Yang Dan (chemist)

This article is about the Hong Kong chemist. For the Chinese-American neuroscientist, see Yang Dan (neuroscientist).
In this Chinese name, the family name is Yang.
Yang Dan
BornOctober 1965 (age 59)
NationalityHong Kong
Chinese
Alma materFudan University
Columbia University
Princeton University
Harvard University
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry
Biology
InstitutionsWestlake University, Hangzhou

Yang Dan (Chinese: 楊丹; pinyin: Yáng Dān; born October 1965) is a Hong Kong-Chinese chemist and chemical biologist. She is the chair professor in both School of Life Sciences and School of Science in the Westlake University. She was awarded the TWAS Prize for Chemistry in 2010 and the Young Woman Scientist Prize of China in 2011.

Education

Yang graduated with a BS degree from Fudan University in Shanghai, China, and earned her MA degree from Columbia University and her PhD in 1991 from Princeton University in the United States.[1] After 2-year postdoc training with Stuart Schreiber in Harvard University, Yang started her independent career on Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology at the University of Hong Kong.

Career

Yang joined the Department of Chemistry at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) in 1993,[2] and is now the Chair Professor of Chemistry and the Morningside Professor in Chemical Biology.[3]

Yang's research interests include aminoxy acids and foldamores, triptolide, and oxidation chemistry.[3] She spent 17 years researching and synthesizing potential anti-cancer compounds from the plant Tripterygium wilfordii, for which she was awarded the Young Woman Scientist Prize of China in 2011, the first Hong Kong scientist to win the prize.[2]

In 2010, she was awarded the TWAS Prize in Chemistry for "her significant contributions to the development of novel methods for the synthesis of bioactive natural products and probes for biomedical research."[4]

In 2017, Yang was awarded the Chemical Biology Approach to Molecular Medicine in Areas of Excellence Scheme by University Grants Committee.[5]

In 2020, Yang was awarded the 5th Yoshida Prize by the International Organic Chemistry Foundation (IOCF).[6]

In August 2021, Yang joined Westlake University as a chair professor in both School of Life Sciences and School of Science.[7]

Research interests[8]

  • Developing fluorescent/chemiluminescent  sensors for molecular detection and imaging of reactive oxygen species, lipids, metabolites and enzymes in living cells to study redox biology and human diseases.
  • Developing new molecular probes for proteins and nucleic acids to investigate epigenetic changes in relation to their functions.
  • Developing synthetic ion transporters and exploring their biological applications in eradicating cancer stem cells and drug-resistant bacteria.

References

  1. ^ "Dan YANG". Hong Kong University. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
  2. ^ a b "香港大学女教授杨丹钻研"断肠草"17年 获中国青年女科学家奖". Scholars Update. 2011-12-01. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
  3. ^ a b "Professor Yang, Dan". Hong Kong University. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
  4. ^ "TWAS Announces 2010 Prize Winners". TWAS. 2010-10-18. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
  5. ^ "Areas of Excellence - Research - HKU". www.hku.hk. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  6. ^ "International Organic Chemistry Foundation | Our Projects | Yoshida Prize". IOCF (in Japanese). Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  7. ^ "Dan Yang, Ph.D." en.westlake.edu.cn. Retrieved 2023-12-01.
  8. ^ "研究方向 - 香港大学杨丹课题组". www.x-mol.com. Retrieved 2020-10-22.