Li Lan

Li Lan, MD, PhD, MBA, leads the Lan Lab at Duke University. She trained as a physician-scientist at Tohoku University and studies how RNA, R-loops, and DNA repair hold the genome stable in cancer cells. Her lab turns that mechanism into new therapies, and it also works on telomere damage and on the link between DNA damage and anti-tumour immunity.

Appointments

• Associate Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University · 2024–present
• Associate Professor in Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Duke University · 2024–present
• Member of the Duke Cancer Institute · 2023–present
• Instructor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University · 2023–2024

Education and Training

• M.D., Tohoku University, Japan · 2005
• Ph.D., Tohoku University, Japan · 2005

Honors and Awards

• Elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) · 2024

Selected Grants

• Understanding and Targeting the R-Loop-Mediated DNA Damage Response at Telomeres · Principal Investigator · National Cancer Institute · 2023–2028
• ABL kinase signaling networks regulate Transcription-Replication Collisions in Small Cell Lung Cancer · Co-Principal Investigator · National Institutes of Health · 2026–2031
• Targeting the mRNA Methyltransferase TRDMT1 in Ovarian and Breast Cancer · Principal Investigator · Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation · 2025–2027
• Targeting R-loop and mRNA dependent repair pathway in cancer therapy · Principal Investigator · Harvard Medical School · 2024–2026
• Targeting mRNA methyltransferase in cancer therapy · Principal Investigator · UH Harrington Discovery Institute · 2023–2025
• Cell and Molecular Biology Training Program · Mentor · National Institute of General Medical Sciences · 2021–2026
• Genetics and Genomics Training Grant · Mentor · National Institutes of Health · 2026–2031

Full profile: Scholars@Duke