![](../COMMON/picview.php?hostid=5461360392IM.QvKePKbfqc) | Ya-Wun Yang Title:Professor
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Education | : | University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ph.D. | Experience | : | Harvard Medical School National Institute of Health Stanford University School of Medicine | Research Areas | : | Pharmaceutics, drug/vaccine delivery, immunopharmaceutics, cancer drug research. | Lab Focus | : | The research interests in our lab encompass a spectrum of diverse scientific disciplines, with the emphasis on drug/vaccine delivery, immunopharmaceutics, and anti-cancer drugs research.
1) Both non-viral and viral vectors were employed for studies of cell-targeted gene therapy of diabetes mellitus and cancer. Studies were carried out by genetically engineering of both pancreatic islet cells and human hepatoma cells using the recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vectors, in an attempt to obtain metabolite-modulated secretion of mature insulin and enhanced gene delivery, both in vitro and in vivo.
2) One of our interests is focused on studies of vaccine delivery systems, in an attempt to elucidate their roles in antigen processing and presentation. We implemented a series of systematic studies to better understand the delivery function elicited by the vaccine adjuvants and the underlying mechanisms. Along this line of research, strategies on both DNA- and vaccine- based cancer therapy were developed for effective delivery of antigens to the antigen presenting cells and targeted cancer therapeutics. Our recent research focus has been placed on studying the effect of vaccine adjuvant on the differentiation of hematopoitic system, including the hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow and immune cells in the myeloid and lymphoid lineages in the secondary lymphoid organs.
3) The research on the design of pharmaceutical dosage forms extends from the fundamental physicochemical principles of surface chemistry and colloid science to the development of pharmaceutical delivery systems, including the biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles-based vaccination. The self-assembly techniques have also been applied in the design of functional materials and nano-fabrication of delivery systems for an effective antigen delivery to the antigen presenting cells in the immune system.
4) We have also studied the physicochemical properties of the pharmaceutical excipients on the cell cycles, induction of apoptosis, and the anticancer activities both in vitro and in vivo, in order to have a better a better understanding of the roles of excipients played in the formulation of anticancer drugs.
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