Introduction
We develop computational and experimental approaches to decode RNA regulation and epitranscriptomic mechanisms, with a particular focus on Nanopore direct RNA sequencing, RNA modifications, and cancer biology.
Principal Investigator:
Yanqiang Li is a Professor at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University and a PhD supervisor in Bioinformatics. He earned his Ph.D. in Bioinformatics from the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in 2016, where he was mentored by Dr. Renyi Liu. In August 2016, he began postdoctoral training in human epigenetics at Johns Hopkins University under the mentorship of Dr. Zhibin Wang. From July 2018 to October 2020, he continued his postdoctoral training in computational biology at Houston Methodist Hospital and Weill Cornell Medicine under the supervision of Dr. Kaifu Chen. He subsequently moved Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital with Kaifu’s laboratory, where he conducted further bioinformatics research and was promoted to Instructor in October 2022.
In March 2025, he joined the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University as a Professor. His research focuses on tumor-associated RNA modifications, computational epitranscriptomics, long-read sequencing technologies, and molecular mechanisms of cancer.
Nanopore direct RNA-seq RNA modifications (Nm, Ψ, m6A) Computational biology Cancer epigeneticsResearch Directions
- AI-enabled Nanopore sequencing for sensitive detection of low-abundance and difficult-to-resolve RNA modifications.
- RNA modification mechanisms in urological cancers, integrating multi-omics, long-read sequencing, and functional validation.
- Precision oncology strategies targeting RNA-modification regulators and epitranscriptomic pathways.
See Research for details.
Selected Publications
- 2026. Adenosylhomocysteinase–adenosine complex links m6A and cancer lipid metabolism. Trends in Biochemical Sciences.
- 2026. A dual role of EZH2 in regulating A-to-I RNA editing and mRNA stability through ADAR. Nature Communications.
- 2024. 2’-O-Methylation at internal sites on mRNA promotes RNA stability. Molecular Cell.
- 2023. Low RNA stability signifies increased post-transcriptional regulation of cell identity gene expression. Nucleic Acids Research.
- 2021. A PRC2-independent function for EZH2 in regulating rRNA 2′-O methylation and IRES-dependent translation. Nature Cell Biology.
Full list: Publications.
News
- 2026-03-24 — We are delighted to share exciting news: our invited Spotlight manuscript, “AHCY–adenosine complex links m⁶A and cancer lipid metabolism” has been published in *Trends in Biochemical Sciences*, This first publication from our lab marks a wonderful milestone and a great start to the Chinese New Year. Congratulations to Hang! 🎉
- 2026-03-06 — We are pleased to welcome Huanmin Jiao to our lab as a Research Assistant.
- 2026-02-15 — Our research on the functional implications of EZH and A-to-I RNA editing in prostate cancer has been accepted for publication in Nature Communications.
- 2026-01-15 — We submitted our first review paper, 'Applications of Single-Cell Long-Read Sequencing Technologies in Cancer,' with undergraduate student Zijie Ding as first author.
- 2025-10-01 — We welcomed new undergraduate students (incoming master's students) to the lab.
- 2025-08-01 — Dr. Hang Qin joined the lab as an Assistant Professor.
More: News.
Join Us
We welcome highly motivated students, clinicians, and postdoctoral fellows interested in bioinformatics, RNA biology, epigenetics, and cancer research.