Haoran Cai

I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, working in the Sears Lab. I use both empirical and theoretical approaches to understand the developmental origin of evolutionary complexity, innovation, and diversity. My main research question is to ask how fundamental principles governing developmental systems shape our thinking of evolutionary, quantitative, and population genetics.

I received my Ph.D. from MIT, where I worked in the Des Marais Lab. I received my B.S. from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), during which I was advised by Ping Ao. I was a visiting undergraduate student at Harvard Medical School in Hormoz Lab. I also visited CEFE at CNRS with Luis-Miguel Chevin in 2024.