Research Scientist
moritz.isbscience.org/bio/yong-chi/
Dr. Chi joined the ISB as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Ruedi Aebersold’s lab in 2002 and then Dr. Bruce Clurman’s lab in Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in 2005. He has remained as a visiting scientist in Dr. Moritz’s lab since 2008. Dr. Chi’s main research interest is how protein kinases regulate important cellular processes, such as the cell cycle, through phosphorylation of their specific targets. To expedite the discovery of kinase and substrate networks, he has developed robust methodologies to systematically identify protein kinase substrates using chemical genetics, protein chemistry, and mass spectrometry-based proteomics. Dr. Chi applied his methods to study the human cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2), a master regulator of the cell cycle transition, and discovered a large number of new targets that CDK2 potentially regulates. Using human cell line models and cell biology techniques in the Clurman lab, he is now validating several chromatin-binding proteins as a new class of CDK2 substrates. Dr. Clurman and Dr. Chi were awarded an R21 grant in 2015 to identify novel substrates of the cyclin D-CDK4/6 kinase, which is currently one of the major kinase drug targets in cancer therapy.
Proteomics
Biochemistry
Cell Biology
B.A. Molecular and Cell Biology
University of California at Berkeley
Ph.D. Biology
California Institute of Technology
