Nieng Yan

Nieng Yan or Yan Ning (simplified Chinese: 颜宁; traditional Chinese: 顏寧; pinyin: Yán Níng; born November 1977) is a structural biologist and the Shirley M. Tilghman Professor of Molecular Biology at Princeton University. Her laboratory currently studies the structural and chemical basis for membrane transport and lipid metabolism.

The native form of this personal name is Yan Ning. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Nieng Yan
BornNovember 21, 1977
Zhangqiu, Jinan, Shandong, China
NationalityChinese
Alma materTsinghua University (B.S.)
Princeton University (Ph.D.)
Scientific career
FieldsMembrane protein
InstitutionsPrinceton University
Doctoral advisorShi Yigong
Websitehttps://molbio.princeton.edu/people/nieng-yan

Career

Yan was born 1977 in Zhangqiu, Jinan, Shandong.[1] She received her B.S. degree from the Department of Biological Sciences & Biotechnology, Tsinghua University, in 2000. She then studied molecular biology at Princeton University, under the supervision of Shi Yigong, and received her Ph.D. degree in 2004. Her doctoral dissertation was titled "Biochemical and structural dissection of the regulation of apoptotic pathways in Drosophila and C. elegans."[2] She 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.[3]

In 2007, she returned to Tsinghua University with an invitation by Zhao Nanming, director of the Department of Biology at the time. At the age of 30, she became the youngest professor and Ph.D. advisor in Tsinghua.[4] Her research focused on the structure and mechanism of membrane transport proteins,[5] exemplified by the glucose transporter GLUT1 and voltage-gated sodium and calcium channels.[6]

In 2017, Yan decided to leave Tsinghua and join Princeton University. The move gained widespread attention in China and led to a national discussion both within the science community and the general public.[7] 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.[8] However, Yan dismissed this claim later, and stated "changing one's environment can bring new pressure and inspiration for academic breakthroughs".[9]

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 US National Academy of Sciences in April 2019.[10][11]

Honors and awards

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2012
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Early Career Scientist, HHMI[15]
  • Award for “Women in Science” of China[15]
  • CC Tan Award for Innovation in Life Sciences, China[15]

2011
  • National Outstanding Young Scientist Award, China[15]

2006
  • Young Scientist Award (North America Regional Winner), AAAS/Science and GE

References
  1. “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 Chinese).
  2. Yan, Nieng (2005). Biochemical and structural dissection of the regulation of apoptotic pathways in Drosophila and C. elegans.
  3. "Yan Nieng: The Shining Star of Biophysics". Women of China. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  4. Zhu, Mengqi (14 November 2016). "Yan Nieng: Young Pioneer Who 'Enjoys the Purity and Eternity' of Science". Women of China. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  5. "Ning Yan". Tsinghua University. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  6. Hayden, Erika Check (2016). "Science stars of China". Nature. 534 (7608): 456–461. Bibcode:2016Natur.534..456.. doi:10.1038/534456a. PMID 27337325. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. Shan, Jie (16 May 2017). "Top researcher sparks debate by moving from Tsinghua to Princeton". Global Times. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  10. "2019 NAS Election". National Academy of Sciences. April 30, 2019.
  11. "Historic number of women elected to National Academy of Sciences". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  12. "2019 NAS Election". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  13. "Dr. Nieng Yan | Women In Science". www.weizmann.ac.il. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  14. Nagley, Phillip. "Winner of FAOBMB Award for Research Excellence 2018 | FAOBMB – Federation of Asian and Oceanian Biochemists and Molecular Biologists Inc". Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  15. "Nieng Yan | Princeton University Department of Chemistry". chemistry.princeton.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  16. "Announcing the winners of the 2015 Protein Society Awards". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  17. "Tsinghua University News". news.tsinghua.edu.cn. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  18. "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 2020-03-07.
  19. "【科技日报】群星璀璨 亮点纷呈". www.cas.cn. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
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