The Yang laboratory devises novel biocatalytic and protein engineering strategies to tackle challenging problems in synthetic organic chemistry.

In the first area, using directed evolution, we are leveraging enzymatic platforms to impose precise regio- and stereocontrol over challenging catalytic reactions. Using an interdisciplinary approach combining organic chemistry, organometallic chemistry, enzymology, and protein engineering, we expand the catalytic repertoire of enzymatic machineries well beyond nature’s biochemical landscape.

In the second area, we are developing concise chemoenzymatic syntheses of stereochemically complex natural products. Combining the power of organic synthesis and enzyme catalysis, we will simplify the assembly of biologically active natural products and their analogs and evaluate their antibiotic and anticancer activities.

In the third area, we are developing machine learning (ML)-guided directed evolution to accelerate the discovery and optimization of enzymatic functions that are not previously encountered in biology.

Students in the Yang lab are trained in the areas of organic chemistry, organometallic chemistry, protein engineering and protein biochemistry, with an emphasis of organic reaction development. This training will prepare our students for a career in academia, pharmaceutical industry, as well as biotech companies.