Recent updates from the Hua Lab, including publications, student achievements, awards, teaching milestones, and lab activities.
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Ohio University is located in Athens, a small college town at the edge of the Appalachian Mountains and near the Wayne National Forest. The campus is known for its natural beauty, with abundant trees, green spaces, and OHIO’s renowned cherry blossoms, along with many oaks, maples, and other native trees.
Athens experiences four distinct seasons and offers a peaceful living and learning environment shaped by the region’s temperate climate, rolling hills, and rich natural landscape. Frequently recognized as one of the best college towns in the United States, Athens provides an exceptional setting for students to study, grow, and enjoy a close-knit academic community.
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2026
Congratulations to Emmanuel Olaoluwa for passing his dissertation proposal defense and presenting a well-designed timeline toward graduation. Well done!
Congratulations to Emmanuel Olaoluwa for receiving an Ohio University Student Enhancement Award to study autophagy regulation in Arabidopsis.
2025
Congratulations to Dr. Hua for receiving an Ohio University OURC/Baker Fund award to support proteomic studies of SCF ubiquitin ligases in Arabidopsis.
Dr. Hua published a new Oxford Nanopore target-indexed-PCR sequencing method for RNA-editing and RNA-maturation analysis in Plant Direct.
Congratulations to Yang Li and Peifeng Yu for publishing their TurboID and ubiquitin-biotinylation study in International Journal of Molecular Sciences.
Congratulations to Yang Li and Peifeng Yu on their TurboID and ubiquitin-biotinylation work, which provides a cautionary insight for proximity-labeling studies of protein ubiquitylation.
Congratulations to Emmanuel Olaoluwa for assembling his Dissertation Advisory Committee and receiving positive feedback on his first year of Ph.D. studies.
2024
Congratulations to Madhura Yapa and Paymon Doroodian for contributing to a new publication in Plant Communications on the roles of GUN1 and MORF2 in plastid RNA maturation, in collaboration with Dr. Tatjana Kleine’s lab at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany.
Welcome Emmanuel Olaoluwa to the Hua Lab as a Ph.D. student in the Molecular and Cellular Biology graduate program.
A new publication by Yu et al. on the impact of cellular ubiquitin supply on Arabidopsis growth and seed development appeared in Plants.
Congratulations to Peifeng Yu for successfully defending his dissertation. Well done, Dr. Yu!
Congratulations to Madhura Yapa for being selected as a student speaker at The Ohio State University Plant Sciences Symposium.
2023
Big congratulations to Peifeng Yu for accepting a faculty position as Principal Investigator at Xinjiang University. Well done, Peifeng!
Congratulations to Madhura Yapa for passing the comprehensive exam and officially advancing to Ph.D. candidacy.
Congratulations to Yang Li for passing the comprehensive exam and officially advancing to Ph.D. candidacy.
Peifeng Yu was selected for the Donald Clippinger Graduate Fellowship through the Ohio University Graduate College, including a $4,000 award for the 2023–2024 academic year. Well done, Peifeng!
Congratulations to Madhura Yapa for passing the doctoral proposal defense.
Congratulations to Peifeng Yu for receiving an NSF-funded travel fellowship to attend the 2023 Plant Cell Dynamics Conference.
Our six-year study on Multiple Organellar RNA Editing Factor 2 was published in Frontiers in Plant Science. Using an inducible CRISPR interference approach, we showed that MORF2 has additional functions beyond RNA editing.
Congratulations to Peifeng Yu for being selected as a student speaker at The Ohio State University Plant Sciences Symposium.
2022
Congratulations to Peifeng Yu for publishing a major dissertation study in The Plant Journal. This work revealed reciprocal regulation between the ubiquitin–26S proteasome system and autophagy during early silique and seed development.
PBIO 2050, Biotechnology: From Laboratory to Daily Life, was approved as an Ohio Transfer 36 Natural Sciences course by the Ohio Department of Higher Education. Together with PBIO 1140, this provides students with transferable Natural Sciences credit across Ohio public colleges and universities.
Welcome Ben to the Hua Lab.
Congratulations to Madhura Yapa for receiving an Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Assistant Award.
Congratulations to Madhura Yapa for receiving a poster award at The Ohio State University Plant Sciences Symposium.
2021
Welcome Julian to the Hua Lab.
Welcome Maddie to the Hua Lab.
Our machine-learning study identifying promising but functionally uncharacterized F-box gene candidates was accepted for publication in Frontiers in Plant Science. Congratulations to Yang Li and Madhura Yapa.
Congratulations to Madhura Yapa for winning first place in the Life and Biomedical Sciences category of the OHIO Graduate Student Senate Student Expo Sponsored Awards.
Congratulations to Noah for receiving the 2021 Norman S. Cohn Summer Fellowship.
The first review article from the Hua Lab appeared in Plants. Congratulations to Paymon Doroodian.
Dr. Hua published a large-scale genomic study in International Journal of Molecular Sciences proposing a dual evolutionary model for plant F-box genes.
2020
A collaborative manuscript with Dr. Xuehua Zhong’s lab on the role of SCFCFK1 in epigenomic regulation through DRM2 ubiquitylation and degradation appeared in New Phytologist.
An Ohio Forum story highlighted our The Plant Journal publication on ASK1-containing SCF complexes.
Congratulations to Paymon Doroodian for successfully defending his thesis research.
Our manuscript on ASK1-containing SCF complexes was accepted for publication in The Plant Journal. Congratulations to Madhura Yapa, Peifeng Yu, Fanglei Liao, and Abby.
Dr. Hua received notification of promotion to Associate Professor with tenure. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to this milestone.
2019
Welcome Noah to the Hua Lab.
Welcome Miranda to the Hua Lab.
2018
Welcome Abby to the Hua Lab.
Farewell to Dr. Zhenyu Gao, who completed a productive six-month senior visiting scientist project in the Hua Lab. We miss you, Dr. Gao.
Welcome Mateo to the Hua Lab.
Welcome Peifeng and Alex to the Hua Lab.
Dr. Hua received an NSF CAREER Award, one of the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious awards supporting early-career faculty.
Welcome Matthew to the Hua Lab.
Congratulations to Paymon Doroodian and William Vu for publishing the first research article of their scientific careers with Dr. Hua in The Plant Journal.
Congratulations to William Vu for winning first place in the 2018 Student Expo science competition.
Dr. Hua’s paper was accepted for publication in PeerJ.
Welcome Dr. Zhenyu Gao to the Hua Lab for a six-month visiting research project on protein ubiquitylation.
Dr. Hua received three PACE awards to support undergraduate research in the Hua Lab.
Welcome Madhura to the Hua Lab.
2017
The lab’s high-performance bioinformatics server was upgraded to 32 TB of storage to support ongoing omics projects.
Congratulations to William Vu for being admitted to The Ohio State University College of Dentistry. Well done, Will!
Congratulations to Caroline Siegert and Jacob Sieg for receiving Provost’s Undergraduate Research Fund awards.
Congratulations to William Vu for receiving a Provost’s Undergraduate Research Fund award.
Welcome Caroline Siegert to the Hua Lab for Honors Tutorial College non-thesis undergraduate research.
Dr. Hua contributed to an international review article on the molecular mechanisms of abiotic stress responses in plants, accepted by Frontiers in Plant Science. Thanks to Professor Ruth Grene at Virginia Tech for leading the collaboration.
Dr. Hua received two PACE awards to support undergraduate research. Previous Hua Lab PACE students William Vu and Jacob Sieg also received Provost’s Undergraduate Research Fund awards during the 2016–2017 academic year.
Welcome Paymon Doroodian to the Hua Lab for molecular biology and biochemistry research training.
The Nikon epifluorescence and differential interference contrast microscope is now operational in the lab.
Welcome Charles Ndiaye to the Hua Lab for undergraduate research experience in biotechnology.
2016
Dr. Hua received an Ohio University Baker Fund award, one of the university’s competitive internal research awards.
Dr. Hua gave a talk at the International Workshop on the Genetic Basis and Breeding Technologies for High-Yield Superior Rice at the China National Rice Research Institute in Hangzhou, China.
The ÄKTA-FPLC system is now operational in the lab.
Dr. Hua presented the lab’s research at the ASPB 2016 Annual Meeting and gave a talk in a concurrent symposium.
Welcome Jacob Sieg to the Hua Lab for undergraduate research.
Dr. Hua received an Ohio University Research Committee award, one of the university’s competitive internal research awards.
2015
Welcome William Vu to the Hua Lab for undergraduate research.
Welcome Andrew Rose, a PBIO sophomore undergraduate student, to the Hua Lab.
2014
New shelves and a dedicated bench for radioactive experiments were installed. The lab’s core instruments and furniture were fully set up.
Welcome Dr. Fanglei Liao to the Hua Lab for a one-year visiting scientist research project.
