2014年毕业于兰州大学，获化学学士学位； 2019年毕业于加拿大阿尔伯塔大学，获化学博士学位；2019年9月起先后在美国麻省理工学院和日本东京大学从事博士后研究； 拟于2025年10月起任中科院分子细胞科学卓越创新中心(生物化学与细胞生物学研究所)研究员，研究组长，博士生导师。

细胞中的分子相互作用，形成信号网络以调节生物过程。在细胞中实时地、原位地观测这些分子信号的变化以及分析它们与细胞功能的联系有助于我们了解生命的运行原理、揭示疾病的发生机理。

我们实验室致力于开发新型荧光成像工具和荧光成像技术，以蛋白质工程和活体荧光成像为基础，从时间和空间尺度上探索复杂生物系统（比如动物大脑）中细胞内以及细胞间的分子信号传递，以及这些分子信号在正常和疾病状态下的动态差异。

当前主要研究项目包括：

1. 近红外荧光蛋白以及近红外荧光分子探针的开发与应用

2. 新型多重荧光成像技术的开发与应用

1. S.F. Shaykevich, J.P. Little, Y.Qian, M.E.Paquet, R.E. Campbell, D. Razansky, S.Shoham, “Multimodal fluorescence-optoacoustic in vivo imaging of the near-infrared calcium ion indicator NIR-GECO2G”, Photoacoustics, 2025, 41,1007.1
2. Y. Qian, O.T.Celiker, Z. Wang, B. Guner-Ataman, E.S.Boyden, “Temporally multiplexed imaging of dynamic signaling networks in living cells”, Cell, 2023, 186, 5656-5672.21.
3. J. Zhang, J. Newman, Z. Wang, Y. Qian, P. Feliciano-Ramos, W. Guo, Z.S. Chen, T. Honda, C. Linghu, R. Etienne-Cummings, E. Fossum, E.S. Boyden, M. Wilson, “Pixel-wise programmability enables dynamic high-SNR cameras for high-speed microscopy” Nature Communications, 2024, 15, 4480.
4. R. Hashizume, H. Fujii, S. Mehta, K. Ota, Y. Qian, W. Zhu, M. Drobizhev, Y. Nasu, J. Zhang, H. Bito, R.E. Campbell, “A genetically encoded far-red fluorescent calcium ion biosensor derived from a biliverdin-binding protein”, Protein Science, 2022, 31, e4440.
5. Y. Qian, D.M.O. Cosio, K.D.Piatkevich, S. Aufmkolk, W.C. Su, O.T. Celiker, A.Schohl, M.H. Murdock, A. Aggarwal, Y.F. Chang, P.W. Wiseman, E.S. Ruthazer, E.S. Boyden, and R.E. Campbell, “Improved genetically encoded near-infrared fluorescent calcium ion indicators for in vivo imaging”, PLOS Biology, 2020, 18, e3000965.
6. Y. Qian*, K.D. Piatkevich*, B. McLarney*, A.S. Abdelfattah, S. Mehta, M.H. Murdock, S. Gottschalk, R.S. Molina, W. Zhang, Y. Chen, J. Wu, M. Drobizhev, T.E. Hughes, J. Zhang, E.R. Schreiter, S. Shoham, D. Razansky, E.S. Boyden, and R.E. Campbell, “A genetically-encoded near-infrared fluorescent calcium ion indicator”, Nature Methods, 2019, 16, 171-174 (*equal contributions).
7. Y. Qian, V. Rancic, J. Wu, K. Ballanyi, and R.E. Campbell, “A bioluminescent Ca²⁺ indicator based on a topological variant of GCaMP6s”, ChemBioChem, 2019, 20, 516-520 (VIP, cover feature).
8. R.S. Molina, Y. Qian, J. Wu, Y. Shen. R.E. Campbell, T.E. Hughes, and M. Drobizhev, “Understanding the Ca²⁺-dependent Fluorescence Change in Red Genetically Encoded Ca²⁺ Indicators”, Biophysical Journal, 2019, 116, 1873-1886 
9. Y. Shen, S-Y. Wu, V. Rancic, A. Aggarwal, Y. Qian, S-I. Miyashita, K. Ballanyi, R.E. Campbell, and M. Dong, “Genetically encoded fluorescent indicators for imaging intracellular potassium ions”, Communications Biology, 2, 18.
10. J. Wu, A.S. Abdelfattah, H. Zhou, A. Ruangkittisakul, Y. Qian, K. Ballanyi and R.E   Campbell, “Genetically Encoded Glutamate Indicators with Altered Color and Topology”, ACS Chemical Biology. 2018, 13, 1832-1837.