Steven Tang, PhD

Cell–cell fusion is a universal and essential biological process that underpins fertilization, muscle regeneration, neuron development, placental development, immune defense, parasite transmission, and cancer progression. Despite its fundamental importance, the molecular principles by which cell-surface proteins drive the merger of two lipid bilayers remain poorly understood. The Tang lab aims to establish the design principles of cell–cell fusion and to exploit structural and mechanistic insights to design therapeutics targeting cellular fusogenic synapses. By bridging these critical knowledge gaps, the Tang lab brings together cell biologists, biophysicists, structural biologists, and bioengineers to expand the field of cell–cell adhesion and cell–cell fusion at the intersections of reproductive biology, immune cell biology, neuroscience, mechanistic biochemistry, and structural biology.

animal models ;  biochemistry ;  biophysics ;  deep learning ;  electron microscopy ;  pharmacology ;  proteomics ;  language models  

artificial intelligence ;  development ;  evolution ;  immunology ;  machine learning ;  physiology ;  synapses ;  neural engineering  

Steven Tang joined the Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University in 2023. His research focuses on cell-surface recognition and cell–cell membrane fusion in cellular synapses. The long-term goal of his laboratory is to establish the design principles of cell–cell fusion and to inform therapeutic strategies for regenerative medicine and infectious diseases. Before coming to Yale, Tang was a Merck Fellow of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation at Stanford University. He received his BS from Peking University and completed his PhD from Cornell University.