Elsa Yan

Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Member of Yale faculty since 2007

E-mail: elsa.yan@yale.edu
Web site: http://ursula.chem.yale.edu/~yanlab/Index.html

Research We are interested in understanding biological phenomena related to biomembranes at the molecular level.  We focus on protein folding at membrane surfaces and signal transduction across biomembranes through G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Using techniques in molecular biology and chemical biology, we express and purify recombinant soluble and membrane proteins. We then apply second-order laser spectroscopy and biophysical methods to obtain thermodynamic and kinetic information to investigate structure and functions of the proteins.

Education
B.S. Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1995
Ph.D. Columbia University, 2000
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Berkeley, 2000-2004
Visiting Fellow, HHMI, Rockefeller University, New York, 2000-2004
Research Assistant Professor, Rockefeller University, New York, 2004-2007

Honors
Sir Edward Youde Memorial Scholarship, Hong Kong, 1994
First Class Honors for B.Sci., Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1995
Distinction for Ph.D., Columbia University, New York, 2000
Pegram Award for graduate research, Columbia University, New York, 2000
Petroleum Research Fund Award, American Chemical Society, 2009-2010
Starter Grant Award, Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh, 2009-2010

Recent Publications
E.C.Y. Yan, J.W. Lewis, I. Szundi, J. Epps, A. Bhagat, & D.S. Kliger. Photointermediates of the Rhodopsin S186A Mutant as a Probe of the Hydrogen Bond Network in the Chromophore Pocket and Counterion Switch. J. Phy. Chem. C. 2007, 111, 8843.

S. Ye, C. Köhrer, T. Huber, M. Kazmi, E.C.Y. Yan, P. Sachdev, A. Bhagat, U.L. RajBhandary, & T.P. Sakmar. Site-specific Incorporation of Keto Amino Acids Into Functional G Protein-Coupled Receptors Using Unnatural Amino Acid Mutagenesis. J. Biol. Chem. 2008, 283, 1525.

G. Ma, J. Liu, L. Fu, & E.C.Y Yan. A Vibrational Sum Frequency Generation Spectrometer with Broad Bandwidth Technology. Appl. Spectro. 2009, 63, 529.

J. Liu, M.Y. Liu, J.B. Nguyen, A. Bhagat, V. Mooney, & E.C.Y. Yan. Thermal Decay of Rhodopsin: Role of Hydrogen Bonds in Thermal Isomerization of 11-cis Retinal in the Binding Site and Hydrolysis of Protonated Schiff Base. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2009, 131, 8750.

L. Fu, G. Ma, E.C.Y. Yan. In Situ Protein Folding at Interfaces by Sum Frequency Generation. Submitted, 2009.

Elsa Yan

Research Interests