Shawn Xu

Shawn Xu is the Bernard W. Agranoff Collegiate Professor in the Life Sciences at the University of Michigan's Life Sciences Institute (LSI) and a Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology at the Medical School. His research focuses on sensory biology, including thermosensation, mechanosensation, and chemoreception in C. elegans and mice. Key areas include sensory transduction mechanisms, neural circuits processing sensory inputs, and the regulation of aging by environmental cues like temperature and food odors.

Education: B.S. and M.S. in Biochemistry from Wuhan University, China; Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry from Johns Hopkins University. Postdoctoral training at Caltech.

Research Interests:

• Identification of sensory receptors (e.g., TRP channels, LITE-1, GLR-3)
• Mechanisms of sensory signal processing in neural circuits
• Environmental regulation of longevity (e.g., cold-induced lifespan extension)
• Interactions between sensory perception and metabolic pathways

Awards: Pew Scholar, Sloan Fellow, AAAS Fellow, and multiple awards from the University of Michigan. His work has been featured in Science, Nature, and Cell.

Labs/Teams: Leads the Xu Lab at LSI with ~15 members, including postdocs, graduate students, and technicians. Collaborates across departments and institutions on projects like cold-sensing mechanisms in mammals and sound detection in C. elegans.