Education
  • Ph.D.     Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, 2014 - present
                          (visiting) Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, 2019 - present
  • B.S.       School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China, 2010 - 2014
Publications
  • Taverner A., Yang L., Barile Z., Lin B., Peng J., Pinharanda A., Rao A., Roland B., Talsma A., Wei D., Petschenka G., Palladino M. and Andolfatto P. 2019. Adaptive substitutions underlying cardiac glycoside insensitivity in insects exhibit epistasis in vivo. eLife. 8. doi: 10.7554/eLife.4822
             Media coverage: Scinece, Scientific American, Knowable Magazine
  • Yang L, Ravikanthachari N, Marino-Perez R, Deshmukh R, Wu M*, Rosenstein A*, Kunte K, Song H, Andolfatto P. Predictability in the evolution of Orthopteran cardenolide insensitivity. Philosophical transactions of Royal Society B. 374 (2019). (doi: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0246) (* undergraduate students)
  • Van Leeuwen J.,  Pons C.,  Mellor J.,  Yamaguchi T., Friesen H.,  Koschwanez J., Ušaj M., Pechlaner M., Takar M.,  Ušaj M., Vandersluis B., Andrusiak K., Bansal P., Baryshnikova A., Boone C., Cao J., Cote A., Gebbia M., Horecka G., Horecka I., Kuzmin E., Legro N., Liang W., Van Lieshout N., Mcnee M., San Luis B-J., Shaeri F., Shuteriqi E., Sun S., Yang L., Youn J-Y., Yuen M., Costanzo M., Gingras A-C., Aloy P., Oostenbrink C., Murray A., Graham T., Myers C., Andrews B., Roth F., Boone C. 2016. Exploring genetic suppression interactions on a global scale. Science 354, 354, 6312. doi: 10.1126/science.aag0839
    Recommended by F1000.
    Media coverage: Lab Manager, Tech Times, DMLinx, Gen, APA, Bionity, The Scientist Magazine, Health Medicinet, MedicalXpress, Science Daily, EurekAlert! 
  • Yang L., Yang J., Nakamura N., Wu J., Ohno S., Kurata T., Abe K., Kanazawa S. 2013. Difference of audiovisual integration between Alzheimer’s Disease Patients and Age-matched Healthy Controls: An fMRI Study. Proceedings of 2013 International Conference on Complex Medical Engineering, Beijing, China, 19-24. doi: 10.1109/ICCME.2013.6548204
Presentations
  • “Evolution of toxin resistance in frogs: neo-functionalization of duplicated genes in the presence of gene conversion”, 3rd Evolution in Philadelphia Conference, Philadelphia, 2019
  • "Predictable evolution of Orthopteran cardenolide resistance" Evolution, Montpellier, France, 2018
  • (Invited talk) "Predictable evolution of toxin resistance in insects and vertebrates". University of Gissen, Germany, 2017
  • “Potential mechanisms of toxin insensitivity in firefly femme fatale". Princeton-Penn-Rutgers-Columbia conference in evolution (PPRC), Columbia University, New York, NY, 2017
  • “The evolution of Na+,K+-ATPase in relation to predatory feeding and lucibufagins sequestration in fireflies”. International Firefly Symposium, Taipei City, Taiwan, 2017
  • “An fMRI Study of audiovisual integration issues in Alzheimer’s Disease”. ICME International Conference on Complex Medical Engineering, Beijing, China, 2013
Posters
  • “Adaptive substitutions underlying cardiac glycoside insensitivity in insects exhibit epistasis in vivo”, Biological Sciences Departmental Retreat, Columbia University, 2019
  • “Adaptive substitutions underlying cardiac glycoside insensitivity in insects exhibit epistasis in vivo”, Evolution in Philadelphia Conference, Philadelphia, 2019
  • “The evolution of Na+,K+-ATPase in relation to predatory feeding and lucibufagins sequestration in fireflies”. SMBE, Austin, TX, 2017
  • “Predictable evolution of Orthopteran cardenolide insensitivity”. Evolution in Philadelphia Conference, University of Pennsylvania, 2017
  • ​“Construction of Yeast Strains to be Screened for Bypass Suppressors of Essential Genes”. Research Oriented Elite Program Symposium, Beijing, China, 2013
Awards
  • Poster Award, Biological Sciences Departmental Retreat, Columbia University ($150)
  • Professional Development Travel Funds ($500), Princeton University, 2019
  • Scholarly Interdisciplinary Symposia, Seminars, and Workshops ($2000), Princeton University, 2019​
  • Travel awards ($500), the American Society of Naturalists, 2018
  • Professional Development Travel Funds ($500), Princeton University, 2018
  • Travel award ($1000), International Firefly Symposium, 2017
  • First Year Seed Grant ($2500), EEB, Princeton University, 2015
  • Scholarship of Research-Oriented Elite Program (CNY10000), Peking University, 2013
  • “Best Wiki” prize, International Genetically Engineering Machine Competition, MIT, 2012
  • Award for academic excellence, Peking University, 2011, 2012
  • Scholarship for honored freshmen (CNY5000), Peking University, 2010
Undergraduate Research Experiences 
  • Research Assistant Peking University, 2014
          "The role of microRNA in stabilizing the circadian rhythm of D. melanogaster". Advisor: Jian Lu
  • Research Assistant University of Toronto, 2013
          "Genetic interaction network in yeast". Advisor: Charlie Boone
  • ​Research Assistant University of Okayama, 2013
          "fMRI analysis of early Alzheimer’s disease patients". Advisor: Jinglong Wu
  • ​Research Assistant Tsinghua University, 2012
          "Enhancement of learning and memory by elevating brain magnesium". Advisor: Guosong Liu
Skills
  • Wet 
         Molecular techniques: DNA/ RNA extraction, PCR, qPCR, plasmid cloning, etc.
         Next-generation sequencing library preparation: RNA-seq libraries, Tn5 libraries, etc.
         Gene editing techniques: crispr-cas9 design, injection, screening, etc.
         Biochemical assays: HPLC, protein assays, etc.
         Behavioral assays: fear conditioning assay, Bang sensitivity assay, feeding assays, etc.
         Experiences with model organisms including flies, rats, and yeast
         Field collection and dissection of insects, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals
  • Dry  
         RNA-seq data analyses: de novo assembly, gene discovery, differential expression analysis, etc.
         De novo 10x genome assembly, single-molecular sequencing data analyses, etc.
         Evolutionary analyses, phylogenetic analyses
         Protein structural modeling
         R, python, Photoshop
Teaching Experiences
  • EEB 309 Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University. Prof. Bridgett vonHoldt. 2016 & 2017
  • EEB 311A Animal Behavior, Princeton University. Prof. James Gould. 2015 & 2017​
  • Biochemistry Topics Discussion, Peking University. Prof. Zengyi Chang, Prof. Wensheng Wei, 2012
Undergraduate mentees
  • Karen Zhang, Sophomore at Princeton University, “Parallel evolution of cardenolide resistance in amphibians and reptiles”, 2017
  • Marian Wu, Senior at EEB, Princeton University, Honors Thesis Research, “Adaptive gene expression regulation in milkweed bugs”, 2016-2017
  • Regina Visconti, Freshman at Tampa University, Princeton Biophysics REU program, “The chemistry of cardenolides and bufodenolides sequestered by plants and animals”, 2016
  • Adam Rosenstein, Senior at EEB, Princeton University, Senior Thesis Research, “Parallel evolution of cardenolide resistance across insect orders”, 2015-2016​
Outreach
  • Organizer of the Mid-Atlantic student conference in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton, 2019
  • Organizer of the student conference of Princeton-Penn-Rutgers-Columbia in Evolution, 2015-2018
  • Session chair of Princeton Research Day, 2017
  • Judge for Hopewell Elementary Science Fair, 2017