Haiqi Chen, Ph.D.

Haiqi Chen is an Assistant Professor at the Cecil H. and Ida Green Center for Reproductive Biology Sciences and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Haiqi received a Ph.D. in Molecular Endocrinology through a joint program between the University of Hong Kong and the Population Council at the Rockefeller University in 2017. In 2018, he began his postdoctoral training at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard as a Lalor fellow, and later on started the Reproductive Genomics Laboratory at the UT Southwestern Medical Center in late 2021.

The Reproductive Genomics Laboratory studies gene regulation using the mammalian male reproductive organ as a model system.Towards this goal, two directions of the lab are: (1) developing next-generation spatial and functional genomics technologies broadly applicable to studying gene regulation/function in various biological systems in situ by combining techniques such as gene editing, high-resolution single-molecule imaging, and next-generation sequencing; (2) applying these cutting-edge technologies, along with machine learning and other data science approaches to study chromatin remodeling and tissue microenvironment, and how they impact gene regulation in the context of mammalian reproduction.

The website for the Reproductive Genomics Laboratory 

• Development of spatial and functional genomics technologies
• Mammalian spermatogenesis and male fertility

Featured Publications

Dissecting mammalian spermatogenesis using spatial transcriptomics.

Chen H, Murray E, Sinha A, Laumas A, Li J, Lesman D, Nie X, Hotaling J, Guo J, Cairns BR, Macosko EZ, Cheng CY, Chen F, Cell Rep 2021 Nov 37 5 109915

Efficient, continuous mutagenesis in human cells using a pseudo-random DNA editor.

Chen H, Liu S, Padula S, Lesman D, Griswold K, Lin A, Zhao T, Marshall JL, Chen F, Nat Biotechnol 2020 02 38 2 165-168

Single-Cell Transcriptomics Reveal Disrupted Kidney Filter Cell-Cell Interactions after Early and Selective Podocyte Injury.

Clark AR, Marshall J, Zhou Y, Montesinos MS, Chen H, Nguyen L, Chen F, Greka A, Am J Pathol 2021 Nov

Spermiation: Insights from Studies on the Adjudin Model.

Chen H, Jiang Y, Mruk DD, Cheng CY, Adv Exp Med Biol 2021 1288 241-254

Unraveling the Regulation of Cancer/Testis Antigens in Tumorigenesis Through an Analysis of Normal Germ Cell Development in Rodents.

Chen H, Jiang Y, Mruk DD, Cheng CY, Adv Exp Med Biol 2021 1288 69-93

F5-peptide enhances the efficacy of the non-hormonal male contraceptive adjudin.

Chen H, Mruk D, Wong CKC, Silvestrini B, Cheng CY Contraception 2019 Feb

Male germ cells support long-term propagation of Zika virus.

Robinson CL, Chong ACN, Ashbrook AW, Jeng G, Jin J, Chen H, Tang EI, Martin LA, Kim RS, Kenyon RM, Do E, Luna JM, Saeed M, Zeltser L, Ralph H, Dudley VL, Goldstein M, Rice CM, Cheng CY, Seandel M, Chen S, Nat Commun 2018 05 9 1 2090

Vangl2 regulates spermatid planar cell polarity through microtubule (MT)-based cytoskeleton in the rat testis.

Chen H, Xiao X, Lui WY, Lee WM, Cheng CY Cell Death Dis 2018 Mar 9 3 340

Monitoring the Integrity of the Blood-Testis Barrier (BTB): An In Vivo Assay.

Chen H, Lui WY, Mruk DD, Xiao X, Ge R, Lian Q, Lee WM, Silvestrini B, Cheng CY Methods Mol. Biol. 2018 1748 245-252

Rescue of PFOS-induced human Sertoli cell injury by overexpressing a p-FAK-Y407E phosphomimetic mutant.

Chen H, Gao Y, Mruk DD, Xiao X, John CM, Turek PJ, Lui WY, Lee WM, Silvestrini B, Cheng CY Sci Rep 2017 Nov 7 1 15810

• Society for the Study of Reproduction Early/Mid-career Researcher Travel Award
  (2020)
• Lalor Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship Award
  (2019)
• Male Contraceptive Initiative Travel Award
  (2019)