From the Village to the Victors

Having the distinction as a "genius grant" winner — a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellow — just doesn't relate the story of how Kun-Liang Guan has evolved as a scientist. His list of honors and awards, though continuing to mount, doesn't provide any clues to how far Guan has traveled to earn them. This distinguished LSI scientist is from a humble farming village in rural China, and he was the first person in its centuries of existence to receive a formal education.

"It is hard to believe, but in my family, I was the first person to have more than two years of school," said Guan, "Serendipity played a big part in my becoming a scientist."

Following the Cultural Revolution, when Chinese universities were closed from 1966 to 1976, Guan's small peasant village built its first small school house. At six years old, Guan, the youngest of four children, was the right age to attend. His brothers and sisters were already working in the fields. By the time it came time for college, the universities had re-opened and Guan attended Hangzhou University, completing a BS in 1982.

As China began to surface from the system that had brought the education system to a virtual halt, a new program emerged, just in time for Guan to participate.

In the early 1980s, a Chinese overseas student program — CUSBEA (China-United States Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Examination and Administration) — selected gifted young Chinese students through intense screening examinations, and sent successful candidates, only about 50 a year, abroad for further study. Guan was selected, attended intensive English classes for nine months, and moved to Purdue to earn his PhD in biological chemistry. CUSBEA was in operation for only eight years, but during that time, sent 400 Chinese students abroad for further study.

At Purdue, he worked as a postdoc for former LSI Director Jack Dixon. When Dixon joined Michigan as chair of the Department of Biological Chemistry, Guan joined as a lecturer in 1991.

"Science is dedicating yourself to research and an essential part of research is dedication to interactions with others working on serious problems," said Guan. "The US has been a critical partner for many researchers throughout the world."

Guan's work has centered on the critical protein phosphorylation reactions that regulate cell division, growth and differentiation. His studies focus on a class of enzymes that act as molecular switches to control the activity of other enzymes. He researches the TSC1 and TSC2 tumor suppressor genes, where mutations in those genes are responsible for the inherited genetic disease tuberous sclerosis complex. Some of his work has shown how viruses and bacteria interrupt normal cell signals, creating diseases, and several types of human cancer cells.

Guan is also the Halvor N. Christensen Collegiate Professor in the Life Sciences, Research Professor in the Institute of Gerontology and Professor, Department of Biological Chemistry.