WMCWeill Medical College of Cornell University · Biology
The Regenerative Heart Lab
Jingli Cao · New York, New York
Research Focus
Dr. Jingli Cao's lab at Weill Medical College focuses on understanding how zebrafish can regenerate their heart after injury. The lab explores the role of polyploid cells, which have multiple copies of their genome, in the heart's regenerative process. By studying how these cells communicate and lead the healing process, the research aims to uncover new ways to improve heart repair in humans and address diseases associated with polyploidy, like cancer and kidney injury.
zebrafishheart regenerationpolyploidycell behaviorepicardiumsignaling pathwaystissue repaircanceracute kidney injury
Research Aims
3AIM 01Characterize the signaling cascade involved in polyploidization during epicardial regeneration.
AIM 02Define the leader signals that guide cell coordination in heart regeneration.
AIM 03Investigate the functional significance of epicardial polyploidy for effective heart repair.
Skills the Lab Values
PCRcell cultureRNA sequencingimmunofluorescencemouse modelsWestern blotpharmacological treatmentsdata analysismicroscopyflow cytometry
Output against the department
Publications51bottom 12% of dept.902nd of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations2.3kbottom 16% of dept.865th of 1,033
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.