Yang Shi's career began at Harvard Medical School where he last held the inaugural CH Waddington Professorship of Pediatrics before joining Oxford in 2020. He is currently a member of Ludwig Cancer Research and Oxford University Professor of Epigenetics. His honors include American Cancer Society Professorship, election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, AACR Academy, EMBO, US National Academy of Medicine and UK Academy of Medical Sciences.
Shi's research has provided fundamental insights into mechanisms that regulate chromatin/epigenetics and gene expression. Among his many accomplishments, Shi is widely known for his groundbreaking discovery of the first histone demethylase, LSD1, which overturned the long-held dogma that histone methylation was static/irreversible. This discovery provided impetus/instruction for finding the second histone demethylase family, for which Shi was also a key independent contributor. His work shedded important lights on molecular/atomic level mechanisms and biological functions of demethylases, and linked histone methylation dynamics to human intellectual disability/cancer. Collectively, his research has not only provided textbook principles of chromatin/epigenetic regulation, revolutionizing the chromatin field, but also yielded far-reaching medical impacts.
Professional position
- Professor of Epigenetics and Member, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Oxford
Subject groups
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Molecules of Life
Biochemistry and molecular biology
