Benaroya Research Institute (BRI) has named Soo Jung Yang, PhD, as a Research Assistant Member in its Center for Translational Research.

Dr. Yang, formerly a staff scientist in the research lab of Jane Buckner, MD, will lead work on engineered Tregs – regulatory T cells, known to help protect against autoimmune disease – and exploring new research questions that stem from this work.

“We are working with GentiBio to develop engineered regulatory T cells to treat autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases,” Dr. Yang said. “In conjunction with this collaboration, I’d like to understand the biology of regulatory T cells, how they work, how they are unique from other T cells, and how we can improve their function.”

 “Soo Jung joined my lab four years ago to lead our work on developing antigen specific engineered Tregs,” said Jane Buckner, MD, President of BRI. “She has driven this project and made remarkable strides in developing and testing these cells, broadening our understanding of how Tregs function.”

Dr. Jang is from Seoul, South Korea and received her PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology from Seoul National University. She did her post-doctoral training at the University of California, Berkeley and worked briefly for the biotechnology company Genentech before joining the Buckner Lab at BRI.