Email

yingbin.fu@bcm.edu

Positions

Associate Professor - Sarah Campbell Blaffer Endowed Chair

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://rebrand.ly/nih-award1

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 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 (AMD), the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the elderly. The PI has won the National Institute of Health/National Eye Institute Audacious Goals Challenge Awards (https://rebrand.ly/nih-award1; https://rebrand.ly/nei-award1).

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. 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

Memberships

Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology