Update Your ProfileAcademic Title:
Assistant Professor
Primary Appointment:
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Location:
108 N Greene St, Baltimore, MD 21201
Education and Training
2007 - 2011 B.S., Biotechnology, Hebei Normal University
2012 - 2017 Ph.D., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalian Medical University
2018 - 2023 Postdoctoral fellow, Cancer Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins University
2023 - 2026 Research associate, Cancer Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins University
Biosketch
The Fan Laboratory investigates the molecular mechanisms governing cancer progression and uncover fundamental survival pathways in cancer. We employ an integrative strategy combining functional genomics, bioinformatics, multi-omics, and chemical biology to dissect how cancer cells adapt to targeted therapies and develop new therapeutic strategies.
Our work focuses on three distinct but interconnected areas of translational biology:
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The Interface of rRNA Synthesis and Splicing
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Ribosomal Heterogeneity
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Translational Fitness and Resistance
FanLab website: https://www.cancercell.top/
Research/Clinical Keywords
rRNA synthesis, RNA splicing, Ribosomal heterogeneity, Translational fitness, Cancer cell plasticity, Functional genomics, Multi-omics, RNA Polymerase I, Ribosome biogenesis, CRISPR screening, Targeted therapy resistance, Precision medicine, Biomarker discovery
Highlighted Publications
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Fan W, Liu H, Stachelek GC, Begum A, Davis CE, Dorado TE, Ernst G, Reinhold WC, Ozbek B, Zheng Q, De Marzo AM, Rajeshkumar NV, Barrow JC, Laiho M#. Ribosomal RNA transcription regulates splicing through ribosomal protein RPL22. Cell Chemical Biology. 2025-06. PMID: 40553690 (Cover article, independent preview by Dr. Omar Abdel-Wahab - PMID: 40680725)
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Fan W, Eklund E, Sherman RM, Liu H, Pitts S, Ford B, Rajeshkumar NV, Laiho M#. Widespread genetic heterogeneity of human ribosomal RNA genes. RNA. 2022 Apr;28(4):478–492. PMCID: PMC8925967 (Article)
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Xie J*, Wang Z*, Fan W*, Liu Y, Liu F, Wan X, Liu M, Wang X, Zeng D, Wang Y, He B, Yan M, Zhang Z, Zhang M, Hou Z, Wang C, Kang Z, Fang W, Zhang L, W.-F. Lam E, Guo X, Yan J, Zeng Y, Chen M, Liu Q#. Targeting cancer cell plasticity by HDAC inhibition to reverse EBV-induced dedifferentiation in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Signal Transduct Target Ther. 2021 Sep 4;6(1):333. PMID: 34482361 (Article)
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Peng F*, Wang JH*, Fan WJ*, Meng YT, Li MM, Li TT, Cui B, Wang HF, Zhao Y, An F, Guo T, Liu XF, Zhang L, Lv L, Lv DK, Xu LZ, Xie JJ, Lin WX, Lam EWF, Xu J, Liu Q#. Glycolysis gatekeeper PDK1 reprograms breast cancer stem cells under hypoxia. Oncogene. 2018 Feb 22;37(8):1119. PMCID: PMC5851083 (Article)
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Fan W, Xie J, Xia J, Zhang Y, Yang M, Wang H, Pan Y, Zhang M, Han B, Wu B, Hou Z, Liang D, Wang C, Xu J, Song L, Liu Q#. RUVBL1-ITFG1 interaction is required for collective invasion in breast cancer. Biochim Biophys Acta Gen Subj. 2017 Jul;1861(7):1788–1800. PMID: 28341484 (Article)
Full publication list:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1pqKpJcEkaik6/bibliography/public/