Xin Lai

I am an assistant professor at Tampere University. I received my Ph.D. in Systems Biology from the University of Rostock in 2013. After that, I became a research fellow and worked at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg until 2023. My research uses methods from biomathematics and bioinformatics to analyze biological data. My interests broadened to human genomics, network biology and computational modeling through lecturing and tutoring engineering and medical students from primary research papers. More than 10 years of collaboration with experimental researchers led me to realize the importance of a systematic and integrative view of biomedical research. As a PI, I lead the Systems and Network Medicine Lab and use this perspective to conduct research in medical systems biology.

• Zhang L, Fan SW, Vera J, Lai X. A network medicine approach for identifying diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers and exploring drug repurposing in human cancer. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal 2022; 21:34-45; doi:10.1016/j.csbj.2022.11.037
• You YJ, Lai X, Pan Y, Zheng HR, Vera J, Liu SR, Deng SY, Zhang L. Artificial intelligence in cancer target identification and drug discovery. Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy. 2022; 7:156; doi:10.1038/s41392-022-00994-0
• Lai X, Keller C, Santos G, Schaft N, Dörrie J, Vera J. Multi-level computational modeling of anti-cancer dendritic cell vaccination utilized to select molecular targets for therapy optimization. Frontiers in Cell and Development Biology. 2022; 9:746359; doi: 10.3389/fcell.2021.746359. News report by e:Med
• Lai X, Zhou JF, Wessely A, Heppt M, Maier A, Berking C, Vera J, Zhang L. A disease network-based deep learning approach for characterizing melanoma. International Journal of Cancer. 2022; 150(6): 1029- 1044. doi:10.1002/IJC.33860. News report by the Bavarian Cancer Research Center
• Lai X, Dreyer F, Cantone M, Eberhardt M, Gerer K, Jaitly T, Uebe S, Lischer C, Ekici A, Wittmann, J, Jäck HM, Schaft N, Dörrie J, Vera J. Network- and systems-based re-engineering of dendritic cells with non-coding RNAs for cancer immunotherapy. Theranostics. 2021;11(3)1412-1428. doi:10.7150/thno.53092
• Lai X, Eberhardt M, Schmitz U, Vera J. Systems biology-based investigation of cooperating microRNAs as monotherapy or adjuvant therapy in cancer. Nucleic Acids Research 2019;47 (15):7753-7766. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkz638
• Lai X, Gupta SK, Schmitz U, Marquardt S, Knoll S, Spitschak A, Wolkenhauer O, Pützer BM, Vera J. MiR-205-5p and miR-342-3p cooperate in the repression of the E2F1 transcription factor in the context of anticancer chemotherapy resistance. Theranostics. 2018;8(4):1106-1120. doi:10.7150/thno.19904
• Schulz C, Lai X, Bertrams W, Jung AL, Sittka-Stark A, Herkt CE, Janga H, Zscheppang K, Stielow C, Schulte L, Hippenstiel S, Vera J, Schmeck B. THP-1-derived macrophages render lung epithelial cells hypo-responsive to Legionella pneumophila – a systems biology study. Scientific Reports. 2017;7(1):11988. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-12154-4
• Lai X, Wolkenhauer O, Vera J. Understanding microRNA-mediated gene regulatory networks through mathematical modelling. Nucleic Acids Research. 2016;44(13):6019-6035. doi:10.1093/nar/gkw550
• Lai X, Schmitz U, Gupta SK, Bhattacharya A, Kunz M, Wolkenhauer O, Vera J. Computational analysis of target hub gene repression regulated by multiple and cooperative miRNAs. Nucleic Acids Research. 2012;40(18):8818-8834. doi:10.1093/nar/gks657