Institute of Stem Cell and Neural Regeneration was established in 2014 and mainly focus on directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into specific neurons or organoids, cell replacement therapy for neurological diseases, feasibility of clinical translation of cell therapy, development of new drugs for neurological diseases, the pathogenesis of neurological diseases using patient iPSCs (such as stroke, depression and anxiety, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, pain, etc.), and the role of neuronal circuit mechanisms in drug addiction and neurological diseases. Institute of Stem Cell and Neural Regeneration currently has 2 Professors, 2 Associate Professors, 2 Lecturers, 1 Post-doctor, and 1 Research Assistant.

Faculty

   Yan Liu, PhD, Professor

Dr. Yan Liu is a professor of the Institute for stem cell and neural regenerative medicine, School of Pharmacy, Nanjing Medical University. She is the vice director of the institute, the mentor for Ph.D graduate students, the winner of National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars and Jiangsu Provincial Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars. She also won the title of women's science and technology star of Jiangsu Province. Dr. Yan Liu got her Ph.D degree from Fudan University, and worked as Postdoc in University of Wisconsin, USA and focused on the research on directed differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells and regenerative medicine for five years.

Research fields：

The main research of Dr Yan Liu’s laboratory is as followings: 1. Differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into specific neuronal types and cell therapy for neurological disease; 2. Study of the pathogenesis of neurological diseases by induction of pluripotent stem cell. Dr. Yan Liu has published papers in Nature Biotechnology, Nature Communication, Nature Protocol, Journal of Clinical Investigation and Molecular Psychiatry, etc.

E-mail：yanliu@njmu.edu.cn

   Tengfei Ma, PhD, Professor

Dr. Tengfei Ma is a professor of the Institute for stem cell and neural regenerative medicine, School of Pharmacy, Nanjing Medical University. He is also a distinguished professor awarded by Education Department of Jiangsu Province and an expert in addiction field awarded by Narcotics Control Commission of Jiangsu Province. Dr. Ma received his PhD degree of Pharmacology from Nanjing Medical University. From Feb 2014 to Aug 2018, he worked as a Postdoctoral research associate in Texas A&M University. Dr. Ma has published papers in Nature Neuroscience, Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI), Biological Psychiatry, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Aging cell, etc.

Research fields：

Synaptic plasticity and neuropsychiatric disorders

The research of Dr. Ma's lab focus on identifying the mechanisms of synaptic plasticity in neuropsychiatric disorders, such as addiction, Parkinson's disease and depression. Our primary interest is to investigate the cellular and circuit alterations in brain in response to addictive substances. We are currently exploring how these alterations (drug-evoked plasticity) in a specific group of neurons contribute to addictive behaviors. We also study how the changes of neural circuits occur in Parkinson’s disease and depression. The major techniques in lab included slice electrophysiology, stereotaxic viral infusion, ex vivo and in vivo optogenetics and 3-D reconstruction of biocytin-infused neurons. Eventually the overarching theme of our research is to develop new improved treatments (e.g., drugs) for neuropsychiatric disorders by better understanding the mechanisms of synaptic plasticity in these disorders.

E-mail：tfma@njmu.edu.cn

   Yuwen Su, PhD, Associate Professor

Dr. Yuwen Su is an Associate Professor at School of Pharmacy, Nanjing Medical University. He is the director of clinical pharmacological research center, Sir Run Run Hospital, Nanjing Medical University. He is also the inspector, Center for Food and Drug Inspection of National Medical Products Administration. Dr. Yuwen Su got his Ph.D degree from China Pharmaceutical University, and focused on new drug clinical development for more than ten years. As a principal investigator, he conducted more than 20 clinical trials of new drugs and vaccines, and four drugs or vaccines have been approved for marketing. As a project manager, he organized and managed more than 100 clinical trials from Phase Ⅰ to Phase Ⅳof drugs, vaccines, and medical devices. In recent years, Dr. Yuwen Su published more than 10 research papers in academic journals such as PNAS, etc., and participated in the editing of 5 books.

Research fields：

The main research areas of Dr Yuwen Su’s laboratory are as followings: Clinical Pharmacology, Drug Safety Evaluation, Regulatory Science.

E-mail：suyuwen@njmu.edu.cn

 Wanying Zhu, PhD, Associate Professor 

Dr. Wanying Zhu obtained a Ph.D. degree in Pharmaceutical Analysis from Nanjing Medical University in 2018. During the doctoral period, she conducted joint training for one year in the research group of Professor Andrew Ewing at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Research fields：

Her main research focus includes the analysis of single-cell neurotransmitters and the development of new technologies and methods for biomarker analysis. She Published 16 SCI papers as the first or corresponding author in top journals such as Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Chem. Sci. She also applied for 19 national invention patents, with 14 currently granted. She is currently leading two sub-project of the Key Research and Development Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology, a National Natural Science Foundation general project, a National Natural Science Foundation youth project, and a Jiangsu Provincial Natural Science Foundation youth project, among others.

E-mail：wanyingzhu@njmu.edu.cn