Lab Journal

News & lab life

Grants, papers, conferences, and the moments in between.

NIH/NCI

Our PAX5 research is supported by an NIH/NCI R01 Award

Just days after our first NIH/NCI award, the National Cancer Institute awarded the Gu Lab a second five-year grant (R01CA303874; 09/2025–08/2030) to dissect the functional role of PAX5 mutations in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. This award supports our continued effort to understand how PAX5 alterations drive multiple high-risk B-ALL subtypes and to identify therapeutic vulnerabilities downstream of these lesions. The grant was originally issued as a MERIT (R37) award and converted to an R01 per NIH policy; the science and scope remain unchanged. We are deeply grateful to our team, our collaborators, and the NCI.

NIH/NCI

Our BCR::ABL1 (Ph) B-ALL research is supported by an NIH/NCI MERIT (R37) Award

The National Cancer Institute awarded the Gu Lab its first NIH/NCI grant — a five-year MERIT Award (R37CA300358; 08/2025–07/2030) that will let us define how a novel signature gene shapes leukemogenesis and therapeutic response in BCR::ABL1 (Ph+) B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Many thanks to our team and the NCI for making this work possible.

PCRF Grant

Our single-cell research in high-risk leukemias is funded by the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation

Alongside Zunsong's recent publication, we received the Translational Research Grant from the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation. Arriving just as the holidays approach, it feels like a special recognition of our efforts in studying high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia subtypes. We are incredibly grateful for this support as we continue to make meaningful strides in this field.

Zunsong Publication

Congratulations to Zunsong — two first-author papers published!

Congratulations to Zunsong and our team for their remarkable work advancing leukemia research. Zunsong's contribution was instrumental in developing MD-ALL, a platform that combines various aspects of RNA-seq data for integrative leukemia classification. This work, including collaboration with Children's Hospital Los Angeles, demonstrated the platform's effectiveness in a clinical setting.

V Foundation

Our PAX5 research in B-ALL is funded by the V Scholar Award from the V Foundation

PAX5 is the key transcription factor in B-cell development and commitment. Over 30% of B-ALL patients are reported with PAX5 alterations. Rather than secondary events, PAX5 mutations can drive multiple B-ALL subtypes, many defined as high-risk. Thanks to the continuous efforts of our lab members, we have made significant strides in answering major questions about the molecular function of PAX5 mutations in driving leukemia development.

Leukemia Research Foundation

Our single-cell research in high-risk leukemias is funded by the Leukemia Research Foundation

We are steadfast in our commitment to employ cutting-edge technologies and in vitro/in vivo models to understand the molecular mechanisms of high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia, particularly the PAX5alt and CRLF2-rearranged Ph-like subtypes. This approach is significantly advancing our understanding of these malignancies and their mechanisms of drug resistance. We deeply appreciate the support of the LRF.

MD-ALL Preprint

Our MD-ALL platform is under review — here is the preprint

Congratulations to Zunsong! This is the first fully independent research paper from our lab. Now there is an integrative RNA-seq analysis platform that can handle multiple aspects of information to assist B-ALL molecular classification. Many thanks to the hard work and innovative ideas from our team.

ASH 2022

We had a great time at ASH 2022 in New Orleans

Congratulations to Zunsong for his excellent poster presentation and to Zhilian for her outstanding oral presentations at ASH 2022. It was an exciting and proud experience for our lab to showcase our research on such a grand stage. Well done, Zunsong and Zhilian!

B+ Foundation

We received a grant from the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation!

The Childhood Cancer Research Award from the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation will support our research into the function of PAX5 mutations in leukemia development. The B+ Foundation raises funds from events on college campuses, pairing some schools with research grants. Our application was well received, and we are honored to be paired with the students at Loyola Marymount University (LMU).

First Gu Lab paper

The first Gu Lab paper

Congratulations to Dr. Zhilian Jia! The first Gu Lab paper is published in Frontiers in Oncology, Section of Hematologic Malignancies. In this review, we summarized recent advances in understanding the function of PAX5 in orchestrating the development of normal and malignant B cells, focusing on PAX5 alterations as initiating or driver events in B-ALL.

Joshua Tree

Joshua Tree National Park

It was summer, and it was hot. Zunsong, Xiaohua, Zhilian, and Ke were there. A lonely brown table was settled for a hotpot dinner. "Oh look" cried Ke, and then the crystal dark night of the National Park was abruptly there. The end.

RNAseqCNV

RNAseqCNV is published

Congratulations to Jan and Zunsong! The concept initiated in our previous work (Gu et al., Nat. Genet., 2019) of calling large-scale copy number alterations from bulk RNA-seq data is published in Leukemia. The software is freely available from GitHub RNAseqCNV.

Rotation Students

Hiking

A group hike to the Sunset Bench (5XFV+29 Monrovia, California). We were happy to host the rotation students Alex, Jiangyue, and Yu-Hsuan in our laboratory.

Christmas 2021

Merry Christmas to the team

You may not be able to tell, but we were holding our breath while taking this photo, to comply with the COVID policy.

Thanksgiving Welcome

Happy Thanksgiving & Welcome & Congratulations

Happy Thanksgiving to all our lab members! It was a great day in Lacy Park. Thanks to the Party Committee led by Helen and Zhilian — the table-runner and decorations were exquisite. We warmly welcomed our new lab member Dr. Ke Wang, celebrated Behzad's birthday, and were excited about the upcoming baby for Jibin.

Official Lab Photo

An official lab photo

An official lab photo was taken at the Biomedical Research Center, Monrovia, where our lab is located. We enjoyed the days that we had Judd, Carrie, and Elmah working with us this summer.

First Lab Photo

Our first lab photo

Surprise birthday party for Zhaohui. More importantly, we had our excellent first lab photo.

Lab Webpage Online

Lab webpage is online

The first version of the Gu Lab website is online. For now the pages are mainly for recruiting lab members, but it will evolve into a hub to host and present our future research and lab life.

Gu Lab @ City of Hope

Gu Lab @ City of Hope

Today the official offer from City of Hope was accepted, announcing that the Gu Lab will kick-start on June 29th, 2020. Talented postdoc candidates are invited to embark on the inaugural of this brand new lab. Together, we can lead a productive, memorable, and enjoyable research life in beautiful Los Angeles!