Dr. Yanbin Ji received both M.D. (1981) and M.S of Biochemistry (1989) in China. During this period, he served as a physician. He then obtained his M.D (Biochemistry) in Germany under the supervision of Dr. Helmut Sies. Since that time, he has been engaged in various research projects. From 1996 to 1999, as a postdoctoral fellow his research focused on posttranslational modifications of proteins (PTM) and regulators of G-protein signaling (RGS) at Iowa State University and University of Iowa separately, in which he developed a novel assay to identify S-nitrosylated proteins with IEF gel and discovered phosphorylated form of RGS12 in vivo. He thereafter worked at Queen’s University in Canada for 11 years. At Queen’s he participated in teaching curriculum and diverse research projects. His accomplishment includes the following: 1) discovering that MGST1 was activated by either nitric oxide or peroxynitrite, which is the first example of an enzyme regulated in this way and suggests a critical role of MGST1 under conditions of oxidative/nitrosative stress; 2) establishment of gene stable transfection cell lines, MGST1, ALDH2, HO-1 and HO-2; 3) discovering that apoptosis is the underlying cause of the endothelial cell dysfunction that occurs during chronic exposure to organic nitrates, demonstrating that adverse effects of organic nitrates must be considered; 4) cloning a novel gene, porcine mtALDH2 (Gene Database DQ266356); and 5) development of three elastin-like and chondroitin sulfate-binding domain polypeptides as the novel biomaterials for tissue regeneration. In 2010, he joined the Pharmacy School at University of Southern California as a research scientist. A novel anti-cancer polypeptide he developed has been patented at USC in 2012. From 2012 to present, he has been working as a research staff in the Division of Pulmonary Medicine at Keck School of Medicine. His current work is focusing on the development and maintenance of transgenic rats/mice.
Dr. Yanbin Ji research interests are Basic and clinical studies on pulmonary medicine.