Jian Han, M.D., Ph.D.
Faculty Investigator
Dr. Han received his M.D. from Suzhou Medical College in JiangSu Province, China in 1983 and his Ph.D. in clinical molecular genetics from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in 1991.
He obtained his board certification in 1996 in clinical molecular genetics and served as clinical molecular laboratory director and assistant professor in the UAB Department of Pediatrics. In 1996 he founded biotech company Genaco. Genaco was the first company to introduce Down syndrome prenatal screening and diagnostic service to China. During the SARS outbreak of 2003, Genaco developed technology and products for molecular differential diagnoses of infectious diseases. Han created a novel multiplex PCR technology, tem-PCR, that allows multiple molecular targets to be amplified in one reaction. A series of products was developed and commercialized. The technology won Genaco several awards, including the 2006 Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation and Leadership Award and the 2007 Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award. Genaco was acquired by the world’s leading molecular diagnostic company, Qiagen, in 2006.
Research interests:
- Developing integrated solutions for molecular differential diagnosis. Biochemical reactions, such as the polymerase chain reaction, are like software in the IT industry, they require tailor-made hardware to become more functional. Dr. Han is developing an integrated technology platform that allows multiplexmolecular differential diagnoses carried out in a fashion that is high throughput, semi-quantitative, automatic, and with a closed system.
- Applying the multiplex PCR technology, Dr. Han is developing a method to study interactions between our immune system and the environment.
