Dr. Yaning Han received his Ph.D. in Neurobiology (2025) and M.Sc. in Neurobiology (2021) from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his B.Eng. in Electronic Information Engineering (2018) from China University of Petroleum (East China). From 2024 to 2025, he was a visiting researcher at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL Rome). His research aims to understand the principles of natural biological intelligence. Building on the concept of digital and homeostatic medicine, he integrates artificial intelligence techniques to decode the dynamic, cross-scale processes of cells, organs, and organisms. His research findings have been published in Nature Machine Intelligence, Nature Communications, Molecular Psychiatry, and eLife. He is also the inventor of nine granted national patents.

1. Digital and Homeostatic Medicine: Building AI-driven digital lifeforms to model and regulate biological homeostasis.

2. Computational Neuroethology: Unraveling the neural computation underlying naturalistic behavior and brain function.

2021.09-2025.07  University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences  Ph.D. in Neurobiology

2018.09-2021.07  University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences  M.Sc. in Neurobiology

2014.09-2018.07  China University of Petroleum (East China)  B.Eng. in Electronic Information Engineering

2025.07-present  School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology  Research Assistant Professor/Associate Investigator

2024.04-2025.04  European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL Rome)  Visiting Predoctoral Fellow

Beijing Outstanding Graduate, 2025.06

Outstanding Graduate, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2025.06

Best Paper Award, International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI), 2024.08

President’s Award of Excellence, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2024.08

National Scholarship for Doctoral Students, 2023.12

Second Shenzhen Award for Excellent Scientific and Academic Papers, 2022.12

Shandong Provincial Outstanding Graduate, 2018.06

2023.01-2023.12  Brain-X  Contributing Editor

1. Yaning Han#, Ke Chen#, Yunke Wang#, Wenhao Liu, Zhouwei Wang, Xiaojing Wang, Chuanliang Han, Jiahui Liao, Kang Huang, Shengyuan Cai, Yiting Huang, Nan Wang, Jinxiu Li, Yangwangzi Song, Jing Li, Guodong Wang, Liping Wang, Yaping Zhang, and Pengfei Wei* (2024), A few-shot learning framework for multi-animal 3D social pose estimation, identification, and behavior embedding, Nature Machine Intelligence;

2. Kang Huang#, Yaning Han#, Ke Chen, Hongli Pan, Gaoyang Zhao, Wenling Yi, Xiaoxi Li, Siyuan Liu, Pengfei Wei*, Liping Wang* (2021), A hierarchical 3D-motion learning framework for animal spontaneous behavior mapping. Nature Communications;

3. Guoling Tang#, Yaning Han#, Quanying Liu*, Pengfei Wei* (2024), Anti-drift pose tracker (ADPT): A transformer-based network for robust animal pose estimation cross-species. eLife;

4. Yaning Han*, Pengfei Wei* (2025); Decoding Natural Behavior from Neuroethological Embedding. Journal of Visualized Experiments;

5. Yaning Han#, Kang Huang#, Ke Chen#, Hongli Pan, Furong Ju, Yueyue Long, Gao Gao, Runlong Wu, Aimin Wang, Liping Wang*, Pengfei Wei* (2022), MouseVenue3D: A markerless three-dimension behavioral tracking system for matching two-photon brain imaging in free-moving mice. Neuroscience Bulletin;

6. Yaning Han, Kang Huang, Ke Chen, Liping Wang, Pengfei Wei* (2021), An automatic three-dimensional markerless behavioral tracking system of free-moving mice. 2021 IEEE 11th Annual International Conference on CYBER Technology in Automation, Control, and Intelligent Systems (CYBER);

7. Yaning Han, Zhiwei Jiang, Furong Ju, Liping Wang, Quanying Liu, Pengfei Wei* (2024), BL-BERT: Extracting Body Language from Behavior Sequences in Freely Moving Mice. International Workshop on Human Brain and Artificial Intelligence;

8. Yaning Han#*, Xiaoting Hou#, Chuanliang Han* (2023), The latent embeddings, essential representation of brain-environment interactions. Brain-X;

9. Yaning Han#, Zhibin Xu#, Zhizhun Mo, HongYi Huang, Zehong Wu, Xingtao Jiang, Ye Tian, Liping Wang, Pengfei Wei*, Zuxin Chen*, Xin-an Liu* (2023), MiceVAPORDot: A novel automated approach for high-throughput behavioral characterization during E-cigarette exposure in mice. bioRxiv;

10. Nan Liu#, Yaning Han#, Hui Ding, Kang Huang, Pengfei Wei*, Liping Wang* (2021), Objective and comprehensive re-evaluation of anxiety-like behaviors in mice using the Behavior Atlas. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications;

11. Kang Huang#, Qin Yang#, Yaning Han#, Yulin Zhang, Zhiyi Wang, Liping Wang*, Pengfei Wei* (2022), An easily compatible eye-tracking system for freely-moving small animals. Neuroscience Bulletin;

12. Furong Ju#, Wenling Jian#, Yaning Han#, Tianwen Huang, Jin Ke, Zhiheng Liu, Shengyuan Cai, Nan Liu, Liping Wang*, Pengfei Wei* (2022), Long-term two-photon imaging of spinal cord in freely behaving mice. bioRxiv;

13. Hongyu Zhong#, Rou Xue#, Yaning Han, Lei Liu, Jianshuai Zhao, Min Cai, Sa Wang, Pengfei Wei, Guangchao Zhao*, Hailong Dong* (2025), S-ketamine exposure in early postnatal period induces social deficit mediated by excessive microglial synaptic pruning. Molecular Psychiatry;

14. Qian Xiao#, Xinyi Zhou#, Pengfei Wei#, Li Xie, Yaning Han, Jie Wang, Aoling Cai, Fuqiang Xu, Jie Tu*, Liping Wang* (2021), A new GABAergic somatostatin projection from the BNST onto accumbal parvalbumin neurons controls anxiety. Molecular psychiatry;

15. Xue Cai#, Lizhu Li#, Wenhao Liu, Nianzhen Du, Yu Zhao, Yaning Han, Changbo Liu, Yan Yin, Xin Fu, Dawid Sheng, Lan Yin, Liping Wang, Pengfei Wei, Xing Sheng* (2022), A dual-channel optogenetic stimulator selectively modulates distinct defensive behaviors. Iscience.

#Contributed equally

*Corresponding author