Yu Lan graduated from the Third Military Medical University of PLA with a bachelor's degree in clinical medicine in 1995, and received her Ph.D. in Genetics from the Academy of Military Medical Sciences in 2007. She has been working as a principal investigator in Jinan University from 2017 to 2024 and in Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College from 2025. Her main research focuses on the lineage relationships and regulatory mechanisms of developing hematopoietic cells and blood vessels. In recent years, using a series of single-cell technologies and lineage tracing strategies, her group characterized the transcriptomic landscape of embryonic vascular and hematopoietic systems in mammals, resolved arteriovenous specification patterns in early mammalian vascular development, uncovered the spatiotemporal occurrence of the first blood cells in human, deciphered functional heterogeneities in hemogenic endothelial cells and nascent hematopoietic stem cells, and revealed several regulatory mechanisms underlying the ontogeny of hematopoietic stem cells. As the corresponding author (including co-corresponding author), she has published research articles in a series of high-impact journals including Nature, Cell Stem Cell, Nature Immunol, Immunity, Dev Cell, and Cell Res.
Ph.D. Genetics, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing, China, 2003-2007
M.S. Internal Medicine, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China, 1998-2001
B.S. Clinical Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China, 1990-1995
Principal Investigator, Institute of Hematology and Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, 2025–
Deputy director, Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine of Ministry of Education, 2023–2024
Vice director, Institute of hematology, Jinan University, 2020–2024
Professor, Principal Investigator, School of Medicine, Jinan University, 2017–2024
Associate Professor, Institute of Biotechnology, AMMS, 2011–2016
Assistant Professor, Institute of Biotechnology, AMMS, 2008–2011
Attending Physician, Department of Hematology, Navy General Hospital, 2001–2007
Resident, Department of Hematology, Navy General Hospital, 1995–2001
PRINCIPAL HONORS, AWARDS:
2024 Annual Top Ten Research Progress in Hematology in China
2022 Sanofi-Cell Research Outstanding Research Paper Award
2022 Annual Top Ten Research Progress in Hematology in China
2022 winner of the National Special Support Program for High-Level Talents
2021 Annual Top Ten Research Progress in Hematology in China
2021 China 2020 Important Medical Progress
2020 Annual Top Ten Research Progress in Hematology in China
2012 National Natural Science Award (second prize, ranking fourth)
MAJOR NATIONAL LEADERSHIP POSITIONS, SOCIETIES AND BOARDS:
2024-2028 Editorial board member, Blood Science
2019-2029 Committee member, Chinese Society of Pathophysiology - Experimental Hemorheology Professional Committee
2018-2026 Committee member, China Society of Physiology - Blood Physiology Specialty Committee
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
1.Zhenyu Xiao#*, Yandong Gong#, Xiaolong Yang#, Nannan He#, Xinyuan Wang, Guoju You, Hanlin Zhu, Yingping Liang, Xinwei Xie, Baoqi Fang, Gaoke Liu, Bing Liu*, Yu Lan*. Epiblast diversification and blood formation in a human pregastrula. Nature. 2026 Aug;656(8127):434-442.
2.Yanli Ni#, Guoju You#, Yandong Gong#, Xiaoyu Su#, Yuan Du#, Xiaoshuang Wang#, Xiaochen Ding, Qingfeng Fu, Man Zhang, Tao Cheng*, Yu Lan*, Bing Liu*, Chen Liu*. Human yolk sac-derived innate lymphoid-biased multipotent progenitors emerge prior to hematopoietic stem cell formation. Developmental Cell. 2024 Oct 7;59(19):2626-2642.e6.
3.Haizhen Wang#, Di Liu#, Haifeng Chen#, Yuqing Jiao, Haixin Zhao, Zongcheng Li, Siyuan Hou, Yanli Ni, Rong Zhang, Jinyong Wang, Jie Zhou*, Bing Liu*, Yu Lan*. Nupr1 Negatively Regulates Endothelial to Hematopoietic Transition in the Aorta-Gonad-Mesonephros Region. Advanced Science. 2023 Feb;10(6):e2203813.
4.Changlu Xu#, Jian He#, Hongtao Wang#, Yingnan Zhang#, Jing Wu#, Lu Zhao#, Yue Li, Jie Gao, Guangfeng Geng, Bingrui Wang, Xiaoyuan Chen, Zhaofeng Zheng, Biao Shen, Yang Zeng, Zhijie Bai, Hua Yang, Shujuan Shi, Fang Dong, Shihui Ma, Erlie Jiang, Tao Cheng, Yu Lan*, Jiaxi Zhou*, Bing Liu*, Lihong Shi*. Single-cell transcriptomic analysis identifies an immune-prone population in erythroid precursors during human ontogenesis. Nature Immunology. 2022 Jul;23(7):1109-1120.
5.Siyuan Hou#, Zongcheng Li#, Ji Dong#, Yun Gao#, Zhilin Chang#, Xiaochen Ding#, Shuaili Li, Yunqiao Li, Yang Zeng, Qian Xin, Baihan Wang, Yanli Ni, Xiaowei Ning, Yuqiong Hu, Xiaoying Fan, Yu Hou, Xianlong Li, Lu Wen, Bin Zhou, Bing Liu*, Fuchou Tang*, Yu Lan*. Heterogeneity in endothelial cells and widespread venous arterialization during early vascular development in mammals. Cell Research. 2022 Apr;32(4):333-348.
6.Yu Lan*. Deciphering the continuum of hemogenic endothelium differentiation. Blood. 2022 Jan 20;139(3):308-310.
7.Xianlong Li#, Di Liu#, Linlin Zhang, Haizhen Wang, Yunqiao Li, Zongcheng Li, Aibin He, Bing Liu, Jie Zhou*, Fuchou Tang*, Yu Lan*. The comprehensive DNA methylation landscape of hematopoietic stem cell development. Cell Discovery. 2021 Sep 21;7(1):86
8.Zhilei Bian#, Yandong Gong#, Tao Huang#, Christopher Z. W. Lee#, Lihong Bian#, Zhijie Bai#, Hui Shi#, Yang Zeng, Chen Liu, Jian He, Jie Zhou, Xianlong Li, Zongcheng Li, Yanli Ni, Chunyu Ma, Lei Cui, Rui Zhang, Jerry K. Y. Chan, Lai Guan Ng, Yu Lan*, Florent Ginhoux*, Bing Liu*. Deciphering Human Macrophage Development at Single Cell Resolution. Nature. 2020 Jun;582(7813):571-576.
9.Siyuan Hou#, Zongcheng Li#, Xiaona Zheng#, Yun Gao#, Ji Dong#, Yanli Ni#, Xiaobo Wang, Yunqiao Li, Xiaochen Ding, Zhilin Chang, Shuaili Li, Yuqiong Hu, Xiaoying Fan, Yu Hou, Lu Wen, Bing Liu*, Fuchou Tang*, Yu Lan*. Embryonic endothelial evolution towards first hematopoietic stem cells revealed by single-cell transcriptomic and functional analyses. Cell Research. 2020 May;30(5):376-392.
10.Yang Zeng#, Chen Liu#, Yandong Gong#, Zhijie Bai#, Siyuan Hou#, Jian He, Zhilei Bian, Zongcheng Li, Yanli Ni, Jing Yan, Tao Huang, Hui Shi, Chunyu Ma, Xueying Chen, Jinyong Wang, Lihong Bian, Yu Lan*, Bing Liu*, Hongbo Hu*. Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Resolves Spatiotemporal Development of Pre-thymic Lymphoid Progenitors and Thymus Organogenesis in Human Embryos. Immunity. 2019 Nov 19;51(5):930-948.e6.
11.Yang Zeng#, Jian He#, Zhijie Bai#, Zongcheng Li#, Yandong Gong, Chen Liu, Yanli Ni, Junjie Du, Chunyu Ma, Lihong Bian, Yu Lan*, Bing Liu*. Tracing the first hematopoietic stem cell generation in human embryo by single-cell RNA sequencing. Cell Research. 2019 Nov;29(11):881-894.
12.Jie Zhou#, Jiayue Xu#, Linlin Zhang#, Siqi Liu#, Yanni Ma#, Xin Wen, Junkai Hao, Zongcheng Li, Yanli Ni, Xianlong Li, Fan Zhou, Qingqing Li, Fang Wang, Xiaoshuang Wang, Yanmin Si, Pengcheng Zhang, Chen Liu, Marisa Bartolomei, Fuchou Tang, Bing Liu*, Jia Yu*, Yu Lan*. Combined single-cell profiling of lncRNAs and functional screening reveals H19 is pivotal for embryonic hematopoietic stem cell development. Cell Stem Cell. 2019 Feb 7;24(2):285-298.e5.
13.Hui Ye#, Xiaobo Wang#, Zongcheng Li, Fan Zhou, Xianlong Li, Yanli Ni, Weijing Zhang, Fuchou Tang, Bing Liu*, Yu Lan*. Clonal analysis reveals remarkable functional heterogeneity during hematopoietic stem cell emergence. Cell Research. 2017 Aug;27(8):1065-1068.