Dr. Yingzi Yang

Biography

Yingzi Yang has made significant contributions to understanding how cells communicate to control embryonic development and physiological functions related to skeletal and liver systems. Her research bridges fundamental discoveries with the characterization of treatment for diseases. Yang completed her Bachelor of Science degree at Fudan University in Shanghai, China, and received research training in the U.S. studying Wnt and Hedgehog signaling pathways for early limb patterning at the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Institute under Dr. Lee Niswander. She earned her PhD in molecular biology from Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Following her postdoctoral fellowship in mammalian developmental biology and genetics with Dr. Andy McMahon at Harvard University, Yang joined the Genetic Disease Research Branch of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) as a tenure-track investigator in 2000, where she ventured into skeletal biology and received tenure in 2006, serving as head of the Developmental Genetics Section as a senior investigator. In 2014, Yang was recruited to the Harvard School of Dental Medicine as a professor in developmental biology. She has received numerous honors throughout her scientific career, including the Vincent du Vigneaud Award for Excellence from Weill Medical College, a postdoctoral fellowship award from the Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Foundation, a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Award of Merit, the SCBA Young Investigator Award, and the NIH APAO Outstanding Achievements Merit Scholarship Award. Yang has published extensively in professional journals and serves on the editorial boards of major scientific journals. She is committed to training students at all levels and is actively involved in introducing the excitement and significance of biomedical research. Her laboratory focuses on the regulation of skeletal and liver formation and function through biochemical and biomechanical cues, with a particular interest in identifying key cellular and molecular mechanisms and important signaling pathways that control biological functions in complex systems, including investigations into human genetic diseases.

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Awards