PI, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry

Yizhi is a biochemist specializing in protein biochemistry, cellular metabolism, and NMR. He received his B.S. from the Ocean University of China and completed his Ph.D. with Dr. Klara Briknarova at the University of Montana, Missoula. He then moved to Boston, MA, where he pursued his postdoctoral research with Dr. Dorothee Kern at Brandeis University/Howard Hughs Medical Institute and later with Dr. Bruce Spiegelman at Harvard Medical School. His work focused on protein structure and dynamics as well as mitochondrial metabolism. In 2022, he was appointed Instructor of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School, and in 2025 he joined the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, as an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry. His current research interests include mitochondrial transporter function, metabolite signaling, and the biology of diabetes, obesity, and cancers.