Department of Physiology welcomes newest faculty member

The first thing Yun Liang wants to do at Michigan State University as a new faculty member is to make a good impression.

“My short-term goal is not to blow my lab up!,” joked Liang who officially started yesterday on Jan. 3, 2022. “But really I just want to introduce who I am and get to know everyone.”

Liang is the newest assistant professor to join MSU Department of Physiology. Six other faculty members were also hired this past August. 

Prior to MSU, Liang taught at the University of Wisconsin Madison where her studies focused on sex differences in biology and autoimmune diseases. It is a research area she says the department can benefit from. 

“As far as I know there hasn’t been someone here whose main research work is on autoimmune diseases,” Liang said. “I feel like I can add to the autoimmune research studies here and really explore my interests to help patients with these diseases.”

Liang’s research is mainly focused on the inflammatory disease lupus and its symptoms in women and children. 

“Lupus affect more females than males so fundamentally that says that women and men are really different when it comes to our immune systems,” she said. “It’s an important subject that I can relate to as a mother.”

Born and raised in Beijing, China, the classically trained pianist received her bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Tsinghua University. She then came to the United States in 2007 to do her Ph.D. program at the University of California San Diego before her postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Michigan.

Now that Liang has relocated her lab (and two research assistants) from Wisconsin onto the fifth floor of the Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building, she says she’s most excited about having the freedom to explore what she wants in science.

“It’s a great place for collaboration here,” said Liang whose husband also works at MSU as an associate professor in the College of Engineering. “There are experts here on each of the body’s organs and system, so I’m really excited about the prospective of starting new directions for research.” 

Besides conducting her research laboratory studies, Liang will also be teaching a course that she is still developing.

“I feel like I’m a person who’s excited about opportunities and new things,” she said. “I like interacting with students because they bring me new perspectives and ideas.”

And of course, leaving them with a lasting impression, too. 

“I feel it’s my responsibility to help them understand what they want for the next stage in their careers,” Liang said. “It’s my goal to bring them there. I hope to understand what they want and to help them achieve what they want.”

Liang’s office is located in room 5010 of the Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building.
A listing of her journal publications can be accessed by clicking here!

By: Tyler Lee