Prof. Tian XU received his B.S. degree from Fudan University in 1982 and Ph.D. degree from Yale University in 1990. He was a postdoctoral fellow at University of California, Berkeley from 1990 to 1993. From 1993 to 2018, he was an Assistant Professor, Associate Professor (tenured in 2001), C.N.H. LONG Professor of Genetics at Yale University. Prof. Xu also served as the Vice Chairman of the Department of Genetics at Yale from 2003 to 2018 and the Special Advisor to President of Yale University from 2002 to 2013. He was also  an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute from 1997 to 2018. From  1997 to 2018, he served as Adjunct Professor and Director of the Institute of  Developmental Biology, and Director of the International Collaboration and  Research Center for Development and Disease at Fudan University. He has served as a Member of the Expert Advisory Committee of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council since 2011. Prof. Xu joined Westlake University as a Chair  Professor of Genetics and Vice President in April, 2018.

Prof. Xu’s work mainly focuses on mechanism of growth control and new genetic and biotech  methods. He pioneered genetic dissection of growth control and identified all the key growth regulators and pathways including PTEN/TSC/mTor and Lats/Hippo. His studies have not only elucidated fundamental principles of developmental biology, but also revealed pathogenic mechanisms and contributed to the  development of multiple drugs. Xu has developed multiple widely used genetic methods including mammalian piggyBac transposon and mosaic analysis. He is an  AAAS Fellow. He served as the President of the Chinese Biological Investigators Society, and Chairman (USA) of the US-China Frontiers of Sciences committee. He  was the recipient of the Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellowship, the Pew Scholar Award, the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance Rothberg Courage Award, TSC Achievement Award, Distinguished Scientist and SCBA Service Award, Shanghai Science and Technology Award (1st class), and the Magnolia Silver Award. He  serves and served as the Editorial Board Member of multiple journals including Cell, Annual Review of Genetics, Molecular Cancer Research, Integrative Biology and The International Journal of Biological Sciences, and is the Founding Editor and the Editorial Board Member of Disease Models and Mechanisms. The course of “Basic Concepts of Genetic Analysis” that he taught was one of the most popular courses at Yale in the last two decades. He was the advisor for the best Ph.D. Thesis at Yale and for the National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation in China.

1. Pan Y, Chang  H, Landrette S, Yang D, Ding S, Liu L, Tian L, Li D, Xu  T*. Efficient  genome-wide first-generation phenotypic screening system in mice  using piggyBac transposon. PNAS 2019, In  Press.

2. Dunn BS,  Rush L, Lu JY, Xu  T*. Mutations in  the tricellular junction protein M6 synergize with to induce apical cell  delamination and invasion. PNAS 2018,115(33),8358-8363

3. Chabu C, Li  DM, Xu  T*. EGFR/ARF6  regulation of Hh signalling stimulates oncogenic Ras tumour  overgrowth. Nature  Communications 2017,8:  14688

4. Jin Y, Chen  Y, Zhao S, Guan KL, Zhuang Y, Wu X, Xu  T*. DNA-PK  Facilitates piggyBac Transposition by Promoting Paired-End Complex  Formation. PNAS 2017,  11;114(28):7408-7413.

5. Willsey RH,  Zheng X, Carlos Pastor-Pareja J, Willsey AJ, Beachy PA, Xu  T*. Localized JNK  signaling regulates organ size during development. elife. 2016,  14;5.

6. Olds WH  & Xu  T*. Regulation of  Food Intake by Mechanosensory Ion Channels in Enteric Neurons.   eLife 2014,  6;3.

7.  Pastor-Pareja JC & Xu  T*. Shaping cells  and organs in Drosophila by opposing roles of fat body-secreted Collagen IV and  Perlecan. Development  Cell 2011,  21(2):245-56.

8. Wu  M, Pastor-Pareja  JC, Xu  T*. Interaction  between Ras(V12) and scribbled clones induces tumour growth and  invasion. Nature 2010,  463(7280): 545-U165

9. Igaki T.,  Pastor-Pareja, JC., Aonuma, H., Miura M. and Xu  T*. Intrinsic  tumor suppression and epithelial maintenance by endocytic activation of Eiger/TNF signaling in Drosophila. Development  Cell 2009,  16(3):458-65.

10. Xue  L, Igaki T,  Kuranaga E, Kanda  H, Miura  M, Xu  T*. Tumor  suppressor CYLD regulates JNK-induced cell death in  Drosophila. Developmental  Cell 2007,13(3):  446-454.

11. Ding  S, Wu  X, Li G, Han M,  Zhuang Y, Xu  T*. Efficient  transposition of the piggyBac (PB) transposon in mammalian cells and  mice. Cell 2005,122(3):  473-483

12. Yang XL, Yu  KP, Hao YW, Li D-M, Stewart R, Insogna KL, Xu  T*. LATS1 tumor  suppressor affects cytokinesis by inhibiting LIMK1. Nature Cell  Biology 2004,  6:609-617. PMID:15220930.

13. Pagliarini RA, Xu  T*. A genetic  screen in Drosophila for metastatic behavior. Science 2003, 302(5648):  1227-1231

14. Potter  CJ, Pedraza LG, Xu  T*. Akt regulates  growth by directly phosphorylating Tsc2. Nature Cell  Biology 2002, 4(9):  658-665

15. Zhang S, Xu  L, Lee J, Xu  T*. Drosophila Atrophin  homolog functions as a transcriptional co-repressor in multiple developmental  processes. Cell 2002,  108:45-56.

16. Potter CJ,  Huang H, Xu T*. Drosophila  Tsc1 functions with Tsc2 to antagonize insulin signaling in regulating cell  growth, cell proliferation, and organ size. Cell 2001,  105:357-368.

17. Tao W,  Zhang S, Turenchalk GS, Stewart RA, St. John MAR, Chen W, Xu  T*. Human  homologue of the Drosophila melanogaster lats tumour suppressor modulates CDC2  activity. Nature  Genetics 1999,  21:177-181.

18. St. John  MAR, Tao W, Fei X, Fukumoto R, Carcangiu ML, Brownstein DG, Parlow AF, McGrath  J, Xu  T*. Mice  deficient for Lats1 develop soft tissue sarcomas, ovarian tumors and pituitary  dysfunction. Nature  Genetics 1999,  21:182-186.

19. Huang H,  Potter CJ, Tao W, Li D-M, Brogiolo W, Hafen E, Sun H, Xu  T*. PTEN affects  cell size, cell proliferation and apoptosis during Drosophila eye  development. Development 1999, 126:  5365-72.

20. Rooke J, Pan D, Xu T*, Rubin GM.  KUZ, a conserved metalloprotease/disintegrin protein, plays two distinct roles during Drosophila neurogenesis.   Science 1996,  273:1227-1231. PMID: 8703057.

21. Xu T*, Wang W, Zhang  S, Stewart RA, Yu W. Identifying tumor suppressors in genetic mosaics:  the Drosophila lats gene  encodes a putative protein kinase. Development 1995,  121:1053-1063.

22. Xu T and Rubin GM. Analysis of genetic mosaics in developing and adult Drosophila tissues. Development 1993, 117:1223-1237.