredthe Ph.D. program in University of Science & Technology of China in 2008.His advisor is Dr. Yao Xuebiao. His research work mainly focused on themolecular basis of microtubule dynamics and its regulation. He and hiscollaborators showed that dynamic regulation of EB1 acetylation orchestratesproper mitosis.

Citation:Mr. Wang works very hard and made a highly significant discovery. He was veryclear about his own research, and described the project step by step. He isvery thoughtful, has good knowledge about cell division. He made an excellentexpression. He answers question firmly and clearly. He is persistent in hisstudies, and could follow the new trend of the field.

This prize is sponsored by Promega Corporation Inc.

Yanbo Zhang

Background: Mr. Zhang received his BSfrom Henan University in 2008, and enteredthe PhD program in Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology (IBCB), Shanghai Institutesfor Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, where he studies underDr.Wang Hongyan. His research focus is on immunology. His work showed thatVEGFR-3 and VEGF-C negatively regulate TLR4 signaling in macrophages andprevent host from septic shock, which might have broad ramifications.

Citation: Mr.Zhang is thoughtful and motivated. He is familiar with the field andliterature. He has independently designed the macrophage studies. He is awareof other topics, especially tummor immunology. He can talk clearly withconfidence. He addressed questions with precision.

Jie Li

Background:Mr. Li entered the Ph.D. program in Shanghai Jiaotong University of Medicine in2007. His advisor is Dr. Chen Guoqiang. His research work mainly focused on themolecular mechanisms underlying sumoylation of HIF-1α and its roles in cancerprogression. He reported that Cbx4 governs HIF-1α to potentiate angiogenesis ofhepatocellular carcinoma by its SUMO E3 ligase activity.

Citation: Mr. Liis persistent and highy motivated. He works hard and spends 7 years to reachthe final goal. He understood his work thoroughly, and was able to identify animpotant pathway. He has broad knowledge of transcription regulation. He wasable to communicate in English and experss himself very well. He wants to solveimportant problems.

Zhe Ying 

Background: Mr. Ying received his BSfrom Zhongshan University in 2009, and is conducting his Ph.D. study in thelaboratory of Dr. Li Mengfeng at Zhongshan University. Zhe’s research focusedon mechanisms governing stemness and invasiveness of cancer cells. Hesuccessfully identified AGK-JAK2 interaction as a mechanism by which JAK2 isconstitutively activated independent of mutation of JH2 domain in esophagealsquamous carcinoma.  He has also found that silencing of miR-204 as ashared mechanism between glioma and neuron stem cells, which guarantees thehighly expression of stemness governing and cell migration promoting genes.

Citation: Mr.Ying was able to extend his current studies to another field. He is familiarwith the related field, but his knowledge about other broad topics is limited.His verbal expression is good. He is enthusiastic about science, and has aclear vision on what he likes to do in the future.

Jingjing Zheng 

Background: Ms. Zheng entered her Ph.D.program in Institute of Neuroscience, Shanghai Institutes for BiologicalScience, Chinese Academy of Science in 2007. Her advisor is Dr. Yu Xiang. Shefocuses on studing the effect sensory experience on cortical excitatoryneurons. She found that early unimodal sensory deprivation, either throughwhisker-deprivation or dark-rearing, significantly reduced excitatory synaptictransmission layer II/III pyramidal neurons of the correspondence sensorycortex, and crossmodally in other sensory cortices.

Citation: Ms.Zheng is mature. She can independently design experiments to support herhypothesis. She completed a difficult project, which represents a new discoveryabout a novel molecular mechanism. She is reasonable familiar with the field. Mr.Zheng wants to dedicate to study autism. She cares about the health status ofthe large population.

Jian Shu

Background: Mr. Shu entered the PhD programin Peking University, where he studies under Dr. Hongkui Deng in 2009. Theproject he has been studying is to find the substitutes for the most importpluripotency factor Oct4 in the process of induction of iPSCs. He designed asystem for genome-wide screening of Oct4 substitutes, and discovered acombination of two small molecules to enable the successful screening. Heproved that pluripotency factors might direct lineage specification, and thatlineage specifiers might in turn facilitate induction of pluripotency.

Citation: Mr.Shu shows the passion incurrent research work. He is responsible for modifying the screening method soit is possible to identify more important factors. He is very good in bigpicture of biology, and has quite innovation minds. He can answer all ofquestions clearly with fluent English.