Diankun Yu Ph.D.
Assistant professor
2006-2010 B.S., University of Science and Technology of China
2011-2018 Ph.D. Tulane University, US
2018-2024 Postdoc, University of California, San Francisco, US
2024-2025 Assistant professional researcher, University of California, San Francisco, US
2026-present Assistant professor, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, China
2026-present Principal Investigator, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research at Tsinghua University & Tsinghua-Peking Joint Center for Life Sciences, China
● Research interest：
Our lab investigates neural development and neuroimmunology, utilizing human-based models, such as brain organoids and postmortem human brains, alongside transgenic mouse models, single-cell RNA sequencing, CRISPR-Cas9 screening, and molecular/cellular biology techniques. We aim to elucidate the mechanisms of human brain development, and the role of neuroimmune and neuron-glia interactions in human brain development and neurodevelopmental/neurological disorders.
● Selected publications：
Yu, Diankun*,‡ , Samhita Jain*, Andi Wangzhou, Beika Zhu, Wenyuan Shao, Elena J. Coley-O’Rourke, Stacy De Florencio, Jaeyeon Kim, Jennifer Ja-Yoon Choi, Mercedes F. Paredes, Tomasz J. Nowakowski, Eric J. Huang, Xianhua Piao‡. "Microglia regulate GABAergic neurogenesis in prenatal human brain through IGF1." Nature 646, no. 8085 (2025): 676-686.
Yu, Diankun*, Tao Li, Jean-Christophe Delpech, Beika Zhu, Priya Kishore, Tatsuhiro Koshi, Rong Luo, Karishma J.B. Pratt, Galina Popova, Tomasz J. Nowakowski, Saul A. Villeda, Xianhua Piao‡. "Microglial GPR56 is the molecular target of maternal immune activation-induced parvalbumin-positive interneuron deficits." Science advances 8, no. 18 (2022): eabm2545.
Yu, Diankun*, Isabella G*. Febbo, Matthieu J. Maroteaux, Hanyun Wang, Yingnan Song, Xiao Han, Cheng Sun, Emily E Meyer, Stuart Rowe, Yiping Chen, Carmen C Canavier, Laura A Schrader. "The transcription factor Shox2 shapes neuron firing properties and suppresses seizures by regulation of key ion channels in thalamocortical neurons." Cerebral Cortex 31, no. 7 (2021): 3194-3212.
Yu, Diankun, Damek R. Homiack, Edward J. Sawyer, and Laura A. Schrader. "BK channel deacetylation by SIRT1 in dentate gyrus regulates anxiety and response to stress." Communications biology 1, no. 1 (2018): 82.
● Contact information：
Email：ydk@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn
Mailing address: Room B204, Biomedicine Hall, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China
