Dr. Yuh Nung Jan is a preeminent neuroscientist whose pioneering research has fundamentally reshaped our understanding of neural development and electrophysiological mechanisms. He currently holds the distinguished position of Jack and DeLoris Lange Professor of Molecular Physiology at the University of California, San Francisco, where he has maintained an active laboratory since joining the faculty in 1979. A native of Taiwan, Jan completed his undergraduate studies in physics at National Taiwan University in 1967 before making a transformative career shift to biology during doctoral studies at the California Institute of Technology, inspired by Nobel laureate Max Delbrück. His early research trajectory was further shaped by postdoctoral training with Seymour Benzer at Caltech and Steven Kuffler at Harvard Medical School, establishing the foundation for his groundbreaking contributions to neuroscience.
Jan's most seminal contribution was the identification of the Shaker gene as a potassium channel gene in Drosophila, a discovery made in 1975 that revolutionized the field of neurobiology. Working collaboratively with his scientific partner and wife Lily Jan, he developed innovative electrophysiological techniques to study synaptic transmission at the fruit fly neuromuscular junction, leading to their landmark discovery of abnormal neural activity in Shaker mutants. This work provided the first genetic evidence linking ion channels to neural excitability and established the molecular basis for understanding electrical signaling in the nervous system. Colleagues have noted that 'Lily and Yuh Nung broke open the field by publishing the potassium channel. It was groundbreaking work that allowed us to undertake functional studies of the channels essentially by copying their techniques,' creating methodological frameworks that enabled widespread investigation into neurological disorders.
The decades-long scientific partnership between the Jans stands as one of the most enduring and productive collaborations in modern neuroscience, yielding profound insights into neuronal development, dendrite morphogenesis, and the genetic control of neural function. Their work has been recognized with numerous prestigious accolades including the 2017 Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science and election to the National Academy of Sciences in 1996, establishing them as pioneers who bridged genetics, electrophysiology, and neurobiology. Beyond their direct research contributions, the Jans have mentored generations of neuroscientists and established experimental approaches that continue to underpin contemporary neuroscience research. Their findings remain clinically relevant today, connecting fundamental mechanisms of nervous system development to the understanding and potential treatment of human movement disorders through elucidating ion channel function.
