CURRICULUM VITAE

Guangyan Miao, Ph.D.

Dr. Guangyan Miao, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator

Institute of Biomedical Innovation

Nanchang University

E-mail: guangyanmiao@ncu.edu.cn

Education:

07/2014-06/2017 Ph.D., Immunology, Peking University, Beijing, China.

09/2012-06/2014 M.S., Immunology, Peking University, Beijing, China.

09/2007-07/2012 B.S., Nursing, Peking University, Beijing, China.

Research experience:

01/2026 – present Principal Investigator, Nanchang University/The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University

12/2020-01/2026 Post Doctoral Associate, Dr. Eric Baehrecke’s Lab, University of

Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, USA

12/2019-12/2020 Associate professor, Dr. Hong Zhang’s Lab, Institute of Biophysics,

Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.

07/2017-12/2019 Assistant professor, Dr. Hong Zhang’s Lab, Institute of Biophysics,

Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.

Research Interests:

The research in my lab is focused on molecular mechanisms of Autophagy and its role in Neurodegenerative Diseases. Autophagy is a lysosome mediated degradation pathway in eukaryotic cells that is essential for maintaining cellular homeostasis. Autophagy dysfunction is closely linked to various human diseases, including aging, metabolic disorders, infectious and immune diseases, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases. The research group is dedicated to elucidating the molecular mechanisms of autophagy and its functional role in neurodegenerative diseases. The focus is on core pathological processes of neurodegeneration, aiming to uncover the precise molecular mechanisms by which autophagic defects contribute to these diseases, and to develop innovative therapeutic strategies targeting neuroinflammation and pathological microglial activation.

Selected Publications:

1. Guangyan Miao, Tina M. Fortier, Haibo Liu, Dorothy P. Schafer, Katherine A. Fitzgerald, Junhao Mao, Eric H. Baehrecke. Microglia promote inflammatory cell death upon neuronal mitochondrial impairment during neurodegeneration. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, 2025, 32: 2046–2059.

2. Guangyan Miao, Hongyu Zhao, Yan Li, Mingming Ji, Yong Chen, Yi Shi, Yuhai Bi, Peihui Wang, and Hong Zhang. ORF3a of the COVID-19 virus SARS-CoV-2 blocks HOPS complex-mediated assembly of the SNARE complex required for autolysosome formation. Developmental Cell,2021,* 56: 427-442.e5.

3. Guangyan Miao#, Yujie Zhang#, Di Chen, and Hong Zhang. The ER-localized transmembrane protein TMEM39A/SUSR2 regulates autophagy by controlling the trafficking of the PtdIns(4)P phosphatase SAC1. Molecular Cell, 2020, 77: 618-632.e5.

4. Guangyan Miao, Yan G Zhao, Hongyu Zhao, Cuicui Ji, Huayu Sun, Yingyu Chen, Hong Zhang. (2016) Mice deficient in the Vici syndrome gene Epg5 exhibit features of retinitis pigmentosa. Autophagy 12, 2263-2270.

5. Zheng Wang#, Guangyan Miao#, Xue Xue#, Xiangyang Guo, Chongzhen Yuan, Zhaoyu Wang, Gangming Zhang, Yingyu Chen, Du Feng, Junjie Hu, Hong Zhang. (2016) The Vici syndrome protein EPG5 is a Rab7 effector that determines the fusion specificity of autophagosomes with late endosomes/lysosomes. Molecular Cell 63, 781-795.