Academic Affiliation
Associate Professor, School of Life Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Credentials
MD, Beijing Medical University
PhD, University of Iowa
Bio
Yung Chang, MD, PhD, pursues understanding the mechanisms in V(D)J recombination joining process as principal investigator at the Biodesign Institute Center for Glycoscience and Technology at Arizona State University.
Developing lymphocytes have the unique ability to generate a vast diversity of antigen receptor molecules, immunoglobulins and T-cell receptors. The assembly of these receptor genes is achieved through site-specific recombination events from separately encoded gene segments, variable (V), diversity (D) and joining (J) regions, known as V(D)J recombination.
This process consists of two distinct steps: a site-specific cleavage to generate double-strand DNA breaks and a ubiquitous joining of these breaks. Defects in this recombination process could lead to immune deficiency and possible lymphoid malignancy.
Prior to ASU, Dr. Chang was a postdoctoral associate at the Institute for Cancer Research at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia and a postdoctoral fellow in biochemistry at Boston University.
Dr. Chang earned an MD from Beijing Medical University in 1983 and a PhD in immunology from the University of Iowa in Iowa City in 1988.