Liu Yang, PhD

After receiving a B.S. degree in China, I came to U.S. and studied population genetics of the pinyon pine beetle Ips confusus as my Master thesis in the Department of Entomology and a joint program EEBB (Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior) at Michigan State University. While I was in Michigan, I started to develop interests in vector biology and so I pursued my Ph.D. in the Entomology Department at The Ohio State University, studying molecular renal physiology and urban ecology of mosquito Culex pipiens.

Here at the Aksoy Lab, I mainly study the functions of tsetse microRNA during the trypanosome infections using a paratransgenic system, along with other aspects of the interactions between tsetse fly and trypanosomes.