Guoping Fan's Biography

Guoping Fan, Professor, University of California Los Angeles

Dr. Guoping Fan is currently a full Professor in the Department of Human Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He obtained his BS in Biochemistry from Nanjing University in China, and PhD in Neuroscieneces at Case Western Reserve University in the US. After a postdoc at Whitehead Institute/MIT, he took the faculty postion at UCLA in 2001. Dr. Fan’s research focuses on understanding genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that are involved in stem cell differentiation, neural development, and human diseases. By studying conditional knockout mice that lack one of the DNA methyltransferases (Dnmt1, Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b), his lab begins to understand the function of DNA methylation in brain development and function. Dr. Fan and his staff also establish human induced pluripotent stem cells to understand the pathogenic mechanisms of human diseases including Fragile X Syndrome and ICF Syndrome. More recently, his team is applying genomic technology to understand the fundamental question in stem cell biology and neuroscience. Dr. Fan has published a lot of original papers in the prestigious international journals including Science, Cell, Cell Stem Cell, Nature Neuroscience, PNAS, and Development. Among the many professional activities, Dr. Fan has served as grant reviewer for National Institute of Health, Maryland Stem Cell Research Program, and Connecticut State Stem Cell Program.