Dr. Sun Yang

Assistant Professor

School of Pharmacy

Expertise: Melanoma; Signal Transduction; Novel Drug Development; Oncology; Pediatric Clinical Research

Office Location: Rinker Health Science Campus 297Y

Phone: 714-516-5418

Email: syang@chapman.edu

Scholarly Works:: Digital Commons

Education:: Shandong University, Bachelor of Pharmacy
Shandong University, Master of Science

Biography

Dr. Yang received her Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from Shandong Medical University School of Pharmacy in 1995, from where she went on to receive her Master of Medicine degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1998. These initial experiences spurred her interest in bench-to-bedside translational studies. Upon graduation as an honor student, she continued to study molecular pharmacology in the graduate school of Peking Union Medical College, where she received her Ph.D degree in Pharmacology in 2001. Right after graduation, she joined University of California Irvine (UCI) Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center after receiving a Fellowship Award, where she gained a deep and comprehensive knowledge of cancer biology, molecular biochemistry, and redox regulation, and have been extensively involved in chemoprevention and chemotherapy translations studies. She completed a general practice pharmacy residency as well as an additional 1-year specialty practice residency in Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) with a research emphasis in Pediatric Oncology. Prior to joining CUSP, Dr. Yang was also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at UCI for more than 4 years.

Dr. Yang is an author of 17 peer-reviewed publications (7 first author papers and 1 corresponding author paper) with 1 US patent. Her recent study on APE/Ref-1 has been funded with a Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award (K08) by the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Research Interests

The aberrant pathways in cancer cells may be utilized for developing targeted therapeutics. Dr. Yang’s research is focused on identifying effective novel targets and approaches for melanoma therapy and prevention, especially through the extensive mechanistic studies of abnormal reducing-oxidative (redox)-regulated signal pathways in melanoma compared to normal melanocytes. Her current ongoing projects include developing small molecules targeting APE/Ref-1- and nNOS-mediated signal pathways and the lead compounds exhibited promising anti-melanoma activities both in vitro and in vivo.

In addition, Dr. Yang’s group is also interested in translational research in pediatric pharmacology focusing on the mechanisms of drug action, clinical response, and medication safety in children at various development stages.

Recent Creative, Scholarly Work and Publications: Michael Phan, Luma Munjy, Nicole Benipayo, Jeff Goad, Sun Yang. New vaccines in the pipeline 2019. Pharmacy Times. August 2019 (Cover story); Darwish S, Sadeghiani N, Fong S, Mozaffari S, Hamidi P, Withana T, Yang S, Tiwari R, Parang K. Synthesis and antiproliferative activities of doxorubicin thiol conjugates and doxorubicin-SS-cyclic peptide. Eur J Med Chem. 2019 Jan 1;161:594-606.; Tomaszewski DM, Arbuckle C, Yang S, Linstead E. Trends in Opioid Use in Pediatric Patients in US Emergency Departments From 2006 to 2015. JAMA Netw Open. 2018 Dec 7;1(8):e186161.; U.S. Provisional patent: 62/775,534 (12/05/2018): Richard B. Silverman, and Sun Yang. Use of neuronal nitric oxide synthase inhibitors for immunotherapy in melanoma patients.; Fong S, Shevtsev S, Yang S. The role of neuronal nitric oxide synthase ((nNOS) in interferon-gamma-induced melanoma progression. Pigment Cell Melanoma Res. 2017;30:e110-111.; Phan M, Huynh T, Haroutunyan A, Shin E, Corcoran A, Patel P, Yang S, Wong SF. Oral chemotherapy drugs require safe handling, disposal. California Board of Pharmacy. The Script. 2017 October 17:14-15.; Yang, S., Lam, J., Sims, N., Lyren, A., Broselow J., and Jordan., R. Actionable Patient Safety Solution (APSS) #3D: Pediatric Adverse Drug Events. February, 2017.; Specific nNOS inhibitors for the therapy and prevention of human melanoma. Patent: US9090589B2; Huang H, Li H, Yang S, Martasek P, Roman LJ, Meyskens FL, Poulos TL, and Silverman RB. Potent, selective, and in vivo active double-headed Thiophene-2-carboximidamide inhibitors of neuronal nitric oxide synthase. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2014 Feb 13; 57(3): 686-700.; Yang Z, Yang S, Misner B, Liu F, and Meyskens FL. Role of APE/Ref-1 in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Progression. International Journal of Oncology. 2014 Nov; 45 (5): 1820-8.; Frank L. Meyskens, Richard B. Silverman, Sun Yang, et al. Inhibitors of nitric oxide synthase for treatment of melanoma.; Yang, Z, Misner B, Ji H, Poulos TL, Silverman RB, Meyskens FL, Yang S (as corresponding author). Targeting nitric oxide signaling with nNOS inhibitors as a novel strategy for the therapy and prevention of human melanoma. Antioxidants & Redox Signaling. 2013 Aug 10; 19(5):433-47.

Dr. Sun Yang

Biography

Research Interests

Recent Creative, Scholarly Work and Publications

Faculty Directories by School or College