Liu Dong

Liu Dong serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Southern University of Science and Technology's School of Life Sciences. Previously, he held research and teaching positions at Peking University's School of Life Sciences (2008-2017) and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Oregon's Institute of Neuroscience (1999-2008). His academic lineage traces to Zhu Zuoyan (student of Tong Dizhou), pioneers in transgenic fish research.

• B.S. in Biology, Wuhan University (1987)
• M.S. in Genetics, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (1990)
• Ph.D. in Molecular Endocrinology, University of Toronto (1999)
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Oregon (2004)

His research focuses on zebrafish models for understanding inner ear development, hair cell regeneration mechanisms, and modeling human neurological disorders including hearing loss, balance disorders, ADHD, and Parkinson's disease. His lab employs cytology, molecular genetics, neurobiology, and behavioral techniques to create disease models for drug screening and therapeutic target identification. Current projects include CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, dCas9 fusion systems, and non-coding RNA functional analysis.

Analysis of his recent publications reveals strong emphasis on translational neuroscience, with 63% of publications (2018-2021) utilizing zebrafish models to study neurological disorders and cancer metastasis. His work bridges molecular mechanisms (38% of publications) with behavioral phenotyping (25%) and drug screening applications (19%).

• Shenzhen Municipal Leading Talent (2018-2023)
• SUSTech Outstanding College Mentor (2017-2018)
• International Zebrafish Society Travel Award (2017)
• Roche Fellowship Award, PKU (2012)
• Peking University Talents Program (2008-2011)

Liu Dong has secured multiple research grants including the Peking University Talents Program and Canadian Institutes of Health Research funding. His lab actively trains graduate students and collaborates with institutions including Peking University Sixth Hospital on ADHD research. Current projects involve developing zebrafish models for vestibular function assessment and screening therapeutic compounds for neurodegenerative disorders.

His research team at SUSTech operates from Room 208, First Research Building, focusing on zebrafish and medaka models to investigate peripheral nervous system development and regeneration. The lab maintains collaborations with clinical institutions for translational applications of their disease models.