Liang-Chuan Lai earned his PhD from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2005. He is a Professor in the Graduate Institute of Physiology, National Taiwan University. His major research interests are using genomic approaches to explore the molecular mechanism of carcinogenesis.

Since cancer is a progressive process that involves dysfunction in multiple systems, my primary research interests are using genomic approaches (microarrays and next-generation sequencing) and genetic tools to explore the molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis and to identify biomarkers to predict prognosis or treatment effects. Approaches to understanding the cancer genome and identifying biomarkers include investigating gene expression profiles, copy number variation, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), and epigenetics (including DNA methylation and expression of microRNA and long non-coding RNA) in several transformed cell types, such as breast cancer, lung cancer, esophageal cancer, and thymic carcinoma. Another branch of my research is to develop online analytical platforms and databases to help researchers analyze genomic and clinical data.