Bo Xia, Ph.D.

The Xia lab focuses on addressing one of biology’s most fundamental questions: how does the human genome encode programs to control the identity and function of thousands of different cell types, and what goes wrong in diseases like cancer? To address this grand challenge, we need advanced technologies that exponentially accelerate the investigation pace beyond the traditional experimental approaches. In our lab, we develop state-of-the-art multimodal artificial intelligence (AI) tools that can predict how genes are regulated upon perturbations, allowing us to run large-scale in silico experiments before validating them in the lab. Using these technologies, we have discovered key proteins and genetic elements that shape how human genome folds and functions, and uncovered novel factors that regulate T cell fate transitions. By combining AI with advanced single-cell methods, our goal is to understand the core regulatory program that determine cell fate — and engineer these programs open new possibilities for regenerative medicine, aging research, and cancer therapy.