School of Biomedical Sciences cordially invites you to join the following seminar:

Speaker: Dr. Yarui Diao, Associate Professor, Department of Cell Biology, Duke University
Talk Title: Regeneration Genomics: From Omics Technologies to Mechanism-Informed Regenerative Medicine

Date: 23 September 2025 (Tuesday)
Time: 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Venue: Seminar Room 1, G/F, Laboratory Block, 21 Sassoon Road
Host: Professor Michael Hӓusser

Biography

Dr. Yarui Diao is an Associate Professor with tenure in the Department of Cell Biology at Duke University School of Medicine, where he directs the Laboratory of Regeneration Genomics. His lab investigates gene regulatory mechanisms that control cell fate changes during development, regeneration, and disease. By developing and applying innovative omics technologies, his team decodes chromatin architecture, enhancer function, and epigenetic regulation in both human and mouse models. Dr. Diao received his B.Sc. in Biotechnology from Nanjing University and Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology with Dr. Zhenguo Wu, followed by postdoctoral training with Dr. Bing Ren at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in San Diego. Since establishing his laboratory at Duke in 2018, he has received recognition including the NIH Genomic Innovator Award, the V Scholar Award for Cancer Research, and the AFAR Junior Faculty Award. His research has been published in leading journals such as Developmental Cell, Cell Stem Cell, Molecular Cell, Nature Methods, Nature Genetics, Nature Cell Biology, and Nature Biotechnology. In addition to his research, Dr. Diao is dedicated to mentoring the next generation of scientists and teaching advanced graduate courses in genomics and stem cell biology.

Abstract

The secret of health and disease is encoded in the three billion nucleotides of the human genome. Although the human genome was sequenced decades ago, its functional landscape remains incompletely understood. My research program, Regeneration Genomics, focuses on gene regulatory mechanisms that govern cell fate dynamics during development and tissue regeneration. Using human pluripotent stem cells and skeletal muscle from both mouse models and patient samples, we uncover essential mechanisms of stem cell fate control during differentiation and self-renewal, as well as the role and regulation of the stem cell microenvironment and niche populations. Our studies further reveal how disruption of these processes contributes to developmental disorders, tissue damage, degenerative diseases, and aging. Importantly, the knowledge we generate provides insights into future regenerative medicine approaches. In parallel, our efforts to dissect fundamental gene regulatory mechanisms have led to the development of innovative ‘omics technologies that not only benefit our own research but are also broadly adopted by the scientific community.

ALL ARE WELCOME.