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Shi Huang

Neurobiologist Ye Bing is returning to China after a long period in the United States, but he says his move is not linked to the suicide of another Chinese scholar at the same university or US policy under the Trump administration.
Ye said his decision to join Nanjing University and leave the University of Michigan was not influenced by the death of Chinese scholar Wang Danhao on the same campus six months earlier – a day after Wang was interviewed by US Homeland Security officers.
“This is a career choice and has no connection to the events mentioned in your email or the national policies [of the Trump administration],” Ye said in an email on Tuesday.
“I have indeed joined my alma mater, Nanjing University, to participate in the development of its school of life sciences.”


Ye, a neurobiologist and fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, had worked for 18 years at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He now serves as dean and chair professor at Nanjing University’s school of life sciences.
On March 19, UMich postdoctoral researcher Wang Danhao killed himself at the university’s George G. Brown Memorial Laboratory – a day after two Department of Homeland Security officers questioned him at his rented home.
Around 8am on March 18, two Department of Homeland Security staff members arrived at Wang’s home for questioning, according to a police report published by local Detroit media on September 17. A source had identified them as an officer from Customs and Border Protection and an officer from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE.
Wang, a semiconductor scientist who joined the university in 2022 to conduct postdoctoral research, had planned to return to China in May.
Wang’s death came at a time of increased scrutiny by the Trump administration of foreign citizens on US college campuses and a crackdown on student visas.
It is not known if Wang and Ye ever met, however Ye’s departure from the university prompted speculation that Wang’s death or the broader political climate spurred his decision. Ye said he decided to move for purely professional reasons.
Ye has a long-standing connection with Nanjing University, where he completed his undergraduate studies and was awarded a bachelor’s degree in 1992.
He obtained his master’s degree from the Shanghai Institute of Physiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1995, and his PhD in neuroscience from the school of medicine at Johns Hopkins University in 2001.
He conducted postdoctoral research in neuroscience at the University of California, San Francisco from 2001 to 2008.
From 2008, he served successively as an assistant professor and an associate professor with tenure at the medical school and Life Sciences Institute at the University of Michigan, a position he held until this month.
Ye’s earlier work focused on the molecular mechanisms underlying the development and differentiation of neuronal dendrites and axons, as well as the relationship between defects in these processes and human diseases. He has focused on the role of genes associated with Down’s syndrome in neuronal development and brain disorders.
In recent years, he has paid particular attention to the applications of artificial intelligence to neuroscience.
In 2012, Ye was awarded a Kavli Fellowship by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), a fellowship programme that began in 1989. Every year, the NAS selects scientists under the age of 45 to take part in a three-day forum on cutting-edge science.


In 2021, he was elected an AAAS fellow, the largest scientific association in the world and the publisher of Science, one of the world’s leading academic journals.
The webpage for Ye’s laboratory at UMich is no longer accessible, and his name does not appear on either the faculty directory or the emeritus professor list of the college.
If you have suicidal thoughts or know someone who is experiencing them, help is available. In Hong Kong, you can dial 18111 for the government-run Mental Health Support Hotline. You can also call +852 2896 0000 for The Samaritans or +852 2382 0000 for Suicide Prevention Services.
In the US, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. For a list of other nations’ helplines, see this page.


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Prominent researcher takes over Nanjing University’s school of life sciences, rejecting claims US policy prompted his return


Prominent researcher takes over Nanjing University’s school of life sciences, rejecting claims US policy prompted his return.


Neurobiologist Ye Bing says his return to China is not spurred by Michigan campus tragedy

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Prominent researcher takes over Nanjing University’s school of life sciences, rejecting claims US policy prompted his return

Prominent researcher takes over Nanjing University’s school of life sciences, rejecting claims US policy prompted his return