Jinfan Wang

Jinfan Wang is an Assistant Professor and UT Southwestern Endowed Scholar in the Department of Biochemistry at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW). He obtained his B.S. in Biotechnology from the University of Science and Technology Beijing (2010) and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Uppsala University (2016), where he studied prokaryotic translation under Dr. Anthony Forster. Supported by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, he conducted postdoctoral research at Stanford University (2016–2023) with Dr. Jody Puglisi, developing single-molecule methods to study eukaryotic translation. His lab at UTSW combines quantitative biochemistry, structural biology, and genetics to investigate cytosolic and mitochondrial translation mechanisms.

• Education
  • B.S., Biotechnology – University of Science and Technology Beijing (2010)
  • Ph.D., Biochemistry – Uppsala University (2016)

His research focuses on the dynamic interplay between mRNA structure, ribosome function, and translation regulation in eukaryotes. Using single-molecule fluorescence microscopy, his team established frameworks for understanding start codon recognition, elongation fidelity, and drug-induced translation arrest. Recent work explores mitochondrial translation and its dysregulation in human diseases.

Key publications reveal insights into:

• Eukaryotic translation initiation (Cell 2022, Nature 2019)
• Ribosome interactions with modified mRNA (Nat Struct Mol Biol 2018)
• Engineering of translation systems (Nucleic Acids Res 2017)
• Kinetic bottlenecks in unnatural amino acid incorporation (ACS Chem Biol 2015)

Scientific Awards

• Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship
• UT Southwestern Endowed Scholar

Dr. Wang’s lab seeks to bridge fundamental translation mechanisms with therapeutic applications, particularly in diseases linked to mitochondrial dysfunction. They actively recruit graduate students, technicians, and postdocs for interdisciplinary research.