Guo-liang Yu

Biography

 Dr. Yu co-founded Epitomics Inc., an antibody based Biotechnology Company recently acquired by Abcam for $170M. He served as Chairman, President, and CEO of Epitomics Inc. for 10 years. Dr. Yu's success is driven by his scientific curiosity and a passion for translating scientific discovery to real products. His challenge is to balance his time between science and business, fun and work, family and community. He moved from China to the US to pursue advanced training after graduating from Fudan University in 1984. He obtained his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley where he contributed to the discovery of telomerase and its mechanism of action in Dr. Blackburn's lab. Drs. Blackburn and Greider received the Nobel Prize in 2009 for their discovery. After graduating, Dr. Yu joined Dr. Ausubel's lab at Harvard to pursue the question of how plants defend themselves against pathogens without an immune system. He identified the first plant disease resistance gene. In 1993, Dr. Yu became one of the first Senior Scientists to join Human Genome Sciences Inc., when genomics was still in its infancy, to identify human genes for drug discovery. Among several important drug targets he studied, he successfully identified BLyS as the first genomic target for the development of a lupus antibody (Benlysta®, which was approved by the FDA in 2010). In 1998, Dr. Yu was attracted by the idea of identifying plant genes with an economic value in agriculture and in bio-energy. He became SVP of R&D at Mendel Biotechnology, Inc. where his team analyzed the function of a complete set of plant transcription factors. Several valuable traits such as enhanced crop yield, disease resistance, and drought tolerance were identified. It is expected that some of these technologies will be commercialized. Guo-Liang has co-authored 40 peer-reviewed scientific articles which have been referenced by the scientific community more than 6000 times. Guo-Liang is also a co-inventor of more than 200 patents. Guo-Liang is the founding president of the Chinese Biopharmaceutical Association and serves on the boards of several professional organizations including BayHelix, CABS, the National Foundation of Cancer Research, the Ray Wu Memorial Foundation, and the University of the Pacific in the US and China. Dr. Yu is generous in coaching young entrepreneurs and also serves on the board of directors for six start-up companies.

Research Interest

 Guo-Liang has co-authored 40 peer-reviewed scientific articles which have been referenced by the scientific community more than 6000 times. Guo-Liang is also a co-inventor of more than 200 patents. Guo-Liang is the founding president of the Chinese Biopharmaceutical Association and serves on the boards of several professional organizations including BayHelix, CABS, the National Foundation of Cancer Research, the Ray Wu Memorial Foundation, and the University of the Pacific in the US and China. Dr. Yu is generous in coaching young entrepreneurs and also serves on the board of directors for six start-up companies.