13 Facts About Junying Yuan

Junying Yuan is the Elizabeth D Hay Professor of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School, best known for her work in cell death.

Yuan was born in Shanghai, her maternal grandfather was the scholar and translator Li Qingya, and her paternal grandfather, Yuan Kaiji, was a famous professor of organic chemistry.

Junying Yuan's parents were both medical professors at Fudan University Shanghai Medical College, while her uncle, Yuan Chengye, was a professor and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Junying Yuan attended Fudan University following the revival of higher education after its suspension under the Cultural Revolution.

Junying Yuan was among the first wave of students to attempt the newly revived National Higher Education Entrance Examination in 1977, coming in first of all students who attempted it in Shanghai.

Junying Yuan completed her bachelor's in biochemistry in 1982, and was one of the first students admitted to doctoral study in the United States through the China-US Biochemistry Examination and Application program, coming in second out of the 25,000 who attempted the CUSBEA in its first year.

Junying Yuan identified the proteins ced-3 and ced-4 as drivers behind programmed cell death in C elegans, and subsequently identified the mammalian homologue of ced-3 known as interleukin-1 beta-converting enzyme, later called caspase-1.

Junying Yuan established an independent lab at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital in 1989, immediately upon completion of her Ph.

In 1996, Junying Yuan moved her lab to the Department of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School's Longwood campus, where she continued her investigation into cell death.

Junying Yuan's work delved further into programmed cell death and revealed a wide cohort of proteins involved in the regulation and consequences of apoptosis.

In 2005, Junying Yuan's group discovered a non-apoptotic form of programmed necrotic cell death, which they termed "necroptosis".

Junying Yuan's group conducted a chemical screen that identified a small molecule capable of inhibiting DR-driven cell death, necrostatin-1, and demonstrated necroptosis' role in ischemic neuronal injury, thereby positing a potential role for necrostatin-1 in stroke treatment.

In demonstrating a form of programmed necrosis, Junying Yuan's work revealed new avenues of treatment for an ever-increasing cohort of diseases where necroptosis is implicated.