Dr. Xiao Fan earned his undergraduate degree (2014) and PhD (2019) from Tsinghua University. From 2019 to 2025, he conducted postdoctoral research at Princeton University and subsequently at Rockefeller University/Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). In August 2025, he joined the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation as a full-time Junior Principal Investigator at the Institute of Bio-Architecture and Bio-Interactions.

Dr. Xiao Fan has dedicated his career to advancing cryogenic electron microscopy by integrating multidisciplinary methods and cutting-edge technologies. He focuses on the structural biology of membrane protein-drug interactions related to major diseases. By developing an innovative cryogenic electron microscopy workflow, his work overcomes long-standing technical barriers to achieve high-resolution structure determination of very low molecular weight proteins and membrane proteins in near-native states. These advances had led to a series of key discoveries, including elucidating the structures and pharmacological mechanisms of voltage-gated sodium and calcium channels.

Major Awards and Honors

Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) Postdoctoral Fellowship Award

Lab Research Directions

Dr. Xiao Fan's lab focuses on developing novel cryogenic electron microscopy technologies, as well as efficient sample preparation and data processing methods, through interdisciplinary integration, with the aim of establishing a platform for in situ structural and functional analysis of membrane proteins within native environments. Using this platform, the lab can conduct high-fidelity in situ structural and functional studies of complex biomembrane environments. By resolving the spatial configurations, molecular interaction networks, and multiscale organization processes of key macromolecules, the lab can elucidate the coupling and regulatory mechanisms governing biomembrane systems, thereby establishing a theoretical foundation for targeted therapeutic intervention.

Selected Publications

* Equal contributions    ^# Corresponding author

1. Xiao Fan*, Jiaofeng Chen*, Xiaoshuang Huang, Zhanfeng Hou, Yuzhen Xie, Zigang Li, Nieng Yan#, and Jian Huang# (2025). Phrixotoxin-3 inhibits human Nav1.6 through tri-pocket binding.  Cell Research, 35(8):610-613.

2. Zi Yang*, Xiao Fan*, and Hongwei Wang# (2025). Near-atomic resolution single-particle 3D reconstruction using a single Cryo-EM micrograph. Journal of Chinese Electron Microscopy Society, 44 (1): 1000-6281

3. Jian Huang*, Xiao Fan*, Xueqin Jin, Chen Lyu, Qinmeng Guo, Tao Liu, Jiaofeng Chen, Amaël Davakan, Philippe Lory, and Nieng Yan# (2024). Structural basis for human Cav3.2 inhibition by selective antagonists. Cell Research, 0:1–11.

4. Yang, Zi, Jingjin Fan, Jia Wang, Xiao Fan, Zheng Ouyang, Hong-Wei Wang#, and Xiaoyu Zhou# (2024). Electrospray-assisted cryo-EM sample preparation to mitigate interfacial effects. Nature Methods: 1-10.

5. Kristina Solorio-Kirpichyan, Xiao Fan*, Dmitrij Golovenko*, Andrei A. Korostelev, Nieng Yan, and Alexei Korennykh# (2024). Cryo-EM structure of histidyl-tRNA synthetase-like domain reveals activating crossed helices at the core of GCN2. PNAS nexus 3, no. 12: pgae528.

6. Xiao Fan*^#, Jian Huang*, Xueqin Jin and Nieng Yan# (2023). Cryo-EM structure of human voltage-gated sodium channel Nav1.6. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(5), e2220578120.

7. Jian Huang*, Xiao Fan*^#, Xueqin Jin, Liming Teng and Nieng Yan#. (2023). Dual-pocket inhibition of Nav channels by the antiepileptic drug lamotrigine. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(41), e2309773120.

8. Qiurong Wu*, Jian Huang*#, Xiao Fan*^#, Gaoxingyu Huang, Xueqin Jin, Xiaojing Pan# and Nieng Yan# (2023). Structural mapping of Nav1.7 antagonists. Nature Communications, 14 (1), 3224.

9. Jian Huang*, Xiao Fan*, Xueqin Jin, Sooyeon Jo, Hanxiong Bear Zhang, Akie Fujita, Bruce P. Bean#, and Nieng Yan# (2023). Cannabidiol inhibits Nav channels through two distinct binding sites. Nature Communications, 14(1), 3613.

10. Shuai Gao, Xia Yao, Jiaofeng Chen, Gaoxingyu Huang, Xiao Fan, Lingfeng Xue, Zhangqiang Li, Tong Wu, Yupeng Zheng, Jian Huang, Xueqin Jin, Yan Wang, Zhifei Wang, Yong Yu, Lei Liu, Xiaojing Pan, Chen Song and Nieng Yan. (2023). Structural basis for human Cav1.2 inhibition by multiple drugs and the neurotoxin calciseptine. Cell, 186(24), 5363-5374.

11. Peng Huang, Raminta Venskutonytė, Rashmi B. Prasad, Hamidreza Ardalani, Sofia W. de Maré, Xiao Fan, Ping Li, Peter Spégel, Nieng Yan, Pontus Gourdon, Isabella Artner and Karin Lindkvist-Petersson (2023). Cryo-EM structure supports a role of AQP7 as a junction protein. Nature Communications, 14(1), 600.

12. Xia Yao, Yan Wang, Zhifei Wang, Xiao Fan, Di Wu, Jian Huang, Alexander Mueller, Sarah Gao, Miaohui Hu, Carol V. Robinson, Yong Yu, Shuai Gao, and Nieng Yan (2022). Structures of the R-type human Cav2.3 channel reveal conformational crosstalk of the intracellular segments. Nature communications, 13(1): 7358.

13. Xia Yao, Shuai Gao, Jixin Wang, Zhangqiang Li, Jian Huang, Yan Wang, Zhifei Wang, Jiaofeng Chen, Xiao Fan, Weipeng Wang, Xueqin Jin, Xiaojing Pan, Yong Yu, Armando Lagrutta, Nieng Yan (2022). Structural basis for the severe adverse interaction of sofosbuvir and amiodarone on L-type Cav channels. Cell, 185(25), 4801-4810.

14. Jiemin Shen*, Miaohui Hu*, Xiao Fan*^#, Zhenning Ren, Corinne Portioli, Xiuwen Yan, Mingqiang Rong, Ming Zhou# (2022). Extracellular domain of PepT1 interacts with TM1 to facilitate substrate transport. Structure, 7(30): 1035-1041.e3.

15. Heng Ni*, Xiao Fan*, Feng Zhou, Galio Guo, Jae Young Lee, Nadrian C Seeman, Do-Nyun Kim, Nan Yao, Paul M Chaikin, and Yimo Han# (2022). Direct visualization of floppy two-dimensional DNA origami using cryogenic electron microscopy. iScience, 6(25): 104373.

16. Xiao Fan (2022). "Breaking down the barriers in cryo-EM analysis of membrane proteins." Foundations of Crystallography, 2022, 78: A240-A240.

17. Xia Yao*, Xiao Fan*^#, Nieng Yan# (2020). Cryo-EM analysis of a membrane protein embedded in the liposome. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(31): 18497-18503.

18. Yimo Han*, Xiao Fan*, Haozhe Wang, Fang Zhao, Christopher Tully, Jing Kong, Nan Yao and Nieng Yan# (2020). High-yield monolayer graphene grids for near-atomic resolution cryoelectron microscopy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117, 1009-1014.

19. Yaping Pan, Zhenning Ren, Shuai Gao, Jiemin Shen, Lie Wang, Zhichun Xu, Ye Yu, Preetham Bachina, Hanzhi Zhang, Xiao Fan, Arthur Laganowsky, Nieng Yan & Ming Zhou (2020). Structural basis of ion transport and inhibition in ferroportin. Nature Communications 11(1), 1-11.

20. Xiao Fan*, Jia Wang*, Xing Zhang, Zi Yang, Jin-Can Zhang, Lingyun Zhao, Hai-Lin Peng, Jianlin Lei#, and Hong-Wei Wang# (2019). Single particle cryo-EM reconstruction of 52 kDa streptavidin at 3.2 Angstrom resolution. Nature Communications 10, 2386.

21. Hong-Wei Wang and Xiao Fan (2019). Challenges and opportunities in cryo-EM with phase plate. Current Opinion in Structural Biology, 58, 175–182.

22. Xiao Fan*, Lingyun Zhao*, Chuan Liu, Jin-Can Zhang, Kelong Fan, Xiyun Yan, Hai-Lin Peng, Jianlin Lei# and Hong-Wei Wang# (2017). Near-Atomic Resolution Structure Determination in Over-Focus with Volta Phase Plate by Cs-Corrected Cryo-EM. Structure 25, 1623-1630.