Leng Han, PhD

Education and Training

• B.S. Biotechnology, Wuhan University, China (2005)
  
• Ph.D. Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2010)
• Postdoc, Stanford University (2012)
• Postdoc, MD Anderson Cancer Center (2015)

Research Interests

Despite advancements in treatment options for cancer, a majority of cancer types continue to lack fully characterized and effective targeted therapies to improve disease diagnostics, prognoses, and patient survival outcomes. Therefore, there is an urgent need to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the molecular basis of diseases and develop novel prognostic and therapeutic strategies. We pioneered a series of pan-cancer approaches to provide clinical insights into cancer therapy, in particular to understand the mechanisms of drug response (Cell Systems, 2018; Nature Metabolism, 2019; Nature Immunology, 2019; Nature Communications, 2019; Genome Medicine, 2019; Nature Communications, 2020a; Nature Communications, 2020b; Genome Medicine, 2020a; Genome Medicine, 2020b; Oncogene, 2021). These studies shed light on future clinical considerations for the development of innovative therapies for cancer types currently lacking effective treatment options. We will further develop highly innovative prognostic and therapeutic strategies with the potential to produce a major impact on biomedical research.

Selected Publications 

1. Zhang Z, Jing J, Ye Y, Chen Z, Jing Y, Li S, Hong W, Ruan H, Liu Y, Hu Q, Wang J, Li W, Lin C, Diao L^#, Zhou Y^#, Han L^#. Characterization of the dual functional effects of heat shock proteins (HSPs) in cancer hallmarks to aid development of HSP inhibitors. Genome Medicine, 2020, 12: 101. PMID: 33225964
2. Jing Y, Liu J, Ye Y, Pan L, Deng H, Wang Y, Yang Y, Diao L, Lin SH, Mills GB, Zhuang G^#, Xue X^#, Han L^#. Multi-omics prediction of immune-related adverse events during checkpoint immunotherapy. Nature Communications, 2020, 11: 4946, PMID: 33009409
3. Liu Y, Ruan H, Li S, Ye Y, Hong W, Gong J, Zhang Z, Jing Y, Zhang X^#, Diao L^#, Han L^#. The genetic and pharmacogenomic landscape of snoRNAs in human cancer. Molecular Cancer, 2020, 19: 108, PMID: 32576192
4. Ye Y, Jing Y, Li L, Mills GB, Diao L^#, Liu H^#, Han L^#. Sex-associated molecular differences for cancer immunotherapy. Nature Communications, 2020, 11: 1779, PMID: 32286310
5. Zhang Z, Lee JH, Ruan H, Ye Y, Krakowiak J, Hu Q, Xiang Y, Gong J, Zhou B, Wang L, Lin C, Diao L, Mills GB, Li W^#, Han L^#. Transcriptional landscape and clinical utility of enhancer RNAs for eRNA-targeted therapy in cancer. Nature Communications, 2019, 10: 4562. PMID: 31594934
6. Ruan H, Xiang Y, Ko J, Li S, Jing Y, Zhu X, Ye Y, Zhang Z, Mills T, Feng J, Liu CJ, Jing J, Cao J, Zhou B, Wang L, Zhou Y, Lin C, Guo AY, Chen X, Diao L, Li W, Chen Z, He X, Mills GB, Blackburn MR, Han L^#. Comprehensive characterization of circular RNAs in ~1000 human cancer cell lines. Genome Medicine, 2019, 11: 55. PMID: 31446897
7. Ye Y, Hu Q, Chen H, Liang K, Yuan Y, Ruan H, Zhang Z, Song A, Zhang H, Liu L, Diao L, Lou Y, Zhou B, Wang L, Zhou S, Gao J, Jonasch E, Lin S, Xia Y, Lin C, Yang L^#, Mills GB^#, Liang H^#, Han L^#: Characterization of Hypoxia-associated Molecular Features to Aid Hypoxia-Targeted Therapy. Nature Metabolism, 2019, 1: 431-444. PMID: 31984309
8. Ye Y, Xiang Y, Ozguc FM, Kim Y, Liu CJ, Park PK, Hu Q, Diao L, Lou Y, Lin C, Guo AY, Zhou B, Wang L, Chen Z, Takahashi JS, Mills GB, Yoo SH, Han L^#: The genomic landscape and pharmacogenomic interactions of clock genes in cancer chronotherapy. Cell Systems, 2018, 6: 314-328
9. Xiang Y, Ye Y, Lou Y, Yang Y, Cai C, Zhang Z, Mills T, Chen NY, Kim Y, Ozguc FM, Diao L, Karmouty-Quintana H, Xia Y, Blackburn M, Kellems R, Chen Z, Yoo SH, Shyu AB, Mills GB, Han L^#: Comprehensive characterization of alternative polyadenylation in human cancer. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2017, djx223
10. Gong J, Li Y, Liu CJ, Xiang Y, Li C, Ye Y, Zhang Z, Hawke DH,  Park PK, Diao L, Putkey JA, Yang L, Guo AY^#, Lin C^#, Han L^#: A pan-cancer analysis of the expresion and clinical relevance of small nucleolar RNA in human cancer. Cell Reports, 2017, 21: 1968-1981

Complete google scholar list available:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2Som0AUAAAAJ&hl=en