Dr. Cao received his MD in clinical medicine, specializing in neurosurgery, from the Fourth Military Medical University in Xi’an, China. He later received his PhD in molecular and cellular neuroscience from Ohio State University. Dr. Cao has worked on the mammalian brain circadian clock since he was a graduate student. He first discovered the mTOR pathway in the SCN circadian clock, which is regulated by light at night and the circadian clock. As a postdoctoral fellow at HHMI and McGill University, Dr. Cao studied mRNA translation control mechanisms in the circadian clock. He found that the mTORC1/4E-BP pathway regulates Vip mRNA translation and SCN neuronal synchrony. He also found that phosphorylation of the cap-binding protein eIF4E facilitates mRNA translation of Per1 and Per2. Dr. Cao worked as an assistant professor and an associate professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School from 2016 to 2023. His lab first identified the integrated stress response centered on eIF2 signaling in the SCN circadian clock. In collaboration, his lab also established mTOR as a ubiquitous circadian regulator of central and peripheral circadian clocks. Recently, his lab characterized Bmal1 mutant mice as novel mouse models of autism spectrum disorders, establishing a link between circadian dysfunction and autism. He is currently a tenured associate professor of neuroscience and chronobiology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University.