Qin Ma, Associate Professor at the Institute of Cell and Gene Technology of Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology (SUAT). She received her bachelor's degree from Jilin University and her Ph.D. from the Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. She subsequently conducted postdoctoral research at the University of California, San Francisco. With long-term research experiences in epigenetic regulatory mechanisms of diseases, she has published 20 papers in leading international journals, including PNAS and Journal of Neuroinflammation, 10 as first author/co-first or corresponding/co- corresponding author. She has received a postdoctoral fellowship from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and has been awarded multiple forum education grants. Her research group will integrate multidisciplinary approaches such as genetics, omics, molecular biology, cell biology, and computational biology to deeply investigate the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of autoimmune diseases, develop epigenetic biomarkers for early disease diagnosis, and provide new targets for clinical treatment.

1. Epigenetic Regulation in Autoimmune Diseases

2. Research on Epigenetic Biomarkers and Therapeutic Approaches for Autoimmune Diseases

Education Background

2012.09-2018.01: Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences，PhD of Genetics，Mentor: Dr. Weimin Ci

2008.09-2012.07: Jilin University，BS of Bioengineering

Professional Experience

2025.08-present, The Institute of Cell and Gene Technology, Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology, Associate Professor

2023.12-2025.06, University of California, San Francisco, Assistant Researcher

2019.01-2023.11, University of California, San Francisco, Postdoctoral Fellow

2018.01-2018.12, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Assistant Researcher

1.ACTRIMS Forum 2023, San Diego, California, USA. 2023. (Poster)

2.ACTRIMS Forum 2022, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA. 2022. (Poster)

3.9th Tykeson Fellows Conference, Dallas, Texas, USA. 2022 (Oral)

4.Cell Bio 2022 (an ASCB | EMBO meeting), Washington, DC, USA. 2022. (Poster)

Research Grants:

1. National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2022.07-2025.06, PI

2. NIH/NINDS R01 grant 2023.05-2027.04, Postdoctoral Fellow, Senior/Key Person

Representative Publications:

1.Ma Q, Caillier SJ, Muzic S, University of California San Francisco MS-EPIC Team, Wilson MR, Henry RG, Cree BAC, Hauser SL, Didonna A, Oksenberg JR. Specific hypomethylation programs underpin B cell activation in early multiple sclerosis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021; 118(51).

2.Ma Q, Matsunaga A, Ho B, Oksenberg JR, Didonna A. Oligodendrocyte-specific Argonaute profiling identifies microRNAs associated with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. J Neuroinflammation. 2020; 17(1):297.

3.Ma Q, Shams H, Didonna A, Baranzini SE, Cree BAC, Hauser SL, Henry RG, Oksenberg JR. Integration of epigenetic and genetic profiles identifies multiple sclerosis disease-critical cell types and genes. Commun Biol. 2023; 6(1):342.

4.Ma Q, Augusto DG, Montero-Martin G, Caillier SJ, Osoegawa K, Cree BAC, Hauser SL, Didonna A, Hollenbach JA, Norman PJ, Fernandez-Vina M, Oksenberg JR. High-resolution DNA methylation screening of the major histocompatibility complex in multiple sclerosis. Front Neurol. 2023; 14:1326738.

5.Ma Q, Didonna A. Ataxin-1 controls the expression of specific noncoding RNAs in B cells upon autoimmune demyelination. Immunol Cell Biol. 2023; 101(4):358-367.

6.Ma Q, Oksenberg JR, Didonna A. Epigenetic control of ataxin-1 in multiple sclerosis. Ann Clin Transl Neurol. 2022; 9(8):1186-1194.

7.Ma Q, Didonna A. The novel multiple sclerosis susceptibility gene ATXN1 regulates B cell receptor signaling in B-1a cells. Mol Brain. 2021; 14(1):19.

8.Ma Q, Wang J, Qi J, Peng D, Guan B, Zhang J, Li Z, Zhang H, Li T, Shi Y, Li X, Zhou L, Chen K, Ci W. Increased chromosomal instability characterizes metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Transl Oncol. 2021; 14(1):100929.

9.Ma Q, Xu Z, Lu H, Xu Z, Zhou Y, Yuan B, Ci W. Distal regulatory elements identified by methylation and hydroxymethylation haplotype blocks from mouse brain. Epigenetics & Chromatin. 2018; 11(1):75.

10.Ma Q, Lu H, Xu Z, Zhou Y, Ci W. Mouse olfactory bulb methylome and hydroxymethylome maps reveal noncanonical active turnover of DNA methylation. Epigenetics. 2017; 12(8):708-714.

11.Shams H, Shao X, Santaniello A, Kirkish G, Harroud A,Ma Q, Isobe N, University of California San Francisco MS-EPIC Team, Schaefer CA, McCauley JL, Cree BAC, Didonna A, Baranzini SE, Patsopoulos NA, Hauser SL, Barcellos LF, Henry RG, Oksenberg JR. Polygenic risk score association with multiple sclerosis susceptibility and phenotype in Europeans. Brain. 2023; 146(2):645-656.

12.Shams H, Matsunaga A,Ma Q, Mofrad MRK, Didonna A. Methylation at a conserved lysine residue modulates tau assembly and cellular functions. Mol Cell Neurosci. 2022; 120:103707.

13.Didonna A, Canto Puig E,Ma Q, Matsunaga A, Ho B, Caillier SJ, Shams H, Lee N, Hauser SL, Tan Q, Zamvil SS, Oksenberg JR. Ataxin-1 regulates B cell function and the severity of autoimmune experimental encephalomyelitis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020; 117(38):23742-23750.

14.Zhang Y, Li Y, Li T, Shen X, Zhu T, Tao Y, Li X, Wang D,Ma Q, Hu Z, Liu J, Ruan J, Cai J, Wang HY, Lu X. Genetic Load and Potential Mutational Meltdown in Cancer Cell Populations. Mol Biol Evol. 2019; 36(3):541-552.

15.Peng D, Ge G, Xu Z,Ma Q, Shi Y, Zhou Y, Gong Y, Xiong G, Zhang C, He S, He Z, Li X, Ci W, Zhou L. Diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of common urological cancers based on aberrant DNA methylation. Epigenomics. 2018; 10(9):1189-1199.

16.Xu J, Peng X, Chen Y, Zhang Y,Ma Q, Liang L, Carter AC, Lu X, Wu CI. Free-living human cells reconfigure their chromosomes in the evolution back to uni-cellularity. Elife. 2017; 6.

17.Zhang C, Yang L, Ding Y, Wang Y, Lan L,Ma Q, Chi X, Wei P, Zhao Y, Steinbüchel A, Zhang H, Liu P. Bacterial lipid droplets bind to DNA via an intermediary protein that enhances survival under stress. Nat Commun. 2017; 8:15979.

18.Wang K,Ma Q, Jiang L, Lai S, Lu X, Hou Y, Wu CI, Ruan J. Ultra-precise detection of mutations by droplet-based amplification of circularized DNA. BMC Genomics. 2016; 17:214.

19.Chen K, Zhang J, Guo Z,Ma Q, Xu Z, Zhou Y, Xu Z, Li Z, Liu Y, Ye X, Li X, Yuan B, Ke Y, He C, Zhou L, Liu J, Ci W. Loss of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine is linked to gene body hypermethylation in kidney cancer. Cell Res. 2016; 26(1):103-18.

20.Cheng QY, Xiong J, Huang W,Ma Q, Ci W, Feng YQ, Yuan BF. Sensitive Determination of Onco-metabolites of D- and L-2-hydroxyglutarate Enantiomers by Chiral Derivatization Combined with Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry Analysis. Sci Rep. 2015; 5:15217.