Graduate students Yen-Yu Yang and Alexander Malinick are being recognized with 2022 Advancing Faculty Diversity Fellowships for their combination of research excellence and commitment to supporting diversity. Both students will receive one quarter of graduate student researcher (GSR) support from the Chemistry department, helping them toward their goals of becoming future faculty members.
Yen-Yu came to UCR in 2018, after completing a B.S. degree from National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan and an M.S. degree from National Taiwan University. At UCR, he is working with Professor Yinsheng Wang to reveal the roles of small guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases) in cell fate decision. Professor Wang praises the highly interdisciplinary nature of Yen-Yu’s research and his ability to synthesize these different skills into a highly productive PhD. Yen-Yu has co-authored four papers to-date, including three as first author, and he has presented his research at several conferences. He is one of 19 young chemists across the entire UC system who have been selected to participate in the 71st Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Germany this summer, and he earned the 2021 Donald T. Sawyer Award in Analytical Chemistry from UCR. Yen-Yu has mentored younger researchers from a variety of backgrounds, including two undergraduate students from underrepresented backgrounds at UCR, an Ethiopian graduate student in Taiwan, and multiple high school students.
Alex earned his B.S. at La Verne University in 2017. At UCR, he has been working with Professor Jason Cheng to develop biosensors for detecting and monitoring diseases such as multiple sclerosis. He has already published four papers from his graduate research, is co-inventor on a provisional patent stemming from that research, and has presented his research at many conferences including the 5th International Caparica Conference on Sample Treatment in Portugal where he won the best shotgun talk award. Prof. Cheng credits Alex with pioneering the group’s research into detecting multiple sclerosis biomarkers, developing both the sensor hardware and the software algorithms for interpreting the data. Alex has mentored five undergraduate researchers, including several from the MacREU program and students from traditionally underrepresented groups. Two of those have graduated and gone on to graduate school. Alex also has a long record of leadership roles in various university organizations, including for the UCR Chemistry Graduate Student Association, the La Verne University Chemistry Club and as a STEM summer camp leader. After Alex graduates with his PhD next year, he plans to pursue a postdoctoral position en route to an eventual career in academia.