Dr. Pan received her medical degree in 1989 and PhD in 2000 from Shanghai 2nd Medical University, Shanghai, China. She completed a residency in neurology; and served on the faculty of the Department Neurology, at Renji Hospital affiliated with Shanghai 2nd Medical University, Shanghai, China until 2001. From 2001 to 2005, she served as a post-doctoral fellow in neurology and neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and then joined the Department of Neurology, BCM as an instructor.  Within a year, she was appointed assistant professor (tenure track).
Dr. Pan’s major interest in research focuses on exploring the cellular and molecular mechanisms relevant to neurodegenerative diseases and therapeutic targets for neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease (PD). Recently, she has developed interest in exploring the association between PD and cancer.
Dr. Pan has received awards from American Parkinson Disease Association (2004) and Carolyn Weiss Law Seed Funding (2008) and was supported by Diana Helis Henry Medical Research Foundation (2007-2010).