CURRICULUM VITAE

Jun Yang, Ph.D.

Instructor in Ophthalmology

The Berman-Gund Laboratory for the Study of Retinal Degenerations

Harvard Medical School

Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary

Boston, MA 02114

 

 

Education:

 

1989    B.S.     Biomedical Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, P. R. China                                   2001    Ph.D.   Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst       

 

Professional Experience:

 

1989-1992           Biochemist Beijing Industrial Institute of Fermentation, P.R.China Research on the production of Alkaline Protease using Bacillus licheniformis.

 

1992-1996           Biochemist Beijing Pacific Pharmaceuticals, P.R. China Research on the fermentation conditions for fructose 1, 6-diphosphate production and the establishment of various assays for its quality control.

 

1996-2001           Research Assistant Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, University of Massachusetts at Amherst. (Mentor: Dr. R. Thomas Zoeller) Research on the effects of maternal thyroid hormone and prenatal alcohol exposure on gene expression during rat brain development.

 

2001-2006       Research Fellow The Berman-Gund Laboratory for the Study of Retinal Degenerations, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. (Mentor: Dr. Tiansen Li) Research on the structure and physiology of the photoreceptor cells.

 

2006-Present   Instructor The Berman-Gund Laboratory for the Study of Retinal Degenerations, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Research on the structural proteins in the photoreceptors and their involvement in retinal degeneration

 

Awards and Honors:

 

1986-1989           Scholarships for Outstanding Students, Nankai University 1990                           Outstanding Researcher, Beijing Industrial Institute of Fermentation 1997, 2000      Travel Grants, Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

 

 

Membership in Professional Societies:

 

The American Society for Cell Biology Society for Neuroscience The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Harvard Center for Neurodegeneration and Repair

 

Grant Support:

 

2003-2004       Analysis of the interaction between rootletin and kinesin light chain 3. Knights Templar Eye Foundation Research Grant 2007-2008       Organization and function of the whirlin supramolecular complex in photoreceptors. Fight for Sight Grant-in-Aid            

 

Teaching Experience:

 

1996-1997           Teaching Assistant, University of Massachusetts at Amherst Elementary Biochemistry Laboratory (Biochem 421) Biochemistry Laboratory (Biochem 526)

 

Departmental Service:

 

1999    The Foreign Student Assistant on the Admissions Committee of Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

 

Oral Presentations:

 

2000    “Does Alcohol Cause Brain Damage By Changing Gene Expression in the Developing Brain? ” presented in Molecular and Cellular Biology Program Seminar Series, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA.

 

2004    “Structure and Function of the Ciliary Rootlet” presented in the Department of Ophthalmology Seminar Series, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.

 

 

2005       “Rootletin, an important protein in both ciliated and non-ciliated cells” presented in Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware.

 

2005    “Rootletin, an important protein in both ciliated and non-ciliated cells” presented in Department of Biology, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont.

 

2005    “Rootletin, an important protein in both ciliated and non-ciliated cells” presented in the Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine.

 

2006       “Mpp4 is Required for Localization of Plasma Membrane Calcium ATPases and Maintenance of Calcium Homeostasis at the Photoreceptor Synaptic Terminals.” Presented in the Department of Ophthalmology Seminar Series, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.

 

2006    “Mpp4 is Required for Localization of Plasma Membrane Calcium ATPases and Maintenance of Calcium Homeostasis at the Photoreceptor Synaptic Terminals.” Presented in the School of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley, California.

 

2007       “Mechanistic studies on retinal degeneration using mouse models” presented in Department of Ophthalmology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.

 

2007    “Mechanistic studies on retinal degeneration using mouse models” presented in Department of Ophthalmology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.

 

2008    “Mechanistic studies on retinal degeneration using mouse models” presented in Department of Biological Sciences at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan.

 

 

Publications:

 

1.     Yang J and Zoeller RT. 2002 Differential display identifies neuroendocrine-specific protein-A (NSP-A) as an ethanol-responsive gene in the fetal rat brain. Developmental Brain Research 138: 117-133.

 

2.     Yang J, Liu X, Yue G, Adamian M, Bulgakov O and Li T. 2002 Rootletin, a novel coiled-coil protein, is a structural component of the ciliary rootlet. Journal of Cell Biology 159: 431-440.

 

3.     Hong D, Pawlyk B, Sokolov M, Strissel KJ, Arshavsky VY, Yang J, Tulloch B, Wright AF and Li T. 2003 RPGR isoforms in photoreceptor connecting cilia and the transitional zone of motile cilia. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 44: 2413-2421.

 

4.     Liu X, Bulgakov O, Wen X, Woodruff ML, Pawlyk B, Yang J, Fain GL, Sandberg MA, Makino CL, Li T. 2004 AIPL1, the protein that is defective in Leber congenital amaurosis, is essential for the biosynthesis of retinal rod cGMP phosphodiesterase. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 101: 13903-13908.

 

5.     Yang J, Gao J, Adamian M, Wen X, Pawlyk B, Zhang L, Sanderson MJ, Zuo J, Makino CL and Li T. 2005 The ciliary rootlet maintains long-term stability of the sensory cilia. Molecular and Cellular Biology 25: 4129-4137.

 

6.     Yang J and Li T. 2005 The ciliary rootlet interacts with kinesin light chains and may provide a scaffold for kinesin-1 vesicular cargos. Experimental Cell Research 309: 379-389.

 

7.     Yang J, Adamian M and Li T. 2006 Rootletin interacts with C-Nap1 and may function as a physical linker between the pair of centrioles/basal bodies in cells. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 17: 1033-1040.

 

8.     Yang J and Li T. 2006 Rootletin. Experimental Eye Research, 83: 1-2.

 

9.     Yang J, Pawlyk B, Wen X, Adamian M, Soloviev M, Michaud N, Zhao Y, Sandberg, MA, Makino CL and Li T. 2007 Mpp4 is required for proper localization of plasma membrane calcium ATPases and maintenance of calcium homeostasis at the rod photoreceptor synaptic terminals. Human Molecular Genetics, 16: 1017-1029.

 

10.  Yang J, Liu X, Zhao Y, Adamian M, Pawlyk B, Liberman MC and Li T. Expression of whirlin and its interaction with Ush2A in the retina and the inner ear. manuscript in preparation.

 

Abstracts:

 

1.     Dowling ALS, Yang J, Leonard J and Zoeller RT. 1997 Identification of thyroid hormone regulated genes in the developing brain. Thyroid 7 (Suppl 1): S-114.

 

2.     Zoeller RT, Fletcher D, Martz G, Dowling A, Yang J, Christie S and Crofton K. 1998 Perinatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls increases circulating levels of T4, and TSH, and affects the expression of multiple genes in the brain of 200-day old rats. Thyroid 8 (Suppl 1): 65.

 

3.     Yang J, Dowling ALS, Fletcher DL and Zoeller RT. 1998 Identification of genes expressed in fetal cortex during cortical development that are affected by maternal ethanol consumption. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 22 (Suppl): p55A.

 

4.     Yang J and Zoeller RT. 2000 Limited changes in patterns of gene expression in alcohol-treated rat fetal brain revealed by differential display and cDNA array. Society for Neuroscience 30th Annual Meeting. New Orleans, LA.

 

5.     Yang J, Liu X, Adamian M, Bulgakov O and Li T. 2002 Rootletin is the structural component of the vertebrate ciliary rootlet. Molecular Biology of the Cell 13: 328A.

 

6.     Yang J and Li T. 2003 Interaction of kinesin with rootletin recruits flotillin 1 and amyloid precursor protein along rootletin fibers. Molecular Biology of the Cell 14: 426A.

 

7.     Yang J, Gao J, Adamian M, Wen X-H, Pawlyk B, Zuo J, Makino CL and Li T. 2005 The ciliary rootlet provides structural support for photoreceptor outer segments. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 46: 3974.

 

8.     Yang J, Liu X, Zhao Y, Adamian M, Pawlyk B and Li T. 2006 Subcellular localization of whirlin and its interaction with Ush2A in the photoreceptors. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 47: 2848.

 

9.     Yang J, Pawlyk B, Wen X-H, Adamian M, Zhao Y, Sandberg MA, Makino CL, Li T. 2007 Mpp4 at the photoreceptor synaptic terminals: anchoring plasma membrane calcium ATPases and modulating calcium homeostasis. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 48: 3069.

 

10.  Yang J, Liu X, Adamian M, Pawlyk BS, Sun X, McMillan DR, White PC, Liberman MC, Li T. 2008 N-terminal mutation of whirlin disrupts the Usher Syndrome II (USH2) protein complex and causes retinal and inner ear defects in mice. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 49: 4405.