Faculty

Dr. Lian is the Principal Investigator of the Stem Cell Research Group. Dr. Lian’s research focuses on stem cells and gene repair for the fundamental study and clinical translation of therapies for degenerative diseases. In 2010, his laboratory was the first in the world to establish clinical grade mesenchymal stem cell lines derived from human pluripotent stem cells and apply them to tissue regeneration. In 2011, using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) as a human disease model, his team was the first to elucidate the pathogenesis of progeria at the iPSC level. In 2014, his group completed Asia’s first autologous hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy, successfully rescuing a patient with fatal metachromatic leukodystrophy. 

His laboratory has published more than 90 peer‑reviewed papers in international journals, including Cell Stem Cell, Circulation, Gastroenterology, and JACI, and has filed six patents. His international academic service includes: grant reviewer for the French National Research Agency (ANR), the Israel Science Foundation (ISF), and China’s National Natural Science Foundation (NSFC) Key Projects; Editorial Board Member of Scientific Reports; and ad‑hoc reviewer for more than 30 international journals such as Theranostics and Stem Cells.

Dr. Lian received his MD in Internal Medicine from Harbin Medical University in 1999. He completed postdoctoral training at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, and at the Genome Institute of Singapore. He subsequently held academic and research positions at the National University of Singapore, the Department of Medicine at the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, and the HKU Cell Therapy Center.