Self-introduction
Dr. Yonglong Chen is an associate professor at Southern University of Science and Technology. Dr. Chen received his B. Sc. and M. Sc. Degrees from Northwest Normal University, China and Ph. D. degree from Essen University, Germany. From 1999 to 2007, he had postdoctoral training at University of Goettingen, Germany. From 2007 to 2014, he had established his independent laboratory at Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, as a principal investigator. Since 1999, his research interests have been focused on the understanding of molecular mechanisms of pancreas development and regeneration of pancreatic beta cells both in vivo and in vitro, which holds great potential for cell transplantation therapy of diabetes. He has published 55 papers in peer-reviewed journals, such as Genes & Development, PNAS, EMBO Journal, and Development.

Research Interests
◆Pancreas development and regeneration. We use Xenopus as a model to investigate how embryonic endodermal precursors are specified into pancreatic buds and further developed into a functional pancreas. We are also interested in studying the regeneration mechanisms of adult pancreatic cells, including islet beta cells.
◆Xenopus modeling of human diseases, such as pancreatic cancers and lung cancer.

Professional Experience
2014 –present , Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Southern University of Science and Technology of China
2007-2014, Principal Investigator, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences
1999-2007, Postdoctoral Fellow, Medical Center, University of Goettingen, Germany
1989-1995, Assistant Professor, Lecturer, Department of Biology, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, China

Educational Background
1999, Ph.D., Department of Zoophysiology, Essen University, Germany
1989, M.S., Department of Biology, Northwest Normal University
1986, B.S., Department of Biology, Northwest Normal University

Honors & Awards
2014, “Leading Talent in Talents Program”, Guangdong

Representative Publications
1. Shi, Z., Xin, H., Tian, D., Lian, J., Wang, J., Liu, G., Ran, R., Shi, S., Zhang, Z., Shi, Y., Deng, Y., Hou, C., and Chen, Y. 2019. Modeling human point mutation diseases in Xenopus tropicalis with a modified CRISPR/Cas9 system. FASEB J. 33, 6962-6968.
2. Shi, Z., Tian, D., Xin, H., Lian, J., Guo, X., and Chen, Y. 2017. Targeted integration of genes in Xenopus tropicalis. Genesis 55(1-2).
3. Shi, Z., Wang, F., Cui, Y., Liu, Z., Guo, X., Zhang, Y., Deng, Y., Zhao, H., and Chen, Y. 2015. Heritable CRISPR/Cas9-mediated targeted integration in Xenopus tropicalis. FASEB J.29, 4914-4923.
4. Guo, X., Zhang, T., Hu, Z., Zhang, Y., Shi, Z., Wang, Q., Cui, Y., Wang, F., Zhao, H., and Chen, Y. 2014. Efficient RNA/Cas9-mediated genome editing in Xenopus tropicalis. Development 141, 707-714.
5. Zhao, H., Han, D., Dawid, I.B., Pieler, T., and Chen, Y. 2012. Homeoprotein hhex-induced conversion of intestinal to ventral pancreatic precursors results in the formation of giant pancreata in Xenopus embryos. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A. 109，8594-8599.
6. Lei, Y., Guo, X., Liu, Y., Cao, Y., Deng, Y., Chen, X., Cheng, C.H., Dawid, I.B., Chen, Y., and Zhao, H. 2012. Efficient targeted gene disruption in Xenopus embryos using engineered transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A. 109, 17484-17489.
7. Wen, L., Yang, Y., Wang, Y., Xu, A., Wu, D., and Chen, Y. 2010. Appl1 is essential for the survival of Xenopus pancreas, duodenum, and stomach progenitor cells. Dev. Dyn. 239, 2198-2207.
8. Afelik, S., Chen, Y. and Pieler, T. 2006. Combined ectopic expression of Pdx1 and Ptf1a/p48 results in the stable conversion of posterior endoderm into endocrine and exocrine pancreatic tissue. Genes Dev. 20, 1441-1446.
9. Chen, Y., Pan, F. C., Brandes, N., Afelik, S., Sölter, M. and Pieler, T. 2004. Retinoic acid signaling is essential for pancreas development and promotes endocrine at the expense of exocrine cell differentiation in Xenopus. Dev. Biol. 271, 144-160.
10. Hollemann, T., Chen, Y., Grunz, H. and Pieler, T. 1998. Regionalized metabolic activity establishes boundaries of retinoic acid signalling. EMBO J. 17, 7361-7372.