Xiao Yang is an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
Her research aims to develop novel bioelectronics and biomaterials for brain-machine interfaces, regenerative medicine, and the study of human neural development and diseases. Bioelectronic devices are important as fundamental research tools for probing and understanding the brain with high spatiotemporal resolution, and as potential therapeutic avenues for treating brain diseases, disorders, and injuries. However, they face key challenges, such as achieving biomimicry at the molecular level, expanded multifunctionality at the microscale, and versatile programmability at the macroscale. The Yang Lab addresses these challenges by integrating bioelectronics, bioengineering, chemistry, materials science, and neuroscience.
Prior to joining Johns Hopkins University, Yang was a postdoctoral scholar at the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford University, where she worked jointly in the laboratories of Professor Sergiu P. Pașca and Professor Bianxiao Cui. She received her PhD in chemistry from Harvard University, and her BS in chemistry from Peking University. Yang drew inspiration from biological systems and art forms to design and develop a series of bio-inspired and art-inspired bioelectronics. Her studies encompass neural probes for in vivo brain-machine interface, electronic scaffolds for brain repair, and platforms for detecting human genetic diseases and tracking human neural development using human brain organoids.