Qi Lab

Molecular & Integrative Physiology | University of Michigan Medical School

MISSION STATEMENT: PRODUCE NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE ETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF HUMAN DISEASES, BRING A STANDARD EXCELLENCE TO WHAT WE DO AS AN INDIVIDUAL SCIENTIST AND AS A LABORATORY, AND CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT THAT IS INCLUSIVE, FAIR, RESPECTFUL, COURTEOUS, COLLEGIAL AND CONDUCIVE TO LEARNING AND TESTING NEW IDEAS.

Welcome to the Qi laboratory at University of Michigan Medical School. We are composed of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, technician and undergraduate students. In the summer of 2016 we relocated to the Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology at the U Michigan Medical School after spending 9 years at the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University (Ithaca, NY).

We are interested in the role of protein quality control in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in health and disease. The accumulation of misfolded proteins and protein aggregates is a key determinant of many human diseases, such as various forms of diabetes, cancer, liver and lung diseases as well as the aging process. Thus, understanding of how these potentially disease-causing proteins are formed and cleared will be important for the design and development of future therapeutic strategies to prevent or treat these human diseases.

The ER is the cellular organelle where folding and maturation of secretory and membrane proteins occur. One of the fundamental processes in the cell that deal with protein misfolding and aggregation in the ER is the ER-associated degradation (ERAD). Currently, we strive to (1) investigate the physiological significance of protein misfolding and ERAD in health and disease, (2) identify the nature of endogenous proteins that are misfolding prone and ultimately, and (3) determine how ERAD works and how to target ERAD for the treatment of human diseases. Our studies have provided important insights into the pathogenesis of various diseases.

Our laboratory is located on the 5th floor of the Brehm Tower at the University of Michigan medical campus. Dr. Qi's office is Rm 5335 Brehm Tower. We welcome highly self-motivated individuals (postdoctoral fellows and graduate students) to join us. Please feel free to contact Dr. Ling Qi at lingq@med.umich.edu.

Career: Dr. Qi received his undergraduate degree in Microbiology from the Fudan University, China in 1997 and his Ph.D. in Immunology with Dr. Suzanne Ostrand-Rosenberg from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, in 2001. He was a postdoc at Johns Hopkins University Medical School with Dr. Carol Greider, 2009 Nobel Laureate (2001-2004) and the Salk Institute with Dr. Marc Montminy (2004-2007) prior to joining the faculty of Cornell University in 2007 as an Assistant Professor. In 2013, he was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. In the summer of 2016, he became the Professor at the Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology at the University of Michigan Medical School.

Awards: Dr. Qi became a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Postdoctoral Fellow in 2002 and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in 2005. In 2008, he was the recipient of the Junior Faculty Award from the American Diabetes Association and the Young Investigator Award from the American Federation for Aging Research. In 2011, he was awarded the Bio-Serv Award by the American Society for Nutrition. In 2012 and 2013, he was awarded the Career Development Award and prestigious Thomas Lee Award by the American Diabetes Association. In 2014, he was awarded the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2021, he received Scientific Achievement Award by Chinese American Diabetes Association. While at Cornell, he was nominated twice as the faculty speaker at the graduation ceremony of Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell (2014 and 2016). In 2022, he was elected to an AAAS fellow.