Hi, I'm Ming!
I’m a tenure-track Assistant Teaching Professor at UC San Diego, in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology. Before joining UCSD, I received my PhD from the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology. As a teaching-focused faculty member, my primary role (and passion) is teaching and designing undergraduate courses. I also conduct education research to characterize student reasoning and visual literacy in biochemistry, and I develop curricular materials to equip biologists with programming and quantitative skills. I love being in the classroom, and I care deeply about building a culture of joy and inclusion in my classes.
Email: ymy@ucsd.edu
News
Mar 2025
Our paper about visual representations of ATP hydrolysis was accepted to Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education. The paper is entitled "Visual representations of bond breaking and formation in biology and chemistry textbooks: the case study of ATP hydrolysis".
Jan 2025
I gave a talk at SABER West about my research collaboration with RIT's Molecular Biology Education Research Group. Our talk was entitled "Visual representations of ATP hydrolysis influence student explanations of chemical energetics and bonding".
Jan 2025
I started my first quarter teaching at UCSD! This quarter, I'm teaching BIPN 100 (Human Physiology I). You can find more about my current and future course offerings here.
May 2024
I defended my PhD thesis and graduated from MIT! My thesis was entitled "Myelination diseases of the central nervous system: Artificial Axons as in vitro models of chemomechanical cues".
May 2024
Our paper about developing a MOOC on cell therapy manufacturing was accepted to Advances in Physiology Education. The paper is entitled "Upskilling the cell therapy manufacturing workforce: design, implementation, and evaluation of a massive open online course".
July 2023
I gave a talk at the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER) Annual Meeting. My talk was entitled "Conflicting representations of bond breaking and formation in biology and chemistry textbooks: the case study of ATP hydrolysis".
July 2023
I presented a poster at the European Glial Meeting, entitled "Myelin ensheathment and drug response of oligodendrocytes is modulated by artificial axon stiffness".