Lead research scientist with 10+ years of experience in genomics, bioinformatics, and molecular biology. Expertise in NGS technologies, single-cell analysis, and end-to-end research—from wet lab experimentation to computational pipeline development and data analysis. Proven track record leading multi-disciplinary projects, securing competitive funding, and publishing in peer-reviewed journals. Strong background in disease mechanisms and translational research with experience in cardiovascular biology and oncology.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Oct, 2015 - Dec, 20205 years 2 months
Postdoctoral training in Dr. Weiser-Evans Laboratory.
Focus: Function of vascular smooth muscle cells and progenitor cells in vascular remodeling
Quantitative imaging-based fibrosis analysis and transcriptomics pipelines
Advanced statistical analysis using R scripting for biological data interpretation
Instructor, Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Jan, 2021 - Sep, 20232 years 9 months
Junior faculty appointment.
Focus: Metabolic reprogramming of vascular smooth muscle cells in injury
Established an automated, unbiased immunofluorescent image analysis workflow using Python, Cellpose, and Spatialdata
Biological data analysis in Python
Research Assistant Professor, Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Oct, 2023 - Present
Faculty appointment.
Focus: Function of perivascular progenitor cells in cardiovascular fibrosis and tumorigenesis
Led multi-omics integration projects combining scRNA-seq, spatial transcriptomics, and ATAC-seq data
Developed and mentored lab members in advanced bioinformatics workflows
Collaborated with cross-functional teams including clinicians and basic scientists
A novel link between lipid and iron metabolism.
Sep, 2010 - Aug, 20154 years 11 months
In my dissertation work, I characterized molecular mechanisms for the induction of hepcidin expression by two lipid species. Specifically, saturated fatty acids induce hepcidin expression by activating the nucleo-cytosolic shuttling of Human Antigen R (HuR), which stabilizes hepcidin mRNA through direct interaction with the AU-rich element in its 3'UTR. In addition, I have discovered that ceramide, a lipid intermediate, activates inflammatory signaling pathway, JAK/STAT3, and STAT3 directly interacts with its response element in the hepcidin promoter, therefore activates transcription.
Lipid metabolism
Iron metabolism
Hepcidin
Protective effect of PTEN elevation against pathological vascular fibrosis and remodeling.
Oct, 2015 - Present
We investigated the mechanisms of how genetic and pharmacological up-regulation of Pten gene protect against vascular fibrosis and remodeling.
Pten
Vascular remodeling
Vascular inflammation
Smooth muscle cells
Oct, 2015 - Present
We used lineage tracing mouse models, combined with RNA-seq, scRNA-seq technologies to examine the function of vascular progenitor cells in cardiovascular remodeling
AdvSca1 cells
Vascular remodeling
RNA-seq
Progenitor cells
RNA and DNA extraction
PCR & qPCR
Western blotting
Molecular cloning
Reporter assay
Chromatin/Ribonucleoprotein immunoprecipitation
Co-immunoprecipitation
Immunofluorescent staining
Confocal Microscopy
Flow cytometry
in vivo and in vitro experimental models
RNA-seq
scRNA-seq
ATAC-seq
Spatial Transcriptomics
Metabolomics
Anaconda
Jupyter
Pandas
Anndata
Scanpy
scvi-tools
Scvelo
Squidpy
cellpose
CellRank
LIANA
PyDESeq2
Pytometry
GPU acceleration (Cuda)
Tidyr
ggplot2
limma
Seurat
Statistical modeling and hypothesis testing
Differential expression analysis
Trajectory inference and pseudotime analysis
Cell-cell communication modeling
Multi-omic data integration
Bash scripting
Slurm batch system
High-performance computing
RNA-seq aligner (STAR, HISAT2)
Cell/Space Ranger
Git/GitHub
Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database submission and access
Medicine, M.D., Medical College of Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
Sep, 2005 - Jul, 2010
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Ph.D., University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, US
Sep, 2010 - Aug, 2015
Personalized and Genomic Medicine, Certificate, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, US
Sep, 2024 - Jul, 2025
Graduate Studies Fellowship Scholarship , University of Nebraska Medical Center
Awarded on: Jan 01, 2012
The award supported the research of iron homeostasis in metabolic syndrome.
Postdoctoral Fellowship Award , American Heart Association
Awarded on: Jul 01, 2018
The three year funding was awarded to support the investigation of the protective role of PTEN against pathological vascular fibrosis and remodeling
ATVB Travel Award for Young Investigators , American Heart Association
Awarded on: May 01, 2019
The award supported the travel and expense to attend Vascular Discovery 2019.
Travel Award , UCD Postdoctoral Association
Awarded on: Apr 02, 2020
The award supported expense to attend Advanced Single Cell RNA-Seq Workshop at UC Davis.
Saturated Fatty Acids Induce Post-transcriptional Regulation of HAMP mRNA via AU-rich Element-binding Protein, Human Antigen R (HuR) , J. Biol. Chem. 2015 Oct 2;290(40):24178-89
Published on: Oct 02, 2015
Lipids mediate post-transcriptional regulation of HAMP through PKC- and HuR-dependent mechanisms.
PTEN (Phosphatase and Tensin Homolog) Protects Against Ang II (Angiotensin II)-Induced Pathological Vascular Fibrosis and Remodeling-Brief Report , Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2020 Feb;40(2):394-403.
Published on: Feb 01, 2020
Systemic PTEN elevation mediates protection against Ang II-induced vascular inflammation and fibrosis predominantly through effects in resident vascular cells.
Smooth muscle-derived progenitor cell myofibroblast differentiation through KLF4 downregulation promotes arterial remodeling and fibrosis , JCI Insight. 2020 Dec 3;5(23):e139445
Published on: Dec 03, 2020
Identified and characterized a novel smooth muscle-derived vascular progenitor cell population (AdvSca1-SM), demonstrating its role in adventitial remodeling through lineage tracing and RNA-seq.
Published on: Jun 06, 2024
Defined the differentiation trajectory of vascular progenitor cells and characterized the impact of Klf4 depletion on profibrotic responses using single-cell RNA sequencing.
Published on: Jun 03, 2025
Defined the contribution of vascular progenitor cells to the cancer-associated fibroblast pool in a lung cancer model. Discovered that vascular progenitor-specific Klf4 depletion exhibits anti-tumorigenic effects associated with enhanced immune response in the tumor microenvironment.
selfhosting
I have had the privilege of mentoring Dr. Lu since he began his postdoctoral training. I am continually impressed by his dedication to scientific inquiry and research excellence.
As his PhD mentor, I was impressed by Kevin's intellect, his thoughtful approach to science and his work ethic.