Yi Tang

BIOGRAPHY

ACADEMIC POSITIONS:
• Professor, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles 2010 to current
• Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles 2010 to current
• Member, California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI), University of California, Los Angeles 2009 to current
• Member, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, Cancer Cell Biology Program, University of California, Los Angeles 2008 to current

EDUCATION:
• BS Penn State, 1997, Chemical Engineering, Material Science and Engineering
• PhD Caltech, 2002, Chemical Engineering
• Postdoc Stanford, 2004

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
University of California, Los Angeles:
• Associate Professor, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering 2008 to 2010
• Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering 2004 to 2008

AWARDS AND HONORS:
• Society for Industrial Microbiology's Young Investigator Award (2010)
• AIChE Allan P Colburn Award (2009)
• Sloan Research Fellowship (2009)
• Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) Concept Award (2008)
• The Camille Dreyfus Teacher Scholar Award (2008)
• The David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowship (2007)
• UCLA Faculty Career Development Award (2007)
• Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering (PECASE) (2006)
• National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2006)
• UCLA AIChE Student Chapter Professor of the Year Award (2005, 2006)
• American Heart Association National Scientist Development Grant Award (2005-2009)
• National Research Service Award, National Institutes of Health (2002-2004)
• Whitaker Graduate Research Fellowship in Biomedical Engineering (1997-2002)
• Caltech 10K Business Plan Competition Winner (2000)
• Constantin Economou Award for Excellency in Graduate Research (1999)
• Elizabeth and Holmes Memorial Scholarship (1993-1997)
• Dow Chemical Co Outstanding Student in Material Science and Engineering (1995)
• The 1934 Penn State Alumni Scholarship Award (1995)

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
My research lab is interested in natural product biosynthesis and biocatalysis. In the natural product area, we are interested in elucidating biosynthetic pathways of polyketides, non-ribosomal peptides and related compounds. Our goal is to understand the biochemical and structural basis of different enzymes encoded in these pathways. In particular, we are studying the biosynthesis of aromatic polyketides from Streptomyces and iteratively biosynthesized compounds from filamentous fungi. By accumulating biosynthetic knowledge and enzymatic tools, we aim towards the engineered biosynthesis of unnatural natural products through combinatorial biosynthesis.

In the biocatalysis area, we build upon our knowledge from the fundamental studies and aim to discover and engineer enzymes that can be used in the synthesis and semisynthesis of pharmaceutical compounds. We have demonstrated the potential of this approach in establishing a biocatalytic approach for making the blockbuster drug simvastatin.

My lab has also recently become interested in research at the interface of nanotechnology, biomaterials and drug delivery. In particular, we are conducting research towards the efficient delivery of various biological molecules to cells and model animals for applications in cancer therapy, imaging, vaccination and reprogramming. These nascent efforts are performed in collaboration with various labs.

HOME PAGE
http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~yitang/members.htm