Dr. Lei (Stanley) Qi is an Associate Professor of Bioengineering at Stanford University, renowned for his pioneering contributions to CRISPR technology. He developed the first nuclease-deactivated Cas9 (dCas9) system, enabling targeted gene regulation without DNA cutting—a foundational advancement for tools like CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) and CRISPR activation (CRISPRa). His lab has further expanded the CRISPR toolkit with innovations such as hyperCas12a, CasMINI, LiveFISH for live-cell chromatin imaging, and CRISPR-GO for 3D genome organization. These technologies have propelled research in gene regulation, epigenetics, and therapeutic development. Dr. Qi's work has been recognized with numerous honors, including the NIH Director's Early Independence Award, Pew Biomedical Scholar, and Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship.