Lani Wu

Dr. Lani Wu is a Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), affiliated with the School of Pharmacy. She leads the Altschuler & Wu Laboratories, focusing on systems biology, cell signaling, and drug discovery. Her work integrates experimental biology, mathematics, and computational methods to study cellular individuality, collective behaviors, and drug resistance mechanisms. Key projects include high-throughput screening platforms, cancer persister cell mechanisms, and mathematical modeling of biological networks.

Education:

• PhD in Mathematics, University of California, San Diego (1990)
• Masters in Mathematics, University of California, San Diego (1987)
• Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics, Taiwan University (1985)

Research Interests: Dr. Wu’s research spans systems biology, cell polarity, and computational approaches to drug discovery. She investigates how biological networks rewire during disease, leveraging machine learning and image analysis to uncover design principles of biological systems. Current projects include modeling cancer drug resistance, identifying compounds for acute hypoxic stress, and developing tools for spatial transcriptomics.

Publications: Her work emphasizes drug discovery, cancer biology, and cell signaling. Recent efforts highlight techniques like phenopushing platforms, high-content screening, and spatial analysis of cell morphologies. These studies aim to accelerate therapeutic development and understand cellular adaptation under stress.

Affiliations: She is part of the Biological and Medical Informatics Graduate Program and the Quantitative Biosciences Institute (QBI) at UCSF, reflecting her interdisciplinary approach.

Labs/Teams: The Altschuler & Wu Laboratories combine experimental and computational expertise to address complex biological questions, with particular emphasis on translational research in oncology and systems biology.