People | Yale Lu Lab

Meet the Team

Principal Investigator

Jun Lu, PhD is a Professor in the Department of Genetics and the Yale Stem Cell Center. He currently serves as the Vice Chair for Collaborative Excellence in the Department of Genetics. Dr. Lu is also a Member of Yale Cooperative Center of Excellence in Hematology, Yale Center for RNA Science and Medicine, and Yale Cancer Center. Since joining the faculty of Yale in 2009, Dr. Lu has established a hybrid laboratory, leveraging his expertise in both experimental biology and in computational biology. Dr. Lu and his laboratory have identified miRNA-mediated control of hematopoietic stem cells and revealed miRNA-based regulation of leukemia initiation and progression. His laboratory is also the first to show that mutations of clonal hematopoiesis can lead to anti-cancer effects, using TET2 as an example. This finding has helped to spark a series of work from the field on investigating the link between clonal hematopoiesis and immune dysregulation in cancer. More recently, his laboratory is the first to reveal a major function of cell surface glycosylated RNAs, in the setting of neutrophil biology. In addition to addressing biological questions, Dr. Lu’s laboratory has developed new technologies and computational tools to understand small RNA functions and their expression in single cells.

jun.lu@yale.edu

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Postdoctoral Associate

Ningning Zhang, PhD

Ningning earned his Ph.D. from the Institute of Microbiology at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, where he studied the mechanisms of RNA environmental adaptation in extremely thermophilic Archaea. He has been a postdoctoral associate in the Lu lab since June 2021. In the Lu lab, his research focuses on understanding the biogenesis and biological functions of glycoRNAs. His recent work uncovered the critical role of cell surface glycoRNAs in neutrophil recruitment to inflammatory sites, mediated through the recognition of P-selectin on endothelial cells. He also

demonstrated that glycoRNAs are remarkably stable on the cell surface and are produced and transported there in a cell-autonomous manner. Furthermore, he found that knockdown of murine Sidt genes, putative RNA transporters, eliminate neutrophil glycoRNAs and phenocopies the functional loss of cell surface RNAs. Ningning’s contributions to the field have been recognized with several prestigious honors, including the 2024 Joan and Tom Steitz RNA Fellowship, the 2023 ASH Abstract Achievement Award, and the 2024 Genetics Retreat Outstanding Poster Award.

ningning.zhang@yale.edu

Graduate Student

Yasmeen Ajaj

Yasmeen is a Genetics PhD candidate and has been a member of the Lu Lab since March 2021. She graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology where she conducted research in the lab of Dr. Jens Lykke-Andersen investigating eukaryotic deadenylases. Concurrently, Yasmeen interned at Takeda Pharmaceuticals with a preclinical team developing therapeutics for inflammatory bowel disease. After graduating from UCSD, she worked as a Postbaccalaureate IRTA at the National Institutes of Health under Dr. Robert Crouch investigating the role of RNase H2 in embryonic development.

In the Lu Lab, Yasmeen’s thesis work dissects the functional importance, ultrastructure, and topological paths of neutrophil nuclear morphogenesis, employing mouse models, in vitro models, and a plethora of imaging modalities. She is the recipient of the 2021 NSF GRFP award for Genetics. In addition to her thesis work, Yasmeen is passionate about about life sciences entrepreneurship, having worked as a Yale-Canaan Fellow in 2023-2024, and now as a Yale Ventures Blavatnik Fellow for 2024-2025, and concurrently does free-lance life sciences consulting. She currently is acting Co-VP of Outreach at the Yale Biotech Club. Outside of the lab, Yasmeen enjoys traveling the world, boating along the New England coastline, growing a brand-new medspa with her husband, conquering the ski slopes (or at least trying!), and is currently learning how to golf.

yasmeen.ajaj@yale.edu

Graduate Student

Laura (Luoyi) Li

Laura received her B.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Johns Hopkins University. During her time at Hopkins, she worked in Dr. Xin Chen’s lab on asymmetric stem cell division. After graduating, she began her PhD at Yale University and is now a third-year PhD student in Dr. Jun Lu’s lab. Her research focuses on glycoRNA’s role in the immune system. Outside of the lab, Laura enjoys traveling and photography.

luoyi.li@yale.edu

Graduate Student

Dingyao Zhang

Dingyao Zhang received his B.S. in Biological Science from Sun Yat-sen University, with a minor in Statistics. During his undergraduate, he studied bioinformatics with Dr. Jianhua Yang, focusing on projects related to microRNA and alternative processing. After graduation, he worked as a postgraduate associate at Yale University in Lu lab. Following his postgraduate associate training, Dingyao joined the Yale Computational Biology and Bioinformatics (CBB) program and is now a fourth-year Ph.D. student, co-supervised by Jun and Dr. Mark Gerstein. His research focuses on the utilization of computational tools to study RNA biology. Outside the lab, Dingyao Zhang enjoys video games, delicious food, and sleeping.

dingyao.zhang@yale.edu

Graduate Student

Michael (Mai) Li

Michael completed his undergraduate studies in the School of the Gifted Young at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). As an undergraduate, he conducted research on intracellular trafficking and lysosomes in Dr. Ming Li’s lab at the University of Michigan. He joined the Lu Lab in March 2025 and is now pursuing his PhD degree here. His research focuses on the subcellular regulation of glycoRNA. Outside the lab, Michael especially enjoys cooking and traveling—though he hopes his homemade desserts won’t contribute too much to his waistline.

mai.li@yale.edu