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Meet the Team

Dian Yang photo

Email: dy2491@cumc.columbia.edu

Office: 705-B, William Black Building

Phone: 

Dian Yang

Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics              

Department of Systems Biology, Columbia University

Dian completed his Ph.D. in cancer biology at Stanford University with Dr. Monte Winslow and Dr. Julien Sage. He was awarded the Denise Chan Outstanding Thesis Award for identifying the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of how small cell lung cancer adopting neuronal migration machineries to metastasize. He then did his postdoc with Dr. Jonathan Weissman at the Whitehead Institute and MIT and developed a CRISPR-based evolving lineage tracing mouse model. This new mouse model enabled him to continuously track how a tumor evolves from a single transformed cell into an aggressive tumor and spreads systemically at an unprecedented resolution. His work to date has integrated CRISPR technologies, single-cell genomics, in vivo cancer modeling and computational analysis, providing a new paradigm to study tumor evolution. Dian recently won a Damon Runyon Jake Wetchler Award and a Dale F. Frey Award for Breakthrough Scientists.

Team member illustration

YOU !

We are a collaborative and interdisciplinary team aiming to dissect the fundamental mechanisms governing cancer evolution using genetically engineered mouse models. We are actively recruiting and welcome highly motivated individuals interested in the following areas:

  • Cancer Biology: tumor evolution, cancer plasticity, therapy & resistance

  • Technology development: CRISPR, molecular recording, genome engineering

  • Single cell analysis:  computational analysis of single cell and spatial transcriptomics

  • Cancer modeling: next-gen mouse models of human cancer

  • Cancer immunology: cancer - immune cell interactions & new therapeutic targets


Please check out our Open Position page for more details!

The Yang lab welcomes scientists from all backgrounds regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic background, or other historically marginalized groups. We strive to foster an inclusive lab environment where black, brown, and underrepresented scientists will thrive in. We celebrate diversity and its power to drive the creativity needed to make innovative scientific discoveries.

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