Professor

My research group at Shandong University employs bioinformatics, molecular biology, and natural product chemistry tools to identify chemically distinct and biologically active small molecules and peptides from a diverse range of microorganisms (including bacteria and fungi), characterize their biosynthetic pathways, understand their biological and pharmacological functions, and finally seek to apply the knowledge and molecules to human health. My research has led to the identification of ~160 chemically novel and biologically active natural product molecules, including salinipeptins, cadasides, omnipeptin, myxomapeptins, chaunopyran A, roseopurpurins, and viridicatumtoxins as the representative molecules. I have published 43 peer-reviewed research articles (13 first or co-first authors, 5 co-corresponding authors) in journals including J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Nat. Comm., Org. Lett., ACS Chem. Biol., J. Org. Chem., J. Nat. Prod., ACS Infect. Dis., and Org. Biomol. Chem., with h-index of 18 and total citation of 896 (Google Scholar). I have presented at 13 international and national conferences, and served as reviewers for 12 international journals including Nat. Prod. Rep., ACS Infect. Dis., Org. Biomol. Chem., Tetrahedron, and Mar. Drugs. I was awarded “Dean’s Award for Outstanding Research Higher Degree Theses” (top 5% of HDR students each year) from The University of Queensland in 2017, for my outstanding work in marine natural products. I am a self-motivated scientist with established experimental, writing, communication, and networking skills. I have led on multiple research- and industry-oriented projects, established relationships with groups in different research fields in USA, China and Australia, and mentored postgraduate students and visiting scholars.