Principal Investigator
Yifei Cai, PhD
Tenure-Track Associate Professor
Bio-X Institute
School of Biological Science and Technology
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Yifei has had a longstanding interest in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia, since her graduate training in non-coding RNA regulation at Peking University. During her Ph.D. studies, she conducted research visits in the laboratory of Kepeng Wang at UConn Health and in the laboratory of Joseph Gogos at Columbia University. In 2018, she joined the laboratory of Jaime Grutzendler in the Department of Neurology at Yale University, where her research focused on neuron–glia pathology in neurodegeneration and the development of proteomic and iPSC-based tools to study axon–myelin pathology. In 2024, she visited the group of Evangelia Petsalaki at the European Bioinformatics Institute as an EMBL-EBI CPP Fellow. In 2026, Yifei Cai joined the Bio-X Institute at Shanghai Jiao Tong University as a Tenure-Track Associate Professor. Her work has been recognized through multiple international awards and research grants, including the BrightFocus Alzheimer’s Disease Standard Award, the Alzheimer’s Association Research Fellowship, and the Carol and Gene Ludwig Foundation Pilot Project Award.
Zhen XU (徐桢)
PhD Student, 2024-present
xuzhen24(at)sjtu.edu.cn
Zhen Xu graduated from the Institute of Neuroscience (ION) and became a Ph.D. student at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) in 2024. His current research focuses on AAV tool screening and proximity labeling-based proteomic analysis.
Sili PAN (潘思力)
PhD Student, 2026-present
sili_pan(at)sjtu.edu.cn
Sili Pan received his Master's degree from Xiamen University in 2026. He joined the Cai Lab in 2026.His research focuses on neurovascular and neuroimmune mechanisms in neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer’s disease, with an emphasis on interactions among the blood–brain barrier, glial cells, and axons.
Honghao XU (许鸿皓)
PhD Student, 2026-present
xu_honghao(at)sjtu.edu.cn
Honghao Xu received his M.S. in Basic Medicine from Tongji University in 2026 and his B.S. in Biological Sciences from Northwest A&F University in 2023. He joined the Cai Lab in 2026. His research focuses on oligodendrocyte–myelin–neuron interactions in Alzheimer’s disease and brain organoid modeling based on patient-derived iPSCs. He is also interested in selective vulnerability and therapeutic strategies for ALS, as well as AI-guided development of novel CRISPR-based molecular tools.
Guangyin ZHOU (周光印)
Research Assistant, 2026-present
13127723741(at)163.com
Guangyin Zhou graduated from Shanghai University. During the master's degree program, he was involved in the induction of iPSCs to construct chondrocyte and osteoblast organoids. In addition, research on extracellular vesicles of probiotics is conducted. Through synthetic biology techniques, engineered probiotic organoids are constructed to treat degenerative bone diseases.
Shihao QU (屈世豪)
Research Assistant, 2026-present
shihaoqu83(at)gmail.com
Shihao Qu received his M.S. in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University in 2026, following a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Connecticut. He is currently a Research Assistant in the Cai Lab. His research focuses on HRP- and oligodendrocyte-related questions, with particular interest in the cellular and molecular regulation of glial-cell states and functions in the nervous system. More broadly, he is interested in glial biology and neurobiology.
Rachel Welch
2019-2021 Undergraduate trainee, Yale College
Awarded Yale undergraduate fellowship
Current: MD/PhD Program at Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Amber Braker
2020-2022 Undergraduate trainee, Yale College
Awarded Yale undergraduate fellowship
Accomplished undergraduate thesis project
Zichen Tian
2020-2021 Undergraduate intern, Carleton College
Awarded undergraduate internship fellowship
Current: PhD Program at Mayo Clinics
Derek Goshay
2020-2021 Undergraduate trainee, Yale College
Accomplished undergraduate thesis project
Tram Huynh
2022-2024 Postgraduate Associate trainee
Contribution: Myelin-axon pathology projects
Current: PhD Program at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Maurice Peiyang Tang
2022-2023 Postgraduate Associate trainee
Contribution: Myelin-axon pathology project
Current: PhD Program at University of Southern California
Jüri Reimand, PhD
University of Toronto
Anita Huttner, MD
Yale University
Joseph A. Gogos, MD, PhD
Columbia University
Bin Xu, PhD
Columbia University
Jun Wang, MD, PhD
Southern University of Science and Technology