Hi, my name is Xiao Dong. But please call me Iris (my favorite flower)! I came from China at fall of 2009 and found my wonderland at Bloomington, a tranquil and colorful small town. By joining chemistry department of Indiana University, I chose biological chemistry as my major. I decided to join the Dann lab after doing my second rotation here.
Right now I am a third year graduate student and have been working on the structural and functional characterization of MoCo riboswitch since the second year. Although fulfilled with challenges, the exploration of RNA world has provided so much exciting features of novel regulation mechanisms in cells. The study of riboswitch will not only add another example to RNA regulation models, but also shed light on the discovery of new antibiotics.
As for my future career after graduate school, currently there are two paths that I find my interests in. First of all, it is exciting to work in industry to do research in a more practical manner. At the same time, two years of teaching experiences in graduate school point out another promising job for me.
Finally a little test for you, can you find a green rabbit in the upper left-hand picture? That’s the animal that represents the year I was born in China.
The College of Arts