Lei (Stanley) Qi
Institute Scholars
Associate Professor of Bioengineering
Dr. Lei (Stanley) Qi is an Associate Professor of Bioengineering, an Institute Scholar at Sarafan ChEM-H, and a Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator. He earned B.S. in Physics and Mathematics from Tsinghua University and Ph.D. in Bioengineering from UC Berkeley. Before joining the Stanford faculty in 2014, Dr. Qi was a Systems Biology Faculty Fellow at UCSF.
Dr. Qi is a pioneer in CRISPR technology development, particularly in the areas of epigenetic regulation and chromatin DNA imaging. He invented the first nuclease-deactivated Cas9 (dCas9) system for targeted gene regulation in living cells. His lab has since expanded the CRISPR-dCas toolbox, including new tools and variants like hyperCas12a and the compact CasMINI. These new technologies have enabled CRISPRi and CRISPRa for targeted gene repression and activation in various cells and organisms, large-scale genetic perturbation screens, and precision epigenetic editing in primary cells. His lab also developed technologies for dynamic chromatin DNA imaging in live cells (LiveFISH), 3D genome structure manipulation (CRISPR-GO), and multiplexed transcriptome engineering (MEGA).
Dr. Qi has used these new technologies to make key discoveries in epigenetics, such as the synergistic functions of enhancer elements in cancer gene regulation, metabolic pathways in T cell dysfunction, and novel antivirals against RNA viruses. Dr. Qi’s current research explores synthetic biology, epigenetics, immune cell engineering, and innovative targets for gene therapy in immunology and neurobiology.
Dr. Qi is a pioneer in CRISPR technology development, particularly in the areas of epigenetic regulation and chromatin DNA imaging. He invented the first nuclease-deactivated Cas9 (dCas9) system for targeted gene regulation in living cells. His lab has since expanded the CRISPR-dCas toolbox, including new tools and variants like hyperCas12a and the compact CasMINI. These new technologies have enabled CRISPRi and CRISPRa for targeted gene repression and activation in various cells and organisms, large-scale genetic perturbation screens, and precision epigenetic editing in primary cells. His lab also developed technologies for dynamic chromatin DNA imaging in live cells (LiveFISH), 3D genome structure manipulation (CRISPR-GO), and multiplexed transcriptome engineering (MEGA).
Dr. Qi has used these new technologies to make key discoveries in epigenetics, such as the synergistic functions of enhancer elements in cancer gene regulation, metabolic pathways in T cell dysfunction, and novel antivirals against RNA viruses. Dr. Qi’s current research explores synthetic biology, epigenetics, immune cell engineering, and innovative targets for gene therapy in immunology and neurobiology.
Education
B.S., Tsinghua University, Math and Physics (2005)
M.A., University of California, Berkeley, Physics (2007)
Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley/UCSF, Bioengineering (2012)
Contact
(650) 498-9986
Mail Code
4245