portrait of a woman

E. Chui-Ying Yan

Professor of Chemistry

Member of Yale faculty since 2007.

Research Interests

Contact Info

elsa.yan@yale.edu

Robin Damato
robin.damato@yale.edu

KCL 116
 

Yan Lab Website

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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, 2009-2011
  • 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 Excellent 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

Y. Guo, S. Sekharan, J. Liu, V.S. Batista, J.C. Tully, & E.C.Y. Yan. Role of Unusual Temperature-Dependent Kinetics of Thermal Reactions of Rhodopsin in Vertebrate Dim-Light Vision. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2014, 108, 26111.

E.C.Y. Yan, L. Fu, Z. Wang, & W. Liu. Biological Macromolecules at Interfaces Probed by Chiral Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy. Chem. Rev. 2014, 114, 8471.

M.Y. Liu, J. Liu, D. Mehrotra, E.C.Y. Yan. Thermal Stability of Rhodopsin and Progression of Retinitis Pigmentosa: A Comparison of S186W and D190N Rhodopsin Mutants. J. Biol. Chem. 2013, 288, 17698.

L. Fu, D.Q. Xiao, Z. Wang, V.S. Batista, E.C.Y. Yan. Chiral Sum Frequency Generation for In Situ Probing Proton Exchange in Antiparallel b-Sheet Peptides at Interfaces. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 3592.

N. Mitra, Y. Liu, J. Liu, E. Serebryany, V. Mooney, B.T. DeVree, R. Sunahara, E.C.Y. Yan. Calcium-Dependent Ligand Binding and G-protein Signaling of Family B GPCR Parathyroid Hormone 1 Receptor Purified in Nanodiscs. ACS Chem. Biol. 2013, 8, 617.

Professor Yan and Lab in the News