Research
Astrocyte development and the roles of astrocytes in diseases
Appointments
- Assistant Professor
- Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center
- Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior
Biography
Astrocytes constitute at least a third of all cells in human brains. Long thought to be passive support cells, astrocytes are recently found to be critical for the development and function of the central nervous system. Accumulating evidence show that astrocytes are involved in almost every type of neurological and psychiatric disorder.
The cellular and molecular mechanisms that control astrocyte development as well as dysfunction of astrocytes in neurological and psychiatric disorders remains poorly understood.
We combine cell culture and mouse genetic approaches to study the following questions:
- What signals regulate astrocyte maturation?
- How is astrocyte differentiation regulated?
- Can we improve treatment of glioblastoma by studying astrocyte development?
- Are astrocytes involved in intellectual disability and autism?
Publications
- HARMONi-A Study Investigators, Fang, W, Zhao, Y, Luo, Y, Yang, R, Huang, Y et al.. Bispecific Antibody Ivonescimab Added to Chemotherapy in EGFR-Variant Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: The HARMONi-A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2026; :. doi: 10.1001/jama.2026.7745. PubMed PMID:42307937 .
- Xu, X, Zhang, Y, Chen, X, Xu, L, Yu, X. Association Between Perioperative Allogeneic Red Blood Cell Transfusion and Venous Thromboembolism After Major Surgery: A Retrospective Cohort Study. Anesth Analg. 2026;143 (1):103-112. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000007842. PubMed PMID:42307929 .
- Lewis, GD, Garcia-Pavia, P, Masri, A, Merkely, B, Nassif, ME, Peña-Peña, ML et al.. Exercise Performance With Aficamten vs Metoprolol in Obstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: The MAPLE-HCM Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Cardiol. 2026; :. doi: 10.1001/jamacardio.2026.1730. PubMed PMID:42307914 .
- Wang, B, Deng, X, Zhang, Y, Xiao, X, Jian, D, Shi, W et al.. Systemic Proteomic Alterations and Predictive Biomarkers of Paroxetine Response in Refractory Rosacea: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Dermatol. 2026; :. doi: 10.1001/jamadermatol.2026.1437. PubMed PMID:42307911 .
- Zhang, Y, Shao, Z, Wei, Z, Liu, C, Sun, Z, Liu, L et al.. Foundation model for screening severe mitral regurgitation and severe aortic stenosis from coronary angiograms. Vis Comput Ind Biomed Art. 2026;9 (1):. doi: 10.1186/s42492-026-00221-5. PubMed PMID:42307866 .