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Lab Members


Principal Investigator
Yiwu Yan, PhD
Project Scientist

Yiwu Yan, PhD, received his doctorate degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China in 2015. During his predoctoral training, his research projects were mainly focused on the molecular mechanisms and therapy of acute lung injury. After obtaining his doctorate, Yan joined the Yang Laboratory for his postdoctoral training. Yan’s current research interest is in developing and applying leading-edge proteomics technologies to identify clinically actionable protein targets for more effective treatment of lethal prostate cancer. Specifically, his research projects include: applying various proteomics methods, such as label-free proteomics, phosphoproteomics and interactome profiling to characterize the functions and underlying molecular mechanisms of receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 2 in prostate cancer metastasis; and studying the roles and substrates of ubiquitin protein ligase E3 component N-recognin 5 in DNA damage response. Yan is a recipient of the highly prestigious DoD Prostate Cancer Research Program Early Investigator Research Award (2018-2020)

Yang "Oliver" Wang, PhD
Postdoctoral Scientist

Yang “Oliver” Wang, PhD, received his bachelor’s degree in biotechnology from Nanjing Medical University in China. He obtained his master of science in biomedical and molecular sciences research from King’s College London in the U.K., and doctorate in chemistry from Osaka University in Japan. Wang completed his dissertation work developing a non-probability-based protein identification method by the observation of C-terminally truncated b-type metastable ions in matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectra under the supervision of Toshifumi Takao, PhD. Wang received his postdoctoral training in cancer biology at City of Hope National Medical Center in Southern California. In March 2018, he joined the Yang Laboratory to conduct research in the field of cancer proteomics. Wang’s research focuses on the proteome-scale analysis of palmitoylation at the site-specific resolution, as well as mapping the substrates of an oncogenic palmitoyl acyltransferase DHHC11 in prostate cancer cells and investigating its functions in prostate cancer progression.

Alex Vasquez
Research Associate II

Alex Vasquez received his bachelor’s degree from California State University, San Bernardino in 2019 and joined the Yang Laboratory in January 2020. Vasquez carries out experiments such as proteomics sample preparation and western blotting, and actively participates in the RIPK2 and palmitoylation projects.

Contact the Yang Lab

8700 Beverly Blvd.
Davis Building, Room 5094B
Los Angeles, CA 90048