Ye (Henry) Li
Structural Biology
Bio-X SIGF Fellow 2013/2014
Profs. Wing Wong (Statistics, Biostatistics), Michael Levitt (Structural Biology), and Garry Nolan (Microbiology & Immunology)

Life is sustained by the complex interplays between many genes. The interaction structure can be reconstructed using gene expression measurements because gene regulatory systems have a defined ordering of pathways that assemble into networks. One hallmark of network dynamics is stability, which allows for cells to maintain their cell types. Henry is studying the gene network stability of human embryonic stem cells by carrying out experiments and developing statistical methods for inferring network structure from experimental data. Ultimately, Henry hopes to build a network that can predict stem cell states to understand self-renewal and pluripotency at the systems level.