Jia-Ray Yu, PhD
Principal Investigator
Associate Professor of Pathology
Department: Pathology
Phone: (804) 628-1291
Email: JiaRay.Yu@vcuhealth.org
Jia-Ray Yu, PhD, joined VCU School of Medicine in Dec 2025. His lab is affiliated with the Division of Cellular and Molecular Pathogenesis in the Department of Pathology and Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Dr. Yu received his Bachelor’s degree from National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan. He completed his PhD training under Dr. Linda Van Aelst in Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) in 2015 and postdoctoral training under Dr. Danny Reinberg in Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and New York University School of Medicine (NYUSoM) in 2021.
Dr. Yu’s lab investigates fundamental epigenetic and chromatin mechanisms in the context of cancer and development. Specifically, his lab studies protein machineries that regulate chromatin and gene expression using integrated approaches, such as reconstituted biochemical systems, CRISPR/Cas9 genetic tools, cell biology and imaging tools, and next generation sequencing (NGS). His lab is interested in interrogating fundamental mechanisms underlying the molecular pathogenesis of cancer and developmental disorders and translating basic knowledges into potential clinical solution by drug discovery approaches.
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Dr. Yu abbreviated CV
Education
Postdoctoral Training
2021 Howard Hughes Medical Institute and New York University School of Medicine (Mentor: Danny Reinberg)
Graduate Education
2015 PhD in Genetics, Stony Brook University and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (Mentor: Linda Van Aelst)
Awards
2025 National Institute of General Medical Science, Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) (R35GM160046)
2023 Children’s Cancer Foundation Award
2022 CURE Childhood Cancer Research Award
2022 Emerging Scientist Award, Childhood Cancer Research Fund
2022 The integrated Translational Health Research Institute of Virginia (iTHRIV) Award
Virginia Commonwealth University & Medical Center Appointments
Present
2025 Associate Professor, Department of Pathology
2025 Member, Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center
Professional Organizations
2025 The Epigenetic Society
2022 American Association of Cancer Research
Professional Service (current)
2025 External Reviewer, Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation
2025 External Reviewer, FWO Review College, Belgium Government
Recent Invited Presentations
2025 Frontiers in 3D Genomics Conference, South Korea
2025 Seminar Series, Seoul National University Cancer Center, South Korea
2025 Departmental Seminar Series, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland Baltimore, USA
2025 Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington School of Medicine, USA
2025 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of British Columbia, Canada
Recent Publications
Peer Reviewed Publications
Hsu CI, Yeh E, Chen CC, Yu JR. Protocol for Reconstituting Enzymatic Activities for Ultra Large Histone Methyltransferases NSD1 and SETD2 Using a Baculovirus Expression System. STAR Protocols. 2025 Jul 18;6(3):103963.
Hsu CI, Mei S, Demmerle J, Ruttenberg SM, Sahn M, Yu JR. Paraspeckle Protein NONO Regulates Active Chromatin by Allosterically Stimulating NSD1. Cell Reports 2025 Sep 23;44(9):116247.
Yu JR, LeRoy G, Bready D, Frenster DF, Saldaña-Meyer R, Jin Y, Descostes N, Stafford JM, Plakantonakis DG, Reinberg D. The H3K36me2 writer-reader dependency in H3K27M-DIPG. Science Advances. 2021 Jul 14;7(29):eabg7444.
Yu JR*, Lee CH*, Oksuz O*, Stafford JM, Reinberg D. PRC2 is high maintenance. Genes & Development. 2019 Aug 1;33(15-16):903-935. (Review) *Equal contribution.
PDF: Dr. Yu Web CV