My group develops novel computational methods and combines evolutionary biology with medical genetics to pursue primate evolutionary medicine. I have received the Xplorer Prize, Shanghai Overseas High-Level Talent, JSPS Special Research Fellowship, and Shanghai Pujiang Talent Program support. I currently lead projects in several domestic and international primate research alliances. My major findings have been published as corresponding author in Nature, Cell, Nature Methods, Genome Biology, Current Biology, etc. I serve on the editorial board of Genome Biology.

1. Mechanisms of structural variation in primate adaptive evolution and the origin of human genetic diseases
2. Genomic mechanisms of speciation, divergence, adaptation, and diversification

    1. Zhang, S., Xu, N., Fu, L., Yang, X., Li, Y., Yang, Z., ... Sun, Q.* & Mao, Y.* (2025). Integrated analysis of the complete sequence of a macaque genome. Nature.

    2. Mao, Y.*, Harvey, W. T., Porubsky, D., Munson, K. M., Hoekzema, K., Lewis, A. P., ... & Eichler, E. E.* (2024). Structurally divergent and recurrently mutated regions of primate genomes. Cell.

    3. Yang, Z., Zhang, L., Jiang, X., Yang, X., Ma, K., Yoo, D., ... & Mao, Y.* (2026). Incomplete lineage sorting of segmental duplications defines the human chromosome 2 fusion site early during African great ape speciation. Cell Genomics, 6(1).

    4. Yang, X., Wang, X., Zou, Y. ... Mao Y.* (2023). Characterization of large-scale genomic differences in the first complete human genome. Genome Biology, 24, 157 .

    5. Ma, K., Yang, X., & Mao, Y.* (2025). Advancing evolutionary medicine with complete primate genomes and advanced biotechnologies. Trends in Genetics, 41(3), 201-217.

Dr. Xiangyu Yang is an Assistant Research Fellow at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His research focuses on the neurogenetic mechanisms of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders, using multidisciplinary approaches that integrate animal models, including mice and non-human primates, with genomics, stem cell models, brain organoids, electrophysiology, and neural interface technologies.

He has served as project leader on several competitive research grants, including projects supported by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, the National Natural Science Foundation of China Youth Program, and the Chongqing Natural Science Foundation General Program. His work has been published in Cell Genomics, Trends in Genetics, Genome Biology, Zoological Research, Neuropharmacology and Molecular Brain.

Neurogenetic mechanisms of nervous system disorders

Dr. Yang investigates the genetic basis of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders through high-resolution genomic analysis and functional studies. His work integrates long-read sequencing, human induced pluripotent stem cells, genome editing, three-dimensional brain organoids, molecular and cellular imaging, electrophysiology, and single-cell technologies to identify disease-associated variants and uncover their biological mechanisms.

Neural interface design and application in animal and organoid models

Dr. Yang also works on the development of neural interface technologies for animal models and brain organoids. These platforms enable multi-level studies of neural activity and provide new tools for investigating the mechanisms of nervous system disorders.

1. Ma KY#,Yang XY#, Mao YF. Advancing evolutionary medicine with complete primate genomes and advanced biotechnologies[J].Trends in Genetics, 2024.（Cover Story）

2. Yang XY, Mao YF, Wang XK., Ma DN, Xu Z, Gong N, ... & Li WD*. (2023). Population genetics of marmosets in Asian primate research centers and loci associated with epileptic risk revealed by whole-genome sequencing. Zoological Research, 44(5), 837.

3. Yang XY#, Wang XK#, Zou YW, Zhang SL, Xia MY, Fu LT, ... & Mao YF*. (2023). Characterization of large-scale genomic differences in the first complete human genome. Genome biology, 24(1), 157.

4. Yang XY#, Chen ZT#, Wang ZY, He G, Li ZQ, Shi YY, ... & Li WD*. (2022). A natural marmoset model of genetic generalized epilepsy. Molecular Brain, 15(1), 1-4.