In undergrad, Diao studied at the University of Nanjing, China majoring in biotechnology. Cultural values drove him to pursue a career path as a scientist, rather than attending medical school (a contrasting priority to that of the US). Funnily enough, Diao stated his drive for biology in particular as a source of his struggles with physics and mathematics. His passion was then further fueled by a research program he entered in his junior year, working in the lab with PhD students. Later on when considering grad school as his next career step, he asked his PI about the process and considered programs close to home and thus he began his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He focused his thesis on attempting to identify the proteins that impact the PAX7 gene. As background, proteins can function as an adapter protein to connect PAX7 with histone modification, which subsequently changes transcription and expression. He discovered previously unstudied proteins and played a role in identifying the correct sequence mechanism. He was immediately blown away by his discovery and the implications behind it and became interested in gene regulation and epigenetics. When wrapping up his PhD, Diao applied to the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) fellowship, which centered around helping international students continue their studies in the US. As part of the program, scholars did have to enter a new lab and explore an alternative project to the research they had done thus far. He then began his post doc at the University of California, San Diego entering Dr. Bing Ren’s lab. There he developed the first genetic screening method to study enhancer functions and was involved in a project to profile gene promoters and 3D genome organization.
In his personal life, moving to a new country was a stressful transition. He arrived in San Diego with one luggage case and spent 2 months away from his family, particularly from his 4 year old daughter, who at the time, was still in Hong Kong. While the project was exciting, being in a new setting and in a new lab was incredibly difficult, especially given the language barrier. Communication with mentors and lab mates proved challenging, however the environment in the lab was quite welcoming; a factor which proved precedent when deciding on a faculty job here at Duke. Having faced some discrimination in the California as a person of color, he felt motivated to explore other states that would bring new experiences. Additionally, he felt the staff at Duke enjoyed their respective research projects and valued science on a similar wavelength. He continues to enjoy his research and his current lab centers on regeneration and genomics.
While Diao has certainly progressed his career and now holds a high faculty position, he noted the many mistakes he made to get to where he is now. As a grad student that often included being lost in scientific conversations while still training and funnily enough, falling asleep during lab meetings and loudly snoring.
