Chemistry

Fan is interested in developing biomolecular tools with nucleic acids to dive into the complexity of biology (decoding and regulating cellular functions on the molecular basis). Before joining the faculty at the University of Florida, Fan was a Postdoc Fellow at Wyss Institute at Harvard University where he worked on the DNA advanced in situ spatial multi-omics (e.g., DNA thermal-plex). Fan completed his Ph.D. at Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, where he developed methods to program nucleic acids in vitro (e.g., complex framework DNA nanoarchitecture), in vivo (e.g., SNIPR) , and in silico (e.g., crowder oxDNA). Those methods enable the control of nucleic acid folding into complex framework molecular architectures from the nanoscale to the macroscale, the identification of single nucleotide mutation in cell with de-novo-designed RNA riboregulators, and investigating the biophysical behavior of nucleic acid folding in the crowding cellular environment with molecular dynamics. Fan is originally from Wuhan, China, where he earned his undergraduate degree at the Huazhong University of Science Technology and stepped into the world of nucleic acids. Outside of the lab, Fan enjoys hiking, reading, and photography, and hopes to explore more outdoor activities in Florida.