Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Stanford Cancer Institute

B.A./B.S., Peking University, China

Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology

While the concept of metabolite signaling has transformed the metabolism field, a systematic and mechanistic understanding of how proteins and metabolites are co-regulated remains lacking. We develop mass spectrometry– and machine learning–based approaches to define how metabolism regulates protein function in vivo and how disease rewires protein-metabolite relationships.

In parallel, we recognized that endogenous metabolite regulation of protein function is conceptually analogous to pharmacological modulation of proteins by small molecules. This insight motivated my lab to develop mass spectrometry–based technologies to study small molecule–protein interactions, redefine protein ligandability and druggability, and to train machine learning models based on these datasets to guide the design of small molecules that modulate protein function. Ultimately, we aim to leverage these models to develop translational therapeutics for aging, metabolic disease, and cancer.