Mingyang Lu

Assistant Professor,  Bioengineering

Contact

Social Media

Office

  • 177 Huntington Ave, # 1319

Research Focus

Computational systems biology, an integration of mathematical modeling and bioinformatics for studying gene regulatory networks, single cell genomics, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, coarse-graining, reverse engineering, machine learning, stochasticity and heterogeneity in gene expression

About

Mingyang Lu received his BS degree in Physics at Fudan University in 2003 and obtained his PhD degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Baylor College of Medicine in 2010. Since 2016, he has established his independent research lab as an Assistant Professor at The Jackson Laboratory before joining the Bioengineering department at Northeastern. Dr. Lu’s research interests include methodology development in computational systems biology and applications to model gene regulatory networks driving cellular state transitions by integrating genomics data analysis and mathematical modeling. Lu has received a five-year Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

Education

  • PhD, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biophysics Track, Baylor College of Medicine Houston, TX 2010

Teaching Interests

Physical Bioengineering

Research Overview

Computational systems biology, an integration of mathematical modeling and bioinformatics for studying gene regulatory networks, single cell genomics, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, coarse-graining, reverse engineering, machine learning, stochasticity and heterogeneity in gene expression

Selected Research Projects

  • Genome Editing Approaches to Unravel microRNA Roles in Stochastic Multistable Networks
    • – Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
  • New Computational Systems Biology Methods for Modeling Gene Regulatory Circuits
    • – Principle Investigator, National Institutes of Health
  • Collaborative Research: Genome editing approaches to unravel microRNA roles in stochastic multistable networks
    • – Principle Investigator, National Sciences Foundation

Research Centers and Institutes

Center for Theoretical Biological Physics

Selected Publications

  • A. Katebi, D. Ramirez, and M. Lu. Computational systems-biology approaches for modeling gene networks driving epithelial–mesenchymal transitions. Comput. Syst. Oncol. 1(2), 2021, e1021
  • V. Kohar, D. Gordin, A. Ketabi and M. Lu. Gene Circuit Explorer (GeneEx): an interactive web-app and database for visualizing, simulating and analyzing gene regulatory circuits. Bioinformatics. 37(9), 2021, 1327-29
  • A. Katebi, V. Kohar, M. Lu, Random Parametric Perturbations of Gene Regulatory Circuit Uncover State Transitions in Cell Cycle, iScience, 23(6), 2020, 101150
  • D. Ramirez, V. Kohar, M. Lu, Toward Modeling Context-Specific EMT Regulatory Networks Using Temporal Single Cell RNA-Seq Data, Front Mol Biosci, 7, 2020, 54
  • D. Jia, M. Lu, K.H. Jung, J.H. Park, L. Yu, J. Onuchic, B.A. Kaipparettu, H. Levine, Elucidating Cancer Metabolic Plasticity by Coupling Gene Regulation with Metabolic Pathways, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116(9), 2019, 3909-18
  • V. Kohar, M. Lu., Role of Noise and Parametric Variation in the Dynamics of Gene Regulatory Circuits, NPJ Systems Biology and Applications, 4(40), 2018
  • B. Huang, M. Lu, D. Jia, E. Ben-Jacob, H. Levine, J. Onuchic, Interrogating the Topological Robustness of Gene Regulatory Circuits by Randomization, PLOS Computational Biology, 13(3), 2017, e1005456
  • L. Yu, M. Lu, D. Jia, J. Ma, E. Ben-Jacob, H. Levine, B.A. Kaipparettu, J. Onuchic, Modeling the Genetic Regulation of Cancer Metabolism: Interplay Between Glycolysis and Oxidative Phosphorylation, Cancer Research, 77(7), 2017, 1564

Undergraduate

Jan 30, 2024

2024 Goldwater Scholarship Nominees

Maya De Los Santos, electrical and computer engineering, Kaitlyn Ramesh, bioengineering, and Madeline Szoo, chemical engineering and biochemistry, were nominated for the 2024 Barry Goldwater Scholarship—a highly competitive, merit-based award for outstanding students in mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering who are interested in pursuing careers in research.

Faculty

Apr 27, 2023

Announcing Summer 2023 PEAK Experiences Awardees

Several engineering students and science students mentored by COE faculty are recipients of Northeastern’s Summer 2023 PEAK Experiences Awards. They will be pursuing a diverse set of projects, including a study of a pathogen that haunts hospitals, an examination of segregationist rhetoric in Boston newspapers, and an analysis of creativity in music.

Students

Dec 22, 2022

Inaugural AJC Merit Research Scholars

Several engineering students and science students mentored by COE faculty are recipients of the inaugural AJC Merit Research Scholars.

Faculty

Oct 07, 2022

Announcing Fall 2022 PEAK Experiences Awardees

Several engineering students and science students mentored by COE faculty are recipients of Northeastern’s Fall 2022 PEAK Experiences Awards. This extraordinary group of students is taking on a range of exciting projects, from exploring axolotl limb regeneration to building a snake-inspired robot to understanding accessibility on Broadway. ASCENT AWARDS Justin Almendral COE’24, “Wearable Art” Mentor: […]

Portraits of Mingyang Lu and Herbert Levine.

Faculty

Jul 15, 2021

Understanding microRNA Roles in Stochastic Multistable Networks

BioE Assistant Professor Mingyang Lu and Physics/BioE University Distinguished Professor Herbert Levine, in collaboration with Leonidas Bleris from the University of Texas at Dallas, were awarded a $1.4M NSF grant for “Genome Editing Approaches to Unravel microRNA Roles in Stochastic Multistable Networks.”

Faculty

Oct 16, 2020

COE Faculty Awarded Seed Funding in Collaboration with University of Maine

BioE Assistant Professors Jiahe Li and Mingyang Lu, ECE Professor & Chair Srinivas Tadigadapa, ECE Assistant Professors Sarah Ostadabbas and Xue “Shelley” Lin, and ECE Associate Research Scientist Ataur Katebi were among the faculty chosen for five competitive collaborative research projects with the University of Maine in the areas of artificial intelligence, earth and climate sciences, health and life sciences, manufacturing, and marine sciences.

steering wheel and dashboard of self-driving car

Faculty

Oct 01, 2020

Assuring that Self-Driving Cars are Accessible to Those with Disabilities

ECE Assistant Professor Xue “Shelley” Lin is working with the algorithms in self-driving vehicles to ensure that they will be accessible to those with disabilities.

Mingyang Lu

Faculty

Sep 02, 2020

New Faculty Spotlight: Mingyang Lu

Mingyang Lu joins the Bioengineering department in August 2020 as an Assistant Professor.

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