Background
Yang is a senior lecturer of Healthcare Engineering, also an academic member of Interdisciplinary Centre of Biological Engineering, and a fellow of The Higher Education Academy (Recognition Reference 48639). She joined the school as a postdoc researcher 2004-2008, following her PhD training, and then a lecturer and Research Council UK fellow 2008-2012. Before starting her research training and academic career in UK, she was a pharmacist in a hospital in China.
Qualifications
- PhD in Dentistry from Dental School, University of Birmingham
- MPhil in Drug Delivery and Biochemistry from Aston University
- Bachelor of Pharmacy from China
Research interests
Yang's expertise is in the fields of biomaterials, engineering design and manufacturing of medical devices, drug delivery, bioengineering/tissue engineering, cell and tissue mechanics, and mechanobiology.
Her current research interests mainly focus on:
- Advanced biomaterials, including degradable metal and polymers
- 3D printing of tissue scaffolds
- Engineering design and material functionalisation to improve biocompatibility of implantable devices and to reduce foreign body response
- Mechanistic investigation of biological response to mechanical signals corresponding to force and stress from exercise, sports injury, and degenerative diseases
- Bioengineered models and computational/numerical simulation of tissue and medical device interaction
She has supervised/co-supervised 15 PhD students across research groups and departments, which are mainly interdisciplinary research.
Grants and contracts
- The Royal Society International Joint Project (PI) “3D micro-models for high throughput drug screening and testing”, £11,215, 2010
- The EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Regenerative Medicine (co-I), 6.2million, 2010-2015
- Santander Marco-Polo Scholarship (PI), $10,000, 2011
- Funding from The EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Regenerative Medicine (PI) on project “Control of human mesenchymal stem cell differentiation to a nucleus pulposus phenotype by improving the design of physiologically relevant in vitro conditions” £189,354, 2011
- FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IRSES SkelGen (PI), £21,000 (Euro 168,000), Dec. 2012
- Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) (PI), “Heterotopic Ossification Tissue Engineering”, £132,893, 2014
- EPSRC CDT capital equipment for a Bio-AFM (PI), £120,000, 2014
- British Heart Foundation (co-I), “Towards Controlling the Mechanical Performance of Polymeric Bioresorable Vascular Scaffold during Biodegradation”, £104.437, 2015
- DMSRSG (Defence Medical Services Research Steering Group)(PI), Computational Modelling of Wounded Tissue Subject to Topical Negative Pressure, £22,488.84, 2018-2021
Current teaching responsibilities
- Module leader of WSC610, Healthcare Engineering
- Supporting of WSA602 and WSA604, Materials and Manufacturing Processes
- Academic tutor for 22WSI010, DIS Industrial Placement
- Supervision of WS50META, Individual Projects
- Supervision of CGC054, Bioengineering Individual Project
- Personal tutor for Part A and B
Current administrative responsibilities
- A member on the university GM/Biosafety committee
External activities
Yang is an editor of the journal, Bioactive Materials, and also a member of the Scientific Advisory Panel of FRAME, a charity Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments.
She is a PhD examiner for the University of Birmingham and the University of Nottingham, in addition to being a member of the EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) Peer Review College. She is also a reviewer for the MRC (Medical Research Council), BBSRC (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council), Orthopaedic Research UK, European Research Council, British Heart Foundation, Leverhulme an the Daphne Jackson Trust.
Her links with international academic institutions include: University College Dublin, Inserm Sorbonne Université, University of Milan, University of Auckland, Peking University, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, and Hunan University.
Her links with industry in medical devices and healthcare sectors include: Team Consulting, Cambridge Design Partnership, Oval Medical Technology, West Pharma, Abbot, and Blafar.
She has hosted visiting scholars from Hunan University, supplied guidance to Erasmus exchange students as well as contributing to the Nuffield foundation learning experience of A level students.