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PI, IDG/McGovern Institute, Tsinghua University
Assistant Professor, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University
Email：ydk@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn
Mailing address: Room B204, Biomedicine Hall, Tsinghua University，Beijing, China， zip code: 100084 |
[Research Focus]
The biological basis of higher-order human cognition and species-specific behaviors depends on distinctive neurogenic programs and tightly regulated neuron-glia interaction networks during human brain development. Our laboratory focuses on neurodevelopment and neuroimmune regulation, integrating human-based models (including cerebral organoids and human fetal brain tissues) with animal systems and multi-scale approaches, such as single-cell omics, CRISPR–Cas9 functional screening, and diverse molecular and cellular techniques, to elucidate key regulatory mechanisms of human brain development and define the roles of neuroimmune interactions in neurodevelopment and disease.
[Education & Experience]
2026-present Assistant professor, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University
2026-present PI, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research at Tsinghua University, Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences
2018-2026 Postdoc/Assistant professional researcher, University of California, San Francisco, USA
2011-2018 Ph.D. Tulane University, USA
2006-2010 Bachelor of Science, University of Science and Technology of China
[Selected Publications]
- Yu, Diankun*,‡ , Samhita Jain*, Andi Wangzhou, Beika Zhu, Wenyuan Shao, Elena J. Coley-O’Rourke, Stacy De Florencio, Jaeyeon Kim, Jennifer Ja-Yoon Choi, Mercedes F. Paredes, Tomasz J. Nowakowski, Eric J. Huang, Xianhua Piao‡. "Microglia regulate GABAergic neurogenesis in prenatal human brain through IGF1." Nature 646, no. 8085 (2025): 676-686.
- Yu, Diankun*, Tao Li, Jean-Christophe Delpech, Beika Zhu, Priya Kishore, Tatsuhiro Koshi, Rong Luo, Karishma J.B. Pratt, Galina Popova, Tomasz J. Nowakowski, Saul A. Villeda, Xianhua Piao‡. "Microglial GPR56 is the molecular target of maternal immune activation-induced parvalbumin-positive interneuron deficits." Science advances 8, no. 18 (2022): eabm2545.
- Yu, Diankun*, Isabella G*. Febbo, Matthieu J. Maroteaux, Hanyun Wang, Yingnan Song, Xiao Han, Cheng Sun, Emily E Meyer, Stuart Rowe, Yiping Chen, Carmen C Canavier, Laura A Schrader‡. "The transcription factor Shox2 shapes neuron firing properties and suppresses seizures by regulation of key ion channels in thalamocortical neurons." Cerebral Cortex 31, no. 7 (2021): 3194-3212.
- Yu, Diankun, Damek R. Homiack, Edward J. Sawyer, and Laura A. Schrader‡. "BK channel deacetylation by SIRT1 in dentate gyrus regulates anxiety and response to stress." Communications biology 1, no. 1 (2018): 82.