2023 GU XIAOCHENG LECTURE

 The 2023 GU XIAOCHENG LECTURE is awarded to Dr. Ye Tian of the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The Gu Xiaocheng Lecture Award was established by the Gu Xiaocheng Memorial Fund in 2012. This lectureship honors young investigators who show promise of becoming future leaders in life science research, particularly those based in China.

Dr. Ye Tian earned her bachelor's degree from Beijing Normal University in 2005 and her doctorate degree from a joint program of Beijing Normal University and the National Institute of Biological Science, Beijing in 2010. Afterward, she conducted post-doctoral research at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies from 2010 to 2012 and then at the University of California, Berkeley from 2012 to 2016. In 2016, Dr. Tian was recruited as a Professor by the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Population aging is a major social problem and scientific challenge facing the world. Research on the molecular mechanisms of aging and exploring strategies to delay aging and treat aging-related degenerative diseases is of utmost importance. Dr. Tian is dedicated to the research of mitochondrial homeostasis regulation and aging and has achieved a series of original and leading achievements in the field of aging research: (1) discovering a new phenomenon of maternal transgenerational inheritance, revealing that the mitochondria of neurons can transmit "stress memory" from generation to generation by increasing the copy number of mitochondrial DNA in germ cells, thus providing offspring with stronger stress resistance and longer life; (2) finding that a variety of cross tissue mitochondrial signal exchanges participate in the body's metabolism; (3) discovering that mitochondrial metabolites regulate aging through epigenetic factors, which provides a theoretical basis for targeting metabolites to delay aging.

Dr. Tian has already demonstrated remarkable strength and a commitment to pushing the boundaries of exploration in her early career. In 2022, she successfully organized the International Youth Symposium on Aging, funded by the Association for Science and Technology. She was successively awarded funding from the Ministry of Science and Technology's National Key R&D Program Youth Project and the National Natural Science Foundation of China as the lead investigator. Furthermore, she was honored with the 2022 National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars and won the 2022 Chinese Academy of Sciences Young Scientist Award.

Dr. Tian is passionate about sharing her scientific knowledge with the public. In 2017, she gave a talk entitled "How to Delay Aging" as part of the online program YiXi. In 2019, she was a member of the 8th "Science and China" Academician Expert Lecture Group (Shenzhen) and gave a popular science lecture titled "Microscopic Mitochondria, Macroscopic Big Energ". In 2022, she was a speaker in Mr. Science's LIVE video series, discussing "How a Small Nematode Reveals the Mystery of Human Aging".