Spotlight

Jun Cai, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor, Pediatric Research Iinstitute

How long have you worked in Pediatrics?   12 years

What is your favorite thing about your job?  Novel findings in biomedical science, knowledge and skill delivery to the next generation of scientists and physicians, and any success or achievement obtained by students and trainees in my lab.

What is your hometown?

Tianjin – the 4^th largest city in China with a total population over 16 million. The name was bestowed by the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty (1644-1911), which means ‘The Emperor’s Ford’.

What is your favorite movie?   Forrest Gump, Gone with the Wind, and The Sound of Music.

Tell us about your family: My wife Dr. Rui Wu working at the cytogenetic lab of the Weisskopf Center. 

Do you have pets?   I do not have pets now but I did have a cat before.

What are you doing, where are you going, for your next vacation?   We plan to visit Santa Fe for our next vacation. We are interested in the history and culture, unique architectural style of low-slung earth-colored adobe buildings, art and music shows, bareback and bull riding, Margarita and different cuisine, local markets, and any fun things.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?   Being a doctor who can save lives around the world.

What is one of your proudest accomplishments?   One remarkable finding was published in Neuron in 2005 to provide the first convincing evidence in vivo to demonstrate that oligodendrogenesis exists in the dorsal spinal cord, which ceased the controversy for years in the neuroscience field. Nature Reviews Neuroscience (2005) and Nature Neuroscience (2006) gave special comments on this finding.

What is your favorite quote?  ‘Go your own way, let others talk’ In ‘Divine Comedy’ - Dante Alighieri (Italian poet, 1265-1321).  ‘The earth had no roads to begin with, but when many men pass one way, a road is made’ In ‘My Old Home’ - Lu Hsun (Chinese writer, critic, and essayist, 1881-1936).  

What was your first job?   Physician at the Tianjin Medical University General Hospital. Tianjin Medical College, the predecessor of Tianjin Medical University, was a sister institution of the UofL School of Medicine in the 1980s and early 1990s. The eight-year BS/MD medical program, from which I was graduated, adopted the UofL training format.  

What is your favorite ice cream?  I love dark chocolate ice cream. That’s my favorite.