Prof. Yan Niu | Pharmaceutical Science | Research Excellence Award

Peking University | China

Prof. Yan Niu is a medicinal chemist at Peking University whose research focuses on the discovery and optimization of biologically active small molecules, with special emphasis on hydrophobic tagging–based targeted protein degradation. She has contributed significant advances in amino-acid–derived hydrophobic tags capable of inducing selective POI degradation with mechanisms and pharmacological profiles distinct from PROTACs, expanding the chemical space available for next-generation degraders. With 47 Scopus-indexed publications, 549 citations, and an h-index of 14, her work bridges synthetic chemistry, chemical biology, and drug discovery. She has led competitive national projects, filed three patents, and collaborated internationally in Germany and Austria. Her research provides promising strategies for developing novel therapeutics and deepens mechanistic understanding of protein degradation pathways, contributing to innovation in medicinal chemistry and early-stage drug development.

Featured Publications