Dr. Rong Lu is the Richard N. Merkin Assistant Professor of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Biomedical Engineering, Medicine, and Gerontology at University of Southern California (tenure-track). Her lab studies hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) regulation, coordination and malfunction using systems biology and single-cell approaches. Dr. Lu has been an active researcher in the stem cell field since 2003. She received her Ph.D. training in molecular biology under the guidance of Dr. Ihor R. Lemischka at Princeton University, and her postdoctoral training in cell biology under the mentorship of Dr. Irving L. Weissman at Stanford University. After starting her own lab at USC in 2014, Dr. Lu has been studying the mechanisms underlying differences between individual HSCs, and the coordination between their differentiations. She is also investigating the heterogeneity of primary human leukemia cells, including their individual chemotherapy responses.