Research Seminar of Dr. Xiaojuan Huang from Thermo Fisher Scientific

Lecture Time: 10:00 on 3rd July, 2019

Lecture Room: C501 of Science and Innovation Building

LectureTitle:From decoding protein structure to understanding nutritional immunity

Xiaojuan Huang

Thermo Fisher Scientific

Abstract

A Scientist with multidisciplinary research background will share her many years of experience in scientific fields from Chemistry, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, NMR Protein Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Biophysicsto Microbiology and Genetics. Dr. Xiaojuan Huang studied in China and Europe in her PhD years, and worked in Saudi Arabia and United States acrossuniversities and industrial companies. From decoding protein structure to understand gene repression regulation,to using single molecule techniques to study the molecular mechanisms underlying human DNA replication machinery, to discoveringtrace metal transporters to explore nutritional immunity mechanism, to leading therapeutic antibody research and development, Dr. Huang will share her experience and insights in both academia and industrial settings.

This will be more like an experience sharing session with young students, rather than a one way presentation. Please encourage students feel free to ask any questions.

Biography

Dr. Xiaojuan Huang received her B.S. degree in Chemistry from Lanzhou Univeristy, and Ph.D. degrees in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the University of Science and Technology of China and Cell Biology from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KULeuven), Belgium in 2009. After graduation, Dr. Huang worked in DNA replication and recombination Lab at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) from 2010 to 2013. By combining biochemical, biophysical with single molecule techniques,she studied the molecular mechanisms underlying the multi-protein DNA replication machinery.From 2014 to 2018, she worked as a postdoctoral associate in Dr. John Helmann’s lab at Cornell University. The Lab has been at the forefront of developing B. subtilis as a model system to study bacterial adaptive responses to stresses elicited by antibiotics and nutritionalmetal ion limitation and toxicity. Using microbiology and genetic techniques like next generation whole genome sequencing and CRISPR gene editing tools, Dr. Huang discovered two novel Manganese transporters and characterized their regulatory mechanisms and roles in pathogenesis. After working in cross-disciplinaryfields in academiafor many years, at 2018 Dr. Huang joined medical technology company BD as Scientist II in the R&D department in Maryland, US. Next year, she joined the biotechnology giant company, Thermo Fisher Scientific as Scientist III.She has been leading the therapeutic protein and antibody research and development since then.