Chuan He is the John T. Wilson Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Chicago.He received his B.S. (1994) from the University of Science and Technology of China. He received his Ph. D. degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in chemistry in 2000. After being trained as a Damon-Runyon postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University from 2000-2002, he joined the University of Chicago as an Assistant Professor, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2008, Professor in 2010 and John T. Wilson Distinguished Service Professor in 2014. He is also a member of the Cancer Research Center at the University of Chicago. His research spans a broad range of chemical biology, RNA biology, epigenetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, and genomics. His recent research concerns reversible RNA and DNA methylation in biological regulation. His research group discovered the first RNA demethylase and showed that reversible RNA methylation significantly affects gene expression regulation.
Harvard
Cambridge
Postdoc - Chemical Biology
2002
MIT
Cambridge
Ph.D. - Chemistry
2000
University of Sci. & Tech. China
Hefei/China
B.S. - Chemistry
1994
Small-molecule-catalysed deamination enables transcriptome-wide profiling of N6-methyladenosine in RNA.
Small-molecule-catalysed deamination enables transcriptome-wide profiling of N6-methyladenosine in RNA. Nat Chem. 2025 Apr 17.
PMID: 40247118
Acetylation of METTL3: A negative regulator of m6A deposition on chromatin-associated regulatory RNAs.
Acetylation of METTL3: A negative regulator of m6A deposition on chromatin-associated regulatory RNAs. Mol Cell. 2025 Apr 03; 85(7):1251-1252.
PMID: 40185074
N6-methyladenosine reader YTHDF2 in cell state transition and antitumor immunity.
N6-methyladenosine reader YTHDF2 in cell state transition and antitumor immunity. RNA. 2025 Feb 19; 31(3):395-401.
PMID: 39719324
Author Correction: Quantitative RNA pseudouridine maps reveal multilayered translation control through plant rRNA, tRNA and mRNA pseudouridylation.
Author Correction: Quantitative RNA pseudouridine maps reveal multilayered translation control through plant rRNA, tRNA and mRNA pseudouridylation. Nat Plants. 2025 Feb; 11(2):376.
PMID: 39838071
Quantitative RNA pseudouridine maps reveal multilayered translation control through plant rRNA, tRNA and mRNA pseudouridylation.
Quantitative RNA pseudouridine maps reveal multilayered translation control through plant rRNA, tRNA and mRNA pseudouridylation. Nat Plants. 2025 Feb; 11(2):234-247.
PMID: 39789092
N6-methyladenosine reader YTHDF2 in cell state transition and antitumor immunity.
N6-methyladenosine reader YTHDF2 in cell state transition and antitumor immunity. RNA. 2024 Dec 24.
PMID: 39719324
Targeting DTX2/UFD1-mediated FTO degradation to regulate antitumor immunity.
Targeting DTX2/UFD1-mediated FTO degradation to regulate antitumor immunity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024 Dec 17; 121(51):e2407910121.
PMID: 39661064
YTHDF1 loss in dendritic cells potentiates radiation-induced antitumor immunity via STING-dependent type I IFN production.
YTHDF1 loss in dendritic cells potentiates radiation-induced antitumor immunity via STING-dependent type I IFN production. J Clin Invest. 2024 Dec 02; 134(23).
PMID: 39325547
snoRNA-facilitated protein secretion revealed by transcriptome-wide snoRNA target identification.
snoRNA-facilitated protein secretion revealed by transcriptome-wide snoRNA target identification. Cell. 2025 Jan 23; 188(2):465-483.e22.
PMID: 39579764
Epigenomic exploration of disease status of EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer using plasma cell-free DNA hydroxymethylomes.
Epigenomic exploration of disease status of EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer using plasma cell-free DNA hydroxymethylomes. Cancer Commun (Lond). 2025 Jan; 45(1):51-55.
PMID: 39527101
ACS Chemical Biology Lectureship
2019
Paul Marks Prize in Cancer Research
2017
HHMI Investigator
2013