Yingbin Fu, Ph.D.
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Yingbin Fu, Ph.D.
Associate Professor - Sarah Campbell Blaffer Endowed Chair
Positions
- Associate Professor - Sarah Campbell Blaffer Endowed Chair
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Ophthalmology
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX US
Addresses
- Neurosensory Center (Office)
-
Room: NEUR-C 506
Houston, TX 77030
United States
Education
- PhD from Michigan State University
- 05/1998 - Lansing, Michigan United States
- Biochemistry
- Postdoctoral Fellowship at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
- 05/2006 - Baltimore, Maryland United States
- Visual Neurophysiology
- BS from Peking University
- 05/1991 - Beijing, China
- Biochemistry
Honors & Awards
- Audacious Goals Challenge Prize
- https://www.nei.nih.gov/news/pressreleases/020813
- National Eye Institute (02/2013)
- The Helen Juanita Reed Award for Macular Degeneration Research
- BrightFocus Foundation (04/2018)
- 2021 NEI Audacious Goals Initiative Grant Award
- https://www.nei.nih.gov/about/news-and-events/news/learning-how-transplanted-neurons-fit-0
- National Eye Institute (09/2021 - 08/2026)
Professional Interests
- Protein trafficking
- Retinal degeneration including retinitis pigmentosa & age-related macular degeneration
- Gene editing based therapy
Professional Statement
The Fu lab is interested in using the visual system to study protein trafficking, sensory transduction, the biological mechanisms underlying various types of neurodegeneration and to develop innovative treatment strategies. Recently, the Fu lab has made significant progress toward the understanding of two blinding diseases: Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), the most severe retinal dystrophy in early childhood, and age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the elderly. The PI has won the National Eye Institute Audacious Goals Challenge Prize (http://www.nei.nih.gov/challenge). A recent exciting project in the lab is to permanently correct disease-associated mutations in a patient using molecules that are specially designed to target mutated DNA sequences (such as CRISPR) and that can be delivered safely and efficiently into the tissue. Such strategies could potentially provide the best cure or prevention for many diseases, which has the potential to forever transform healthcare.The Fu lab is particularly interested in using the visual system to address post-genomic era challenges (e.g. translate enormous genetic information to functional information). We place emphasis in "Translational Research": from “discovering mechanisms” to “developing innovative treatment strategies” to “moving into clinical trials”. Due to the translational nature of our research, students and postdocs will have good employment opportunities in both academia and industry. With diverse research projects (from basic to translational), there is ample opportunity for incoming students. We welcome rotation students!
The Fu lab is currently has one position open for a postdoc/research associate and one position open for a technician. Highly motivated candidates who are interested in addressing major health challenges facing our modern society are encouraged to apply.
Websites
Selected Publications
- Kumar S, Nakashizuka H, Jones A, Lambert A, Zhao X, Shen M, Parker M, Wang S, Berriochoa Z, Fnu A, VanBeuge S, Chévez-Barrios P, Tso M, Rainier J, Fu Y. "Proteolytic Degradation and Inflammation Play Critical Roles in Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy." Am J Pathol. 2017 Dec 20;187(12):2841-2857. Pubmed PMID: 28941979
- Zhang T, Cao LH, Kumar S, Enemchukwu NO, Zhang N, Lambert A, Zhao X, Jones A, Wang S, Dennis EM, Fnu A, Ham S, Rainier J, Yau KW, Fu Y "Dimerization of visual pigments in vivo.." Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 Jul 26 Pubmed PMID: 27462111
- Zhang T, Enemchukwu NO, Jones A, Wang S, Dennis E, Watt CB, Pugh EN Jr, Fu Y. "Genetic deletion of S-opsin prevents rapid cone degeneration in a mouse model of Leber congenital amaurosis.." Hum Mol Genet. 2015 Mar 15;24(6):1755-63. Pubmed PMID: 25416279
- Jones A, Kumar S, Zhang N, Tong Z, Yang JH, Watt C, Anderson J, Amrita, Fillerup H, McCloskey M, Luo L, Yang Z, Ambati B, Marc R, Oka C, Zhang K, Fu Y. "Increased expression of multifunctional serine protease, HTRA1, in retinal pigment epithelium induces polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy in mice.." Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Aug 30;108(35):14578-83. Pubmed PMID: 21844367
- Zhang T, Zhang N, Baehr W, Fu Y. "Cone opsin determines the time course of cone photoreceptor degeneration in Leber congenital amaurosis.." Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 May 24;108(21):8879-84. Pubmed PMID: 21555576
- Fu Y, Kefalov V, Luo DG, Xue T, Yau KW. "Quantal noise from human red cone pigment.." Nat Neurosci. 2008 May;11(5):565-71. Pubmed PMID: 18425122
- Kumar S, Berriochoa Z, Ambati BK, Fu Y. "Angiographic features of transgenic mice with increased expression of human serine protease HTRA1 in retinal pigment epithelium.." Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2014 May 22;55(6):3482-50. Pubmed PMID: 24854852
- Zhu L, Parker M, Enemchukwu N, Shen M, Zhang G, Yan Q, Handa J, Fang L, and Fu Y "Combination of apolipoprotein-A-I/apolipoprotein-A-I binding protein and anti-VEGF treatment overcomes anti-VEGF resistance in choroidal neovascularization in mice." 2020 Jul 16;3(1):386. Pubmed PMID: 32678293
- Xu H, Enemchukwu N, Zhong X, Zhang O, and Fu Y "Deletion of M-opsin prevents “M cone” degeneration in a mouse model of Leber congenital amaurosis." 2020 May;190(5):1059-1067. Pubmed PMID: 32084365
- Xu H, Jin N, Chuang J-Z, Zhang Zhao, Zhong X, Zhang Zhijing, Sung C-H, Ribelayga CP, Fu Y "Visual pigment–deficient cones survive and mediate visual signaling despite the lack of outer segments." 2022 Mar 1;119(9) Pubmed PMID: 35197287
Memberships
- Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
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