Yuh Nung Jan

Yuh Nung Jan (; born January 11, 1947) is a Taiwanese-American neuroscientist. He is the Jack and DeLoris Lange Professor of Molecular Physiology at the University of California, San Francisco, where he works together with his wife Lily Jan as co-PIs of the Jan Lab.

Biography Jan was born in Shanghai, China, to Ten Sun Jen and Li Ju Chen from Jiangxi. His birthday is officially listed as December 20, 1946, but that is according to the Chinese calendar and corresponds to January 11, 1947, of the Western calendar. In 1949, his family escaped to Xinpu, Hsinchu, Taiwan. Jan attended a prestigious public school and excelled in a nationwide college entrance exam, placing in the top 10 out of 30,000 students.

Jan would go on to attend National Taiwan University (NTU) for his undergraduate studies where he earned his B.S. in physics in 1968. Jan fulfilled his military service as a communication and electronics officer in the Taiwanese Air Force.

As he approached graduation, Yuh Nung would come across a publication by the scientist Seymour Benzer detailing opportunities associated with correlating fly embryo morphology with functional behavior. Inspired by opportunities associated with such lines of research, Yuh Nung decided to pursue post-doctoral studies in the field. In preparation for this shift in research, he and Lily Jan spent a summer at Cold Spring Harbor learning techniques in experimental neuroscience. This would mark the start of their life-long collaboration in the experimental laboratory and later in their roles as independent investigators. Upon joining the Benzer laboratory as post-docs later that year, they would build their first experimental set-up together, an electrophysiology rig. Their early collaborative research in the Benzer group was focused on uncovering the basis for defects in synaptic transmission. A series of mutant flies, named Shaker, with uncontrolled muscle contractions proved crucial to these endeavors and set the stage for some of their most significant contributions in the field of neuroscience.

The Jans would later move to Harvard Medical School for a second postdoc with Steven Kuffler. Jan and his wife then joined the faculty at UCSF in 1979 where they are co-PIs of the Jan Lab and have won numerous awards together. Jan has been an Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator since 1984.

Awards

Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science (2017) Gruber Prize in Neuroscience (2012) Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences Edward M. Scolnick Prize in Neuroscience, McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT Ralph W. Gerard Prize, Society for Neuroscience Distinguished Alumni Award, California Institute of Technology Faculty Research Award, UCSF Outstanding Faculty Mentorship Award, Postdoctoral Scholars Association of UCSF W. Alden Spencer Award, Columbia University Jacob Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke K.S. Cole Award, Biophysical Society SCBA Presidential Award, Society of Chinese Bioscientists in America

Personal and family life In 1967, Lily Jan traveled to Shitou, Taiwan for a hiking trip to celebrate her college graduation; this trip resulted in her meeting Yuh-Nung and the beginning of their relationship. In 1971, Lily and Yuh-Nung married with a simple ceremony in a Los Angeles courthouse followed by a celebration camping and hiking in Yosemite.

The Jans have shared that before their children went to college they rarely attended scientific meetings together such that there was always one parent at home with their children.