Another heavyweight professor joining West Lake University full-time! West Lake University | Cell | Professor
On the 6th, it was learned from West Lake University that internationally renowned biochemist and cell biologist, former distinguished professor Guan Kunliang at the University of California, San Diego, has officially joined West Lake University and West Lake Laboratory as a chair professor in molecular cell biology.
Guan Kunliang, from Tongxiang, Zhejiang, obtained a bachelor's degree from Zhejiang University in 1982; Obtained a doctoral degree from Purdue University in 1989; Engaged in postdoctoral research at Purdue University from 1989 to 1991; I taught at the University of Michigan from 1992 to 2007, then joined the University of California, San Diego in 2007 and was appointed as an outstanding professor at the university from 2013 to 2023.
Guan Kunliang mainly engages in research on cell growth regulation and signal transduction in tumor development. During his postdoctoral studies, he discovered the bispecific protein phosphatase family and novel thiophosphate intermediates in biocatalysis. His early laboratory work cloned human MEK1/2 and elucidated the activation mechanism of MEK. Over the past two decades, Guan Kunliang has focused on the mTOR and Hippo pathways and made significant contributions in establishing the mTORC1 signaling network, including identifying TSC1/2 Rheb, Rag, and AMPK as upstream regulatory factors of mTORC1 in growth factors, nutrition, and energy responses, as well as elucidating ULK1 and VPS34 as downstream effector molecules of mTORC1 in autophagy.
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In recent years, his team has been focusing on the Hippo pathway and its role in cancer, playing a leading role in promoting the Hippo field.
As of now, Guan Kunliang has published over 300 research papers, making him one of the most cited researchers in the fields of molecular biology and genetics. He is also the most cited scholar in the Hippo field and the second most cited scholar in the mTOR field. Has won multiple important awards, including the MacArthur Genius Award in the United States, the Young Scientist Award from the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the Wu Rui Award from the Chinese Association of Biologists.