Jiahui (Chris) Wu

Jiahui Chris Wu

Department of Chemistry
Life Science Laboratories S525
240 Thatcher Road
Amherst, MA 01003-9292

jiahuiwu@umass.edu
https://www.umass.edu/chemistry/faculty/jiahui-chris-wu

IALS Interview with Chris

Assistant Professor of Chemistry

Research areas include protein and nucleic acid engineering.

Dr. Wu's research lab is interested in exploring the fascinating world of RNA and leveraging our understanding to advance therapeutics. While over 75% of the human genome is actively transcribed into RNAs, less than 5% of these RNAs are used for coding proteins. Therefore, a major question arises: What are the functions of the RNAs that are not coding proteins? To answer this question, Dr. Wu's lab invents cutting-edge molecular tools to track when RNAs are being transcribed, how they are trafficked within cells, and what other biomolecules they encounter during their life cycle. Their goal is to decipher the functional roles of RNA in both health and disease.

As they gain more mechanistic insights into how the cell works, Dr. Wu's lab is also highly interested in leveraging these insights to develop functional molecules for therapeutic applications. They harness the power of molecular engineering to develop functional proteins and nucleic acids that modulate cellular processes and target disease-specific pathways, with a goal of advancing our discoveries into therapeutics.

Learn more at Wu Research Group

Academic Background

Postdoc, 2015-2020, Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University
PhD 2014, University of Alberta, Canada
B Eng 2009, Guangdong University of Technology, China

  • Center for Bioactive Delivery 
  • IALS Associated Faculty