Longzhi Tan, Ph.D.
Incoming Assistant Professor
Department of Neurobiology
Stanford University
299 Campus Drive
Fairchild Science Building, Room D235
Stanford, CA 94305
Biography
Originally from Wuhan, China, Tan received his S.B. in Physics (minor: Biology) from MIT in 2012, studying evolution with Jeff Gore and Pardis Sabeti.
He earned his Ph.D. in Systems Biology from Harvard in 2018, developing high-precision methods for single-cell genomics with Sunney Xie. He uncovered the 3D structure of the human genome in a single cell, revealed unique chromosome organization in the mouse eye and nose, and measured the true mutation spectrum of single neurons in the normal human brain. Tan also attended the Neurobiology course at MBL in 2014, and worked with Ibrahim Cisse at MIT in 2019.
As a postdoc in Karl Deisseroth’s lab at Stanford Bioengineering (co-mentor: Howard Chang), Tan discovered major 3D genome transformation in the mouse brain after birth. Tan will start his own lab at Stanford Neurobiology in Jan 2023.
Tan’s awards include BWF CASI (2021), ISFS (2021), Berry Fellowship (2020), Science & SciLifeLab Grand Prize (2019), HHMI ISRF (2015), and IPhO Gold Medal (2008). Outside of the lab, he enjoys designing holiday cards, t-shirts, and music videos, and is a scientific illustrator.
Education
Ph.D. in Systems Biology, Harvard University (2012/07 – 2018/05)
Thesis title: Gene regulation and chromatin structure of mammalian olfactory receptors
Advisor: Xiaoliang Sunney Xie
Dissertation examining committee: Tim Mitchison, Adam Cohen, Xiaowei Zhuang
Dissertation advisory committee: Catherine Dulac, Yang Shi, Steve Liberles
Neurobiology summer course, Marine Biological Laboratory (2014/06 – 2014/08)
Course directors: Grae Davis, Tim Ryan
S.B. in Physics (minor: Biology), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2009/08 – 2012/06)
Academic advisor: Wit Busza
Research advisors: Jeff Gore, Pardis Sabeti
Transfer student from School of Physics, Peking University (2008/09 – 2009/07)
Appointments
Incoming Assistant Professor, Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University (Starting 2023/01)
Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University (2019/09 – Present)
Advisor: Karl Deisseroth
Co-mentor: Howard Chang
Research Associate, Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2019/07 – 2019/09)
Advisor: Ibrahim Cisse
Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University (2012/07 – 2019/06)
Advisor: Xiaoliang Sunney Xie
Honors
Star Mentor Award, Bio-X Undergraduate Summer Research Program, Stanford University (2021)
Intersections Science Fellow, Yale University (2021)
Career Award at the Scientific Interface, Burroughs Wellcome Fund (2023 – 2027)
Walter V. and Idun Berry Postdoctoral Fellowship, Stanford University (2020 – 2023)
School of Medicine Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellowship, Stanford University (2020)
Grand Prize, Science & SciLifeLab Prize for Young Scientists (2019)
International Student Research Fellowship, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (2015 – 2017)
Philip Morse Memorial Award, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2012)
Phi Beta Kappa (2012)
Sigma Pi Sigma (2012)
Freshman Fellowship, Peking University (2008)
Gold Medal, International Physics Olympiad (2008)
Ranked 1st worldwide: “the Absolute Winner” (highest total score)
Highest score in the theoretical exam
Gold Medal, Asian Physics Olympiad (2008)
Ranked 3rd in Asia
Service
(Upcoming) Course director, 3D Genomics summer course, Cold Spring Harbor Asia
Guest editor, Journal of Visualized Experiments
Ad hoc reviewer for grants: European Research Council
Ad hoc reviewer for journals: Cell Reports | Scientific Reports | iScience | STAR Protocols | Genes | Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology | International Journal of Molecular Sciences | Brain Sciences
Founding member of the Stanford Bioengineering Postdoc Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI) Team
Monthly team meetings, and monthly departmental “mega” meetings with other JEDI teams
Organized the inaugural Stanford Bioengineering Inclusive Mentoring Workshop (2021)
Featured by Stanford BioE JEDI Gazette (special issue for the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month)
Art
Designed the 4th – 14th (2011 – 2021) Sabeti lab holiday cards featuring the lab’s diverse scientists
Holiday card themes:
Board games (2021)
The Brady Bunch/kaleidoscope (2020)
Roaring 20s (2019)
Space/moon landing (2018)
Winter Olympics (2017)
Family photo book (2016)
Star Wars (2015)
Lunch atop a Skyscraper (2014)
Saturday Night Live (2013)
Gangnam Style (2012)
The School of Athens (2011)
Reported by The Boston Globe (Johnson, C.Y. “Live from Cambridge, a ‘Saturday Night Live’-themed card”)
Reported by The Boston Globe (Johnson, C.Y. “Harvard biologists go Gangnam style for the holidays”)
Reported by Smithsonian Magazine (Mnookin, S. “Pardis Sabeti, the rollerblading rock star scientist of Harvard”)
Designed the Sabeti lab t-shirt, “Severely Infected by Science #ScienceIsInfectious”
Link: https://twitter.com/PardisSabeti/status/867436412811046919
Featured by National Geographic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uT1zKm46jo)
Photographed Pardis Sabeti’s “One Truth” music video in support for the fight against the 2014 Ebola outbreaks in Nigeria and Senegal
Reported by NIH Director’s Blog (Collins, F. “From Ebola Researchers, an anthem of hope”)
Reported by WBUR (Shea, A. “Why are these scientists singing about ebola?”)
Illustrated for the following scientific papers
Shi, J. et al. (2021). “Structural variant selection for high-altitude adaptation using single-molecule long-read sequencing.” bioRxiv, 2021.03.27.436702. Link: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.03.27.436702v2
Ruzicka, W.B. et al. (2020). “Single-cell dissection of schizophrenia reveals neurodevelopmental-synaptic axis and transcriptional resilience.” medRxiv, 2020.11.06.20225342. Link: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.06.20225342v1
Mohammadi, S. et al. (2020). “A multiresolution framework to characterize single-cell state landscapes.” Nature Communications, 11, 5399. Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18416-6