Email: mida@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn
Phone: 010-62793866
School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University,
IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain, Tsinghua University,
Center for Life Sciences,
2001-2005 Nankai University／B.S.
2005-2008 Nankai University／M.Sc.
2008-2013 University of Edinburgh／Ph.D.
2013-2015 University of Edinburgh／Postdoctoral Fellow
2015-2020 King’s College London／Postdoctoral Fellow
2020-present School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University /Assistant Professor
2020-present IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research at Tsinghua University/PI
2020-present Center for Life Sciences /PI
Research interest:
The cerebral cortex is the seat of higher-order brain functions. It consists of a multitude of specialized, precisely positioned and interconnected cell types that assemble into specialized neuronal circuits. One major goal of neuroscience is to understand how small pools of neural progenitor cells generate the vast diversity of neuronal cell types during brain development. Abnormal cortical development often translates into prominent neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) such as autism and schizophrenia. Our research group seeks to uncover cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating the emergence of neuronal diversity in the developing cerebral cortex. We also study the role of cellular heterogeneity in neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), with the ultimate goal of identifying cell types and their maturation stages that are closely associated with NDDs and understanding cell type-specific functions of disease susceptibility genes in cortical development.
Selected publications：
1. Mi, D., Li, Z., Lim, L., Li, M., Moissidis, M., Yang, Y., Gao, T., Hu, T.X., Pratt, T., Price, D.J., Sestan, N., and Marín, O. (2018). Early emergence of cortical interneuron diversity in the mouse embryo. Science. 360, 81-85.
2. Mi D., Manuel M., Huang Y-T., Mason JO., and Price DJ (2018) Pax6 Lengthens G1 Phase and Decreases Oscillating Cdk6 Levels in Murine Embryonic Cortical Progenitors. Front. Cell. Neurosci. 12, 419.
3. Lim, L. *, Mi, D. *, Llorca, A., and Marín, O. (2018). Development and Functional Diversification of Cortical Interneurons. Neuron. 100, 294-313.
4. Manuel M. *, Mi D. *, Mason JO., and Price DJ. (2015). Regulation of cerebral cortical neurogenesis by the Pax6 transcription factor. Frontiers in cellular neuroscience. 9, 70.
5. Mi, D., Carr, C.B., Georgala, P.A., Huang, Y.T., Manuel, M.N., Jeanes, E., Niisato, E., Sansom, S.N., Livesey, F.J., Theil, T., Hasenpusch-Theil, K., Simpson, T., Mason, J., and Price D.J. (2013). Pax6 Exerts regional control of cortical progenitor proliferation via direct repression of Cdk6 and Hypophosphorylation of pRb. Neuron. 78, 269–284.