E. Chui-Ying Yan

Research

We develop experimental and computational approaches for chiral-selective vibrational sum frequency generation spectroscopy (chiral SFG) to probe biological functions at aqueous interfaces. We generate chiral SFG spectra of biopolymers (DNA, RNA, and proteins) as benchmarks for validating computational tools that can reveal fundamental mechanisms of the folding and hydration of these biopolymers at aqueous interfaces. We are expanding the applications to solve both fundamental and engineering problems. For example, we probe DNA-drug binding modes by detecting the displacement of water from DNA’s first hydration shell, examine how protein denaturants perturb the structures of the first hydration shell, and help pharmaceutical industries in developing strategies for stabilizing therapeutic proteins at aqueous interfaces during manufacturing and storage.

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, 2009-2011
• Starter Grant Award, Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh, 2009-2010
• NSF CAREER Award, National Science Foundation, 2010-2015
• Tour speaker, Society of Applied Spectroscopy, 2011
• The Greer Memorial Prize for Achievement in Research in Nature Sciences, Yale University, 2011
• Early Excellence in Physical Organic Chemistry, Journal of Physical Organic Chemistry, 2012
• Elected Vice Chair, Gordon Research Conference: Vibrational Spectroscopy, 2014
• Elected Chair, Gordon Research Conference: Vibrational Spectroscopy, 2016

Recent Publications

See Google Scholar page.