Bio

Dr. Yifan Gao is a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University School of Medicine in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology under Prof. Justin Sonnenburg's advisement. Prior to joining Stanford, she received her Ph.D. from UCLA focusing on Environmental Microbiology and M.S. from UC Berkeley in Environmental Engineering.

Honors & Awards

  • CAPEES-Elsevier Outstanding Graduate Student Award, CAPEES (2024)
  • CESASC Scholarship, CESASC (2024)
  • CAS Future Leader TOP 100 Winner, ACS (2024)
  • American Chemical Society (ACS) Environmental Chemistry Graduate Student Award, ACS (2024)
  • UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship, UCLA (2023-2024)

Professional Education

  • Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, Environmental Microbiology (2024)
  • M.S., University of California, Berkeley, Environmental Engineering (2019)
  • B.S., Harbin Institute of Technology, Environmental Engineering (2018)

Stanford Advisors

Contact

  • Academic
    yfgao@stanford.edu
    University - Scholar Department: Microbiology and Immunology Position: Postdoctoral Scholar

Additional Info

All Publications

  • Laccase Immobilized on Arginine-Functionalized Boron Nitride Nanosheets for Enhanced Atrazine Degradation ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Gao, Y., Xiao, M., Zou, H., Nurwono, G., Zgonc, D., Birch, Q., Nadagouda, M. N., Park, J. O., Blotevogel, J., Liu, C., Hoek, E. V., Mahendra, S. 2024

    Abstract

    Enzyme-mediated systems have been widely employed for the biotransformation of environmental contaminants. However, the catalytic performance of free enzymes is restricted by the rapid loss of their catalytic activity, stability, and reusability. In this work, we developed an enzyme immobilization platform by elaborately anchoring fungal laccase onto arginine-functionalized boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS-Arg@Lac). BNNS-Arg@Lac showcased ∼75% immobilization yield and enhanced stability against fluctuating pH values and temperatures, along with remarkable reusability across six consecutive cycles, outperforming free natural laccase (nlaccase). A model pollutant, atrazine, was selected for a proof-of-concept demonstration, given the substantial environmental and public health concerns in agriculture runoff. BNNS-Arg@Lac-catalyzed atrazine degradation rate was nearly twice that of nlaccase. Moreover, BNNS-Arg@Lac consistently demonstrated superior atrazine degradation in synthetic agricultural wastewater and various mediator systems compared to nlaccase. Comprehensive product analysis unraveled distinct degradation pathways for BNNS-Arg@Lac and nlaccase. Overall, this research provides a foundation for the future development of enzyme-nanomaterial hybrids for degrading environmental chemicals and may unlock new potential for green and efficient resource recovery and waste management strategies.

    View details for DOI 10.1021/acs.est.4c02849

    View details for Web of Science ID 001289868600001

    View details for PubMedID 39132890

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4821-795X