Research Interests

Research Interests

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), including human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), represent a potentially inexhaustible supply of human cells for regenerative medicine, due to their ability of self-renewal and the capacity to differentiate into specialized cell types. In order to realize their full therapeutic potential, a number of challenges need to be overcome. One of the most important prerequisites is to be able to generate, under defined conditions, adequate numbers of the target cell type at sufficient purity and with the appropriate cellular functions.


The major research interest in the Bao lab is to use innovative technologies to engineer stem cells as models of human development and disease, as well to develop cellular and molecular therapies as next-generation of medicine for cancers and degenerative diseases, including neurological disorders, heart diseases, and diabetes. Our specific interests include:

Stem Cell Differentiation & Biomanufacturing

Live cells are promising drugs for degenerative diseases, yet it remains challenge to generate and manufacture pure target cells from human pluripotent stem cells. We aim to develop new protocols and insights into cardiac cells for heart diseases, β cells for diabetes, natural killer (NK) and T cells for cancers, etc.


Human Disease Modeling & Gene Editing

Cell and gene therapies hold great promise to treat a number of cancers and inherited genetic disorders, including leukemia, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), etc. We’re combining stem cells, biomaterials, microfluidics, CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing and adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated gene delivery to generate diseased organoids and to develop novel gene therapies.

Bioinformatics & Computational Biology

We aspire to develop and use statistical and computational methods to better understand gene evolution and function during human development and diseases. In particular, we’re interested to analyze next generation sequencing datasets and investigate the functions of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) during cardiovascular and blood development and diseases.