Princeton University
Education
  • Ph.D.    Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
                        Advisor: Peter Andolfatto
  • B.S.       School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, CHINA
Research Experience
  • Research Assistant Princeton University, 2014 – present
          Department of Ecology and Evolutionary, Advisor: Peter Andolfatto
          Research area: adaptation; toxin resistance; firefly
  • Research Assistant University of Toronto, 2013
          Department of Molecular Genetics, Advisor: Charlie Boone
          Research area: functional genomics; yeast
  • ​Research Assistant University of Okayama, 2013
          Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Advisor: Jinglong Wu
          Research area: fMRI data analysis, Alzheimer's disease
Publications
  • Yang L, Aardema ML, Zhen Y, Ding J, Andolfatto P. The evolution of Na+,K+-ATPase in relation to predatory feeding and bufodienolides sequestration in fireflies. (in prep.)
  • Yang L, Ding J, R N, Deshmukh R, Kunte K, Picker M, Andolfatto P. Predictable evolution of Orthopteran cardenolide insensitivity. (in prep.)
  • Van Leeuwen, J. et al. Exploring genetic suppression interactions on a global scale.Science 354, (2016)
  • Yang L, Yang J, Nakamura N, Wu J. Difference of audiovisual integration between Alzheimer’s Disease Patients and Age-matched Healthy Controls: An fMRI Study. In Proceedings of 2013 International Conference on Complex Medical Engineering, May 25-28, 2013, Beijing, China, 19-24.
Presentations
  • “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
  • “The evolution of Na+,K+-ATPase in relation to predatory feeding and lucibufagins sequestration in fireflies”. Princeton Research Day, Princeton University​, 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
Teaching Experiences
  • EEB 311A Animal Behavior, Princeton University. Prof. James Gould. 2015 & 2017
  • EEB 309 Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University. Prof. Bridgett vonHoldt. 2016 & 2017
  • Biochemistry Topics Discussion, Peking University. Prof. Zengyi Chang, Prof. Wensheng Wei, 2012
Student Mentoring
  • 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
  • Session chair of Princeton Research Day, 2017
  • Judge for Hopewell Elementary Science Fair, 2017
  • Organizer of Princeton-Penn-Rutgers-Columbia conference in Evolution (PPRC), 2015, 2016, 2017