Ruli Gao leads a laboratory at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine focusing on genetic evolutionary models, cell fate transition trajectories, cancer progression, and therapeutic responses. The lab is dedicated to developing innovative long-read single-cell sequencing technologies and new computational tools. His research includes developing the punctuated copy number evolution model (Nature Genetics, 2016), the bi-mode chemoresistance evolution model (Cell, 2018), and the high-throughput single nuclei RNA sequencing method (Nature Communications, 2017). Additionally, he created the computational algorithm, COPYKAT, for calculating single-cell copy number clonality from scRNA-seq data (Nature Biotechnology, 2021), and the long-read single-cell sequencing technology, scNanoGPS (Nature Communications, 2023). Gao’s ongoing projects aim to integrate same-cell multi-omics to explore tumor cell genetic evolutionary lineages and cell fate transition trajectories, as well as the adaptive immunological remodeling of cancer metastasis and recurrence. His research is also expanding to investigate applications of novel methodologies in various human disease models, including heart aging and heart failure.
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine • Chicago, IL
Teaching and conducting research in the field of biochemistry and molecular genetics.