Principal Investigators
Dr. TinChung Leung
Dr. Leung received his B.Sc. and M.Phil. in Biochemistry from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Wayne State University in Michigan. As a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School where he started his research using the zebrafish model to study genetic defects and organogenesis. He continued his postdoctoral training after his whole group moved into a new state-of-the-art zebrafish center at University of Freiburg, Germany where he use developmental genetics to dissect the molecular pathway of embryogenesis. After his postdoctoral research, he teamed up with start-up entrepreneurs to spearhead a biotech company in Hamburg, Germany. As Director of Gene Discovery at Mermaid Pharmaceuticals GmbH, he established a large-scale genome-wide project using the zebrafish model for drug target discovery. Using reverse genetics, he directed the functional genomic analysis of more than 3,000 genes using morpholino antisense technology in different disease-relevant areas, include angiogenesis, hematopoiesis and Parkinson's disease. After his industrial experience, he moved back to the United States as research scientist at Geisinger Clinics in Pennsylvania where he used the zebrafish model to study the mechanisms by which signaling molecules guide and pattern vascular networks during angiogenesis. Last year, he joined the North Carolina Central University at the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis. As assistant professor, he brings in expertise in zebrafish biology and starts to establish a research direction using the zebrafish model to exploit vertebrate genetics combined with chemical suppressor and enhancer screens to identify potential therapeutics of drug-like small molecules to suppress cardiovascular diseases and to combat cancers. In addition, he will make zebrafish a headline for innovative high-throughput drug discovery tool for natural products and nutritional studies.
Dr. Xiaohe Yang
Dr. Xiaohe Yang, MD, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in Julius L. Chambers Biomedical/Biotechnology Research Institute at the North Carolina Central University. Dr. Yang received his medical training from Luoyang Medical College, followed by a M.S. Pathophysiology from the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences in Beijing, China. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Microbiology/Immunology from RFUMS/The Chicago Medical School and postdoctoral training at Northwestern University. Prior to his arrival at the North Carolina Research Campus, he was an Associate Professor of Pathology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Dr. Yang was a recipient of the Career Development Award from the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program. He is also an American Cancer Society Research Scholar. He has been working on molecular and cellular cancer biology. His work provided original evidence in areas of E2F-1 mediated oncogenicity, the role of granyzme and caspases in breast carcinogenesis and therapeutic resistance, communication between p53 and p73 in breast cancer cells, crosstalk between ER and erbB-2 pathways, and phytoestrogen modulated breast cancer prevention. Dr. Yang's current research is on breast cancer etiology and prevention with focuses on the modulation of hormone-growth factor crosstalk, apoptosis and mammary stem cell reprogramming by various genetic and environmental factors.