University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · GeneticsAlzheimer's Genetics Research Unit
Yun Li · Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Research Focus
Dr. Yun Li's lab at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill focuses on understanding the genetic mechanisms underlying Alzheimer's disease, which affects millions of elderly individuals. By using advanced computational methods to analyze a variety of genomic data, the lab aims to uncover how certain genetic variants contribute to the disease. They validate their hypotheses by conducting experiments on induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neural cells and brain organoids, leveraging innovative techniques like CRISPR to explore potential therapeutic targets.
Alzheimer's Diseasegenetic mechanismsiPSC-derived neuronsbrain organoidsCRISPR
Research Aims
5AIM 01Analyze genomic data to identify genetic variants associated with Alzheimer's disease.
AIM 02Develop mechanistic hypotheses based on single-cell and bulk RNA sequencing data.
AIM 03Validate hypotheses using iPSC-derived neural cells and brain organoids.
AIM 04Investigate the role of CRISPR technology in functional assays.
AIM 05Measure molecular and cellular phenotypes related to Alzheimer's disease.
Skills the Lab Values
computational analysisRNA sequencingCRISPR interferencecell culturebioinformaticsgenome-wide association studies (GWAS)functional genomicsmolecular phenotypingorganoid modeling
Output against the department
Publications748top 6% of dept.15th of 259
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations79ktop 7% of dept.19th of 259
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.