Fan Yang

Fan Yang is an Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and of Bioengineering and the Director and PI for Stem Cells and Biomaterials Engineering Laboratory at Stanford University.  

Can you tell us about your Asian American heritage?

I grew up in China and (after finishing college in Shanghai) came to the US to pursue my Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University. I do remember feeling some culture shock in my first year as I adapted to the US culture.  I appreciated the “big sib, little sib” program that Johns Hopkins BME department provided for its international students.  I was paired with another Ph.D. student one year ahead of me who was born and grew up in Hong Kong before immigrating to Canada with her family. It helped quite a bit that we shared a similar cultural heritage. 

Since my Ph.D. time, I have always been in an academic environment that is highly diverse with members from all over the world. Such a diverse and international community has given me a very unique experience. I have always felt that I am part of a larger community and not a minority. The academic environment has felt very inclusive, with each of us bringing diverse culture perspectives and different personal experiences. Also I live on campus and my neighbors are Stanford faculty from different countries like Canada, India, Finland, China etc. I feel very blessed to work and live in such a fun and diverse community, where we can learn from each other and broaden our horizons.   

At this point in time, half of my life has been in the US and half in China. While I grew up with a Chinese cultural background, I have been absorbing good “nutrients” from both Chinese and American cultures over time and integrating the better from both worlds. I think about it like this gardening analogy. All of us moving from one culture to another is like transplanting a flower from a pot to a new garden soil. Each flower has its unique DNA, but would adapt to the new garden soil. As the roots start to grow, it absorbs the nutrients from the soil, and becomes a natural part of the new garden and contributes to the diversity of the entire garden.  

What is your area of focus, and how did you gain interest in it?

My area of expertise is in developing novel biomaterials and cell-based therapeutics to regenerate human tissues that cannot be repaired on its own or discover new treatments for cancer. Our research group is particularly interested in harnessing engineering and materials tools to advance biology and medicine, with a focus on diseases related to musculoskeletal tissues including bone, cartilage, tendon, blood vessels etc. 

I was drawn into the field of tissue engineering during graduate school through my rotations in the first year. At the time, tissue engineering was at its early stage, which offers plenty of room for innovation and making impacts. I was also drawn to the translational potential of this research direction. I felt that this direction would give me a higher chance of having what I do in the lab make a difference in how people get treated in clinical practice.

Can you tell us about your involvement and/or thoughts on justice, equity, diversity and inclusion at Stanford?

I am the co-director of the Stanford Biotechnology Training Program (BTP), where I also serve in the role of diversity officer.  In this role, I ensure that the program considers diversity and inclusion from recruitment, so we can best support trainees from diverse backgrounds.

Diversity has always been something from which I have benefited from, and I believe that diversity is essential for a healthy community.  Our academic community has made great progress in increasing diversity in some aspects such as gender and ethnic diversity. While we continue to make progress in these areas, I feel another important way of thinking about enhancing diversity is encouraging our community to be more inclusive of different opinions, and learn from such differences in a respectful manner so we can all become better versions of ourselves. This is nicely summarized in a famous Chinese proverb from Confucius over 2000 years ago: “三人行 必有我師焉。择其善者而从之，其不善者而改之”。 It means: 'When I walk along with two others, there is always someone who can serve as my teacher in something. I will learn from their good qualities and follow them, and also learn from their mistakes and avoid them.”  I think a great way of promoting diversity is to foster a community where we can always be open minded and learn from each other, and where we can disagree while still being understanding and respectful of different perspectives. 

What’s one thing that people might not know about you?

I was a champion in table tennis in my college.  I love nature and photography. Hiking and photography in nature with my son are my favorite things to do during free time.

What milestones on your CV are of particular significance to you?

I feel that all steps along my career journey are important in their own ways, and it would be difficult to name any single one. That being said, coming to Stanford was certainly of particular significance to me, as transitioning from postdoc to faculty phase is probably the hardest jump to make in the academic career. There are so many factors, and it goes beyond what you can plan. I feel deeply grateful to have found a place that is a great mutual fit, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the Stanford environment and all the wonderful people I have met and worked with since I came!