Yongjie Yang, PhD

I received my B.S. in 1995 from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China, and earned my Ph.D. in 2006 from the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology. Following this, I moved to Houston, Texas, where I joined Dr. Qiang Tong’s lab at the Children’s Nutrition Research Center for my postdoctoral training, focusing on the metabolic roles of sirtuins and aging. From 2012 to 2025, I worked in Dr. Yong Xu’s lab, investigating how the central nervous system regulates appetite, metabolism, and body weight. My research focuses on neurons and neural circuits, particularly the central melanocortin system and key intracellular molecules involved in maintaining energy homeostasis. In August 2025, I joined the Center for Molecular Psychiatry at the Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida.