Yan Ning
颜宁
Born (1977-11-21) November 21, 1977
Zhangqiu, Shandong, China
Other namesNieng Yan
Alma materTsinghua University (BS)
Princeton University (PhD)
Awards(see Honors and awards)
Scientific career
FieldsMembrane protein
InstitutionsPrinceton University
Tsinghua University
ThesisBiochemical and structural dissection of the regulation of apoptotic pathways in Drosophila and C. elegans (2005)
Doctoral advisorShi Yigong
Websitelife.tsinghua.edu.cn/info/1033/4384.htm

Yan Ning[1][2] (颜宁; born 21 November 1977; also spelled as Nieng Yan) is a Chinese structural biologist. She has been serving as professor of life science at Tsinghua University since December 2022. She previously served as a professor at Princeton University from 2017 to 2022 and a faculty member at Tsinghua University from 2007 to 2017.

Early life and education

Yan was born in Zhangqiu District, Jinan, Shandong province, China in 1977.[3]

Yan received a Bachelor of Science from the Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology at Tsinghua University in 2000.[4] She received a Doctor of Philosophy in molecular biology from Princeton University in 2004. Her doctoral adviser was Shi Yigong.[5] She was a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University from 2004 to 2007.[4]

Yan was the regional winner of the Young Scientist Award in North America, which is co-sponsored by Science/AAAS and GE Healthcare, for her thesis on the structural and mechanistic study of programmed cell death. She continued her postdoctoral training at Princeton, focusing on the structural characterization of intramembrane proteases, until 2007.[6]

Career

In 2007, she joined Tsinghua University as a faculty member at the university's School of Medicine and Life Sciences.[4] In 2012, she was promoted as a tenured professor at Tsinghua University.[7][8] Her research focused on the structure and mechanism of membrane transport protein,[9] exemplified by the glucose transporter GLUT1 and voltage-gated sodium and calcium channels.[10]

In 2017, Yan decided to leave Tsinghua and join Princeton University as the Shirley M. Tilghman Professor of Molecular Biology. The move gained widespread attention in China and led to a national discussion both within the science community and the general public.[11] The cause was widely speculated to be the difficulty to do what she wanted to do under China's academic system, as she had criticized the China National Natural Science Foundation's reluctance to support high risk research in a series of blogs.[12] However, Yan dismissed this claim later, and stated "changing one's environment can bring new pressure and inspiration for academic breakthroughs".[13]

For her research achievements, Dr. Yan has won a number of prizes. She was an HHMI international early career scientist in 2012–2017, the recipient of the 2015 Protein Society Young Investigator Award, the 2015 Beverley & Raymond Sackler International Prize in Biophysics, the Alexander M. Cruickshank Award at the GRC on membrane transport proteins in 2016, the 2018 FAOBMB Award for Research Excellence, and the 2019 Weizmann Women & Science Award. Yan was elected a foreign associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences in April 2019.[14][15] Yan was elected a foreign associate of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in April 2021.[16]

On November 1, 2022, while speaking at the Shenzhen Global Innovation Forum of Talents, Yan announced that she would resign from her position at Princeton and return to China to become a founding dean of the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation. In December 2022, she resigned from Princeton and returned to China, where she accepted her new position.[17][18] On March 22, 2023, Yan was appointed as director of the Shenzhen Bay Laboratory.[19] Yan was elected a foreign associate of the European Molecular Biology Organization in July 2023.[20] In November 2023, Yan was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.[21]

Personal life

Yan is a close friend of Li Yinuo, who she met as student while studying at Tsinghua University.[22]

Honors and awards

Year List of Awards
2023
2021
2019
2018
  • FAOBMB Award for Excellence, Federation of National Societies of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the Asian and Oceanian Region[28]
2017
2016
2015
2014
2012
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Early Career Scientist, HHMI[29]
  • Award for “Women in Science” of China[29]
  • CC Tan Award for Innovation in Life Sciences, China[29]
2011
  • National Outstanding Young Scientist Award, China[29]
2006 Young Scientist Award (North America Regional Winner), AAAS/Science and GE

References

  1. ↑ "Returned Chinese scientist Yan Ning denies AI took her job in US". South China Morning Post. 9 December 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  2. ↑ "Candidate list for new academicians released-Tsinghua University". www.tsinghua.edu.cn. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  3. ↑ “学术女神”颜宁回乡，原是李清照同乡！30岁成清华最年轻博导 (in Simplified Chinese).
  4. 1 2 3 "颜宁 – 清华大学生命科学学院". life.tsinghua.edu.cn. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  5. ↑ "Biochemical and structural dissection of the regulation of the apoptotic pathways in Drosophila and Caenorhabditis elegans - ProQuest". www.proquest.com. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  6. ↑ "Yan Nieng: The Shining Star of Biophysics". Women of China. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  7. ↑ "Nieng Yan". Department of Molecular Biology. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  8. ↑ Zhu, Mengqi (14 November 2016). "Yan Nieng: Young Pioneer Who 'Enjoys the Purity and Eternity' of Science". Women of China. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  9. ↑ "Ning Yan". Tsinghua University. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  10. ↑ Hayden, Erika Check (2016). "Science stars of China". Nature. 534 (7608): 456–461. Bibcode:2016Natur.534..456.. doi:10.1038/534456a. PMID 27337325.
  11. ↑ Chen, Stephen (9 May 2017). "Top Chinese researcher's move to US sparks soul-searching in China". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  12. ↑ Wu, D. D. (19 May 2017). "Why Does a Top Scientist's Move to US Strike a Nerve in China?". The Diplomat. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  13. ↑ "Bye bye biologist". Retrieved 23 October 2020 – via PressReader.
  14. ↑ "2019 NAS Election". National Academy of Sciences. 30 April 2019.
  15. ↑ "Historic number of women elected to National Academy of Sciences". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  16. ↑ "New Members". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  17. ↑ "Letters: Why scientist's decision to return to China from the US is making waves online". South China Morning Post. 9 November 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  18. ↑ "Structural Biologist Nieng Yan Serves as Dean of Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation". Pandaily. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  19. ↑ "Yan Nieng was appointed as the Director of Shenzhen Bay Laboratory". Shenzhen Bay Laboratory. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  20. ↑ "顏寧當選EMBO外籍會士 此前大陸僅10位科學家獲此頭銜". Chinatimes. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  21. ↑ "2023年两院院士增选结果揭晓 133位专家当选". Tsinghua. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  22. ↑ "科学家颜宁宣布即将全职回国，李一诺帮比尔·盖茨"花钱"，这对清华姐妹花为何如此强大？". Chineseherald. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  23. ↑ "2023年两院院士增选结果揭晓 133位专家当选". Tsinghua. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  24. ↑ "顏寧當選EMBO外籍會士 此前大陸僅10位科學家獲此頭銜". Chinatimes. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  25. ↑ "New Members". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  26. ↑ "2019 NAS Election". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  27. ↑ "Dr. Nieng Yan | Women In Science". www.weizmann.ac.il. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  28. ↑ Nagley, Phillip. "Winner of FAOBMB Award for Research Excellence 2018 | FAOBMB – Federation of Asian and Oceanian Biochemists and Molecular Biologists Inc". Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Nieng Yan | Princeton University Department of Chemistry". chemistry.princeton.edu. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  30. ↑ "Announcing the winners of the 2015 Protein Society Awards". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  31. ↑ "Tsinghua University News". news.tsinghua.edu.cn. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  32. ↑ "教育部关于公布2013、2014年度长江学者特聘教授、讲座教授名单的通知_教育部门户网站_MOE.GOV.CN". old.moe.gov.cn. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  33. ↑ "【科技日报】群星璀璨 亮点纷呈". www.cas.cn. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.