Research

Current research focus is on
1) using mouse models to study gene-gene and gene-environment interactions in autism spectrum disorders, and to analyze and predict the gene expression patterns in complex behavioral traits and their relationship with symptom severity in neuropsychiatric diseases, and
2) comprehensive analysis of behavioral and nutritional data, clinical outcomes, gene expression in peripheral blood and fecal microbiome composition in children with developmental disorders, aiming at providing clinical big data support and a scientific research basis for precision intervention strategies.

Biography

2021.7 - present   Associate Investigator, Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology Chinese Academy of Science

2018 - 2021   Research Assistant Professor, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies & Department of Biology, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech)

2017 - 2018   Senior Research Scientist, Department of Biology, SUSTech

2017 - 2017   Visiting Scholar, Department of Biology, SUSTech

2006 - 2015   Ph.D., Bioinformatics, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Academia Sinica and Yang-Ming University

Selected publications

1. Tseng YT, Zhao B, Chen S, Ye J, Liu J, Liang L, Ding H, Schaefke B, Yang Q, Wang L, Wang F, Wang L. The subthalamic corticotropin-releasing hormone neurons mediate adaptive REM-sleep responses to threat. Neuron. 2022 Apr 6;110(7):1223-1239.e8. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.12.033.
2. Zou XD*, Schaefke B*, Li YS, Jia F, Sun W, Li G, Liang W, Reif T, Heyd F, Gao Q, Tian S, Li Y, Tang Y, Fang L, Hu Y, & Chen W. Mammalian splicing divergence is shaped by drift, buffering in trans and a scaling law. Life Sci Alliance. 2021 Dec 30;5(4):e202101333. doi: 10.26508/lsa.202101333. * First author
3. Li YS*, Schaefke B*^,#, Zou XD, Zhang M, Heyd F, Sun W, Zhang B, Li G, Liang W, He Y, Zhou J, Li Y, Fang L, Hu Y, & Chen W^#. Pan-tissue analysis of allelic alternative polyadenylation suggests widespread functional regulation. Mol Syst Biol. 2020 Apr;16(4):e9367. doi:10.15252/msb.20199367. *First author, ^#Corresponding author
4. Wang X, You X, Langer JD, HouJ, Rupprecht F, Vlatkovic I, Quedenau C, Tushev G, Epstein I, Schaefke B, Sun W, Fang L, Li G, Hu Y, Schuman EM, & Chen W. (2019). Full-length transcriptome reconstruction reveals a large diversity of RNA and protein isoforms in rat hippocampus. Nat Commun, 10(1), 5009. doi:10.1038/s41467-019-13037-0
5. Chen T, Zhang B, Ziegenhals, PrustyAB, Fröhler S, Grimm C, Hu Y, Schaefke B, Fang L, Zhang M, Kraemer N, Kaindl AM, Fischer U, & Chen W. (2019). A missense mutation in SNRPE linked to non-syndromal microcephaly interferes with U snRNP assembly and pre-mRNA splicing. Plos Genetics, 15(10), e1008460. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1008460
6. Schaefke B*^,#, Sun W*, Li YS*, Fang L, & Chen W^#. (2018). The evolution of posttranscriptional regulation. Wiley Interdiscip Rev RNA, e1485. doi:10.1002/wrna.1485. *First author, ^#Corresponding author
7. Schaefke B*, Wang TY, Wang CY, & Li WH. (2015). Gains and Losses of Transcription Factor Binding Sites in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces paradoxus. Genome Biol Evol, 7(8), 2245-2257. doi:10.1093/gbe/evv138 *First author
8. Schaefke B*, Emerson JJ*, Wang TY, Lu MY, Hsieh LC, & Li WH (2013). Inheritance of gene expression level and selective constraints on trans- and cis-regulatory changes in yeast. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 30(9), 2121-2133. doi:10.1093/molbev/mst114
   *First author