My journey in conducting biological research began during my undergraduate when I had a chance to work in Dr. Min Wu’s lab in Wuhan University, China to study a potential cancer casual genetic variant in cultured cells. This experience ignited my passion to pursue a long-term career in research. Eager to expand my horizons, I applied for graduate school immediately after undergraduate and joined the Ph.D. program in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at University of Rochester. I began my Ph.D. research in Dr. Peng Yao’s lab focusing on the role of RNA-binding proteins in RNA processing. It was during this time I realized how my work could be enriched by employing powerful high-throughput sequencing techniques and bioinformatic analysis. Motivated by this realization, I began learning both the experimental and analytical aspects of sequencing techniques. I was later granted a sabbatical in Dr. Lai Wei’s lab in Yat-sen University, China, where I accumulated enough knowledge and experience regarding sequencing analysis. Levering this knowledge, I established a bioinformatic branch upon returning to the Yao Lab and applied sequencing to all projects in the lab, analyzing sequencing data generated by myself and collaborators. After completing my Ph.D. Therefore, I joined as a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Jin Billy Li’s lab at Stanford University, where I will combine my knowledge in the field of RNA biology and bioinformatic skills to study the dsRNA processing, specifically, editing, in autoimmune diseases.

Research Interest: RNA biology, mRNA translation, RNA editing, cardiovascular diseases, microRNA, antisense oligonucleotides

Publication List:

1. Jiang, F., Hedaya, O.M., Khor, E., Wu, J., Auguste, M., & Yao, P. (2023). RNA binding protein PRRC2B mediates translation of specific mRNAs and regulates cell cycle progression. Nucleic Acids Research, 51(11), 5831–5846.
2. Hedaya, O.M., Venkata Subbaiah, K.C., Jiang, F., Xie, L.H., Wu, J., Khor, E.-S., Zhu, M., Mathews, D.H., Proschel, C., and Yao, P. (2023). Secondary structures that regulate mRNA translation provide insights for ASO-mediated modulation of cardiac hypertrophy. Nature Communications 14, 6166.
3. Wu, J., Subbaiah, K.C.V., Jiang, F., Hedaya, O., Mohan, A., Yang, T., Welle, K., Ghaemmaghami, S., Tang, W.H.W., Small, E., Yan, C., & Yao, P. (2021). MicroRNA-574 regulates FAM210A expression and influences pathological cardiac remodeling. EMBO Molecular Medicine, 13, e12710.
4. Wu, J., Subbaiah, K.C.V., Xie, L.H., Jiang, F., Khor, E.-S., Mickelsen, D., Myers, J.R., Tang, W.H.W., & Yao, P. (2020). Glutamyl-Prolyl-tRNA Synthetase Regulates Proline-Rich Pro-Fibrotic Protein Synthesis During Cardiac Fibrosis. Circulation Research, 127, 827-846.
5. Subbaiah, K.C.V., Hedaya, O., Wu, J., Jiang, F., & Yao, P. (2019). Mammalian RNA switches: Molecular rheostats in gene regulation, disease, and medicine. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal, 17, 1326-1338.
6. Sun, Y.H., Jiang, F., & Li, X.Z. (2018). Disruption of Tdrd5 decouples the stepwise processing of long precursor transcripts during pachytene PIWI-interacting RNA biogenesis. Biology of Reproduction, 99, 684-685.
7. He, W., Zhang, F., Jiang, F., Liu, H. & Wang, G. Correlations between serum levels of microRNA-148a-3p and microRNA-485-5p and the progression and recurrence of prostate cancer. BMC Urology 22, 195, doi:10.1186/s12894-022-01143-z (2022).
8. Li, W., Li, Y., Jiang, F. & Liu, H. Correlation between serum levels of microRNA-21 and inflammatory factors in patients with chronic heart failure. Medicine 101 (2022).
9. Meng, F., Chen, P., Guo, X., Li, X., Wu, Y., Liu, W., Jiang, F., Liu, H. and Wang, L. (2021) Correlations between Serum P2X7, Vitamin A, 25-hydroxy Vitamin D, and Mycoplasma Pneumoniae Pneumonia. Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis, 35, e23760.
10. Wu, J., Hollinger, J., Bonanno, E., Jiang, F. & Yao, P. Cardiomyocyte-Specific Loss of Glutamyl-prolyl-tRNA Synthetase Leads to Disturbed Protein Homeostasis and Dilated Cardiomyopathy. Cells 13 (2024).
11. Xia, G., Li, X., Shang, Y., Fu, B., Jiang, F., Liu, H. and Qiao, Y. (2021) Correlation between severity of spinal stenosis and multifidus atrophy in degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 22, 536
12. Zhu, X., Li, K., Zheng, J., Xia, G., Jiang, F., Liu, H. and Shi, J. (2022) Usage of procalcitonin and sCD14-ST as diagnostic markers for postoperative spinal infection. Journal of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, 23, 25.