Rate My Professor Shan Yan

Professor Shan Yan is Professor and Associate Chair for Research in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Shandong University, China, and Ph.D. in Developmental Biology from Fudan University, China. After completing postdoctoral training in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University, Dr. Yan joined UNC Charlotte in 2010 as tenure-track Assistant Professor, was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2016, and to Full Professor in 2019.

Dr. Yan's research interests lie in the molecular mechanisms of genome integrity and cancer etiology, including cancer biology, cell biology, molecular biology, developmental biology, and environmental health. His laboratory investigates DNA repair and DNA damage response pathways, focusing on proteins such as APE1 and APE2 in response to oxidative stress and single-strand breaks, using Xenopus egg extracts and mammalian cell lines. Notable publications include “Functional interplay between ATM/ATR-mediated DNA damage response and DNA repair pathways in oxidative stress” (Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 2014), “APE2 is required for ATR-Chk1 checkpoint activation in response to oxidative stress” (PNAS, 2013), “APE2 Zf-GRF facilitates 3′-5′ resection of DNA damage following oxidative stress” (PNAS, 2017), “Distinct regulation of ATM signaling by DNA single-strand breaks and APE1” (Nature Communications, 2024), and “APE1 assembles biomolecular condensates to promote the ATR-Chk1 DNA damage response in nucleolus” (Nucleic Acids Research, 2022). Dr. Yan has earned the 2023 Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society (EMGS) Education Award, the 2022 Outstanding Data Science Faculty Research Award from UNC Charlotte School of Data Science, and the 2025 Outstanding Faculty Research Award from the Department of Biological Sciences.

Dr. Yan directs the Charlotte Biology and Biotechnology Exchange Group since 2017, co-sponsored by the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, and leads the Genome Integrity and Cancer Initiative at UNC Charlotte. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, chairs EMGS committees, and is an editorial board member for journals including Journal of Biological Chemistry and Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis. His laboratory has mentored over 40 students and produced research advancing understanding of genome stability and cancer therapeutics.