Pharmacology & Toxicology Faculty

Research conducted in Dr. Yan’s laboratory is geared toward unraveling the cellular and molecular basis of neurodegeneration and devising therapeutic strategies to hamper the processes that cause neuronal death.

I started my research program on the role of lipid rafts as compartments for signaling via neurotrophin receptors. As changes in neurotrophin signaling are known to contribute to nerve degeneration in diabetic neuropathy, we extended our work to diabetic animal and cell culture models, which is the current thrust in the lab.

The specific aims of my research are designed to determine how the Msr system affects the function and expression of other proteins as well as to evaluate the role of methionine oxidation in the progression of oxidative stress and age related diseases.

The most rewarding aspect of my job is mentoring young scientists. I have enjoyed mentoring a dozen Ph.D. graduate students and numerous post-doctoral fellows.

My research focuses on the development and application of tools and workflows for multi-scale multi-modal correlated volume microscopies and three-dimensional volume reconstruction to unravel synaptic geometry.

I received a Ph.D. in biophysics with a specialization in oxidative stress research and have been conducting research in the field of oxidative stress since my graduation.

My research focuses on the neurobiological substrates of social behavior and stress.

My lab will investigate how molecules, circuits and neuronal ensemble activity influence plasticity of excitatory and inhibitory synapses. We will study these mechanisms in neurons of sensory and association cortices in the context of memory storage, and how they are disrupted in genetically tractable mouse models of disease. To achieve this we will use a variety of state of the art approaches, such as single neuron genetic manipulations, in vivo synaptic labeling and multi-color two photon imaging.

Our research focuses on brain aging and neurodegeneration (with an emphasis on Alzheimer’s disease; AD).