Hongjie Li

Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute Interdisciplinary Scholar
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Department of Biology
Affiliation:
Interdisciplinary PostDoc Alumni
Hongjie wants to explore how neural circuit assembly is established during development. Collaborating with Dr. Stephen Quake’s lab, Hongjie is trying to systematically identify wiring specificity molecules for Drosophila olfactory neurons using single cell RNA-sequencing.
CAP Profile

Hongjie got his Bachelor degree in Biosciences at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in 2010. He then joined the PhD program in the Department of Biology at the University of Rochester, NY. He pursued his thesis research in intestinal stem cell biology, gut microbiota, and aging using Drosophila as a model organism with Dr. Heinrich Jasper. In July 2012, he moved with the Jasper lab from Rochester to the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato (North Bay Area), CA, where he continued and finished his PhD thesis.

Hongjie joined Dr. Liqun Luo’s lab at Stanford on March 2016, and continued working on his favorite model organism, Drosophila. Under Liqun’s mentorship, he wants to explore how neural circuit assembly is established during development. Collaborating with Dr. Stephen Quake’s lab, Hongjie is trying to systematically identify wiring specificity molecules for Drosophila olfactory neurons using single cell RNA-sequencing. 

 

Related Projects

Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute
Interdisciplinary Scholar Award
2017
Systematic identification of wiring specificity molecules in Drosophila olfactory circuit using single cell RNA-seq

Precise neural circuit assembly is critical for appropriate function of the nervous system. A functional circuit requires proper targeting and matching of axons and dendrites of pre- and post-synaptic neurons. However, our understanding of the mechanisms that establish wiring specificity of complex neural circuit is far from complete.