Yinjie Tang

Yinjie Tang is a Professor in the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, affiliated with the McKelvey School of Engineering. He specializes in applied environmental microbiology and bioprocess engineering, with a focus on yeast and cyanobacterial engineering, metabolic modeling, and AI-driven strain design. His work addresses CO2 capture, biomanufacturing, and plastic degradation.

Education:

• PhD, University of Washington, 2004
• MS, Tianjin University, 1999
• BS, Tianjin University, 1997

Research Interests: His research integrates microbial engineering, omics analysis, and machine learning to optimize bioprocesses. Key areas include:

• Yeast engineering for biopolymers and natural products
• Cyanobacteria for CO2 capture and nitrogen fixation
• Algal bioprocesses for biofuel production
• Microbial consortia for plastic upcycling

Awards & Grants:

• Recipient of NSF CAREER (2010) and NSF Transition (2023) awards
• DOE-funded $5M project for green fertilizer research (2023)

Teaching & Editorial Roles: Teaches courses like Process Control and Metabolic Engineering. Serves on editorial boards for journals including Microbial Cell Factories and Biotechnology for Biofuels.

Labs & Affiliations: Leads a lab in Brauer Hall (Room 1043) and is affiliated with the Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC). Collaborates with institutions like Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for space-based biomanufacturing research.