Yi Tang is a Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles specializing in organic chemistry and natural product biosynthesis. His research integrates enzymology, synthetic biology, and structural techniques to investigate the chemical logic of natural product formation, with a focus on pericyclic reactions, C-H functionalization, and fungal metabolite discovery. His primary research interests include enzymatic mechanisms in natural product assembly, genome mining for novel biosynthetic pathways, and engineering of biocatalytic systems. Recent work emphasizes copper-dependent enzymes, Diels-Alderase catalysis, and structural characterization of enzyme complexes using MicroED and mass spectrometry. Analysis of his 2025 publications reveals a dominant trend in structural biology-driven discovery of enzymatic mechanisms, particularly for unactivated C-H bond functionalization and fungal natural product biosynthesis. His work spans peptide macrocyclization, glycosylation, and combinatorial synthesis of protease inhibitors, demonstrating interdisciplinary approaches across chemistry and biology. Dr. Tang actively mentors graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, recently acknowledging the contributions of Moriel, Kyle, Zuodong, and Brandon (2025). His laboratory receives support from multiple funding sources focused on natural product discovery and enzymology. The Tang Lab maintains a dynamic research environment centered on elucidating enzymatic machinery for complex molecule synthesis, with strong emphasis on translating mechanistic insights into biocatalytic applications and drug discovery pipelines.
