Xiaoliang Shan, a Ph.D. candidate, received his Bachelor's degree in Forestry from the College of Forestry, Shandong Agricultural University. He then obtained his Master's degree in Forest Protection from the Research Institute of Subtropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry. Currently, he is pursuing a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology at the College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University. His research topics mainly include non-coding RNA identification, functional genomics, and plant–pathogen interactions.