About

Yibin Kang is a Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Professor of Molecular Biology at Princeton University. His research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of breast cancer metastasis, employing a multidisciplinary and integrative approach that combines molecular biology, genomics, animal models, and advanced in vivo imaging technologies. His laboratory aims to identify metastasis genes and understand their roles in tumor-stromal interactions during metastasis formation in various organs. Key areas of investigation include the identification of clinically relevant metastasis genes through comprehensive profiling technologies, the molecular characterization of tumor stromal interactions, and the study of early oncogenic events and cellular origins that influence tumor progression and metastasis. Additionally, his work explores the regulatory roles of miRNAs and ncRNAs in tumor progression, particularly their involvement in epithelial-mesenchymal transition and metastasis. Dr. Kang's contributions have led to the discovery of new genes promoting recurrence, metastasis, and chemoresistance in breast cancer, as well as insights into tumor-stromal interactions essential for metastatic growth. His research has significant implications for developing novel therapeutics for metastatic cancer.

Research topics

• Biology
• Bioinformatics
• Cancer research
• Computer Science
• Genetics
• Sociology
• Biochemistry
• Cell biology
• Medicine
• Internal medicine
• Chemistry
• Computational biology
• Molecular biology
• Data science

Selected publications

• Ribosome biogenesis bottlenecks reveal vulnerabilities in cancer

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2026-04-21

  articleOpen access

  Summary Cell growth requires elevated protein synthesis, which depends on the production of ribosomes. Ribosome biogenesis is a complex, multi-step pathway in which newly transcribed precursor ribosomal RNA (rRNA) undergoes coordinated processing and assembly in the nucleolus to produce the small and large ribosomal subunits (SSU and LSU). 1–3 Oncogene activation stimulates rRNA transcription and processing, giving rise to enlarged nucleoli that produce thousands of ribosomes every minute. 4,5 However, efficient ribosome production requires tight coordination across numerous maturation steps, and it remains unclear if elevated rDNA transcription is proportionally converted into mature ribosomes, or whether imperfect coordination constrains the output yield. Here, we quantify pre-rRNA transcription (input) and compare it with newly-assembled cytoplasmic ribosomes (output), revealing that oncogene activation reduces the efficiency of ribosome production. Using a quantitative pulse-chase sequencing approach with mathematical modeling to resolve rRNA maturation kinetics, we found that oncogene activation creates late-stage processing bottlenecks, characterized by delayed precursor maturation and increased degradation. Perturbation of late-stage ribosome biogenesis factors preferentially impaired oncogene-driven cell growth, and limited tumor growth in mouse models, suggesting that these bottlenecks represent selective vulnerabilities in cancer, created by imbalanced biosynthetic flux. Together, these findings reveal that oncogene-driven ribosome production is imperfectly coordinated across maturation steps, and suggest that capacity limits in multi-step assembly pathways may be therapeutically exploitable in cancer and other diseases.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Table S3 from Dietary Fiber Lacks a Consistent Effect on Immune Checkpoint Blockade Efficacy Across Diverse Murine Tumor Models

  2025-09-25

  articleOpen access

  <p>Gut microbiome taxonomic classification data</p>

  PublisherDOI

• Table S12 from Dietary Fiber Lacks a Consistent Effect on Immune Checkpoint Blockade Efficacy Across Diverse Murine Tumor Models

  2025-09-25

  articleOpen access

  <p>Tumor immune profiling in the PyMT model by flow cytometry</p>

  PublisherDOI

• Table S6 from Dietary Fiber Lacks a Consistent Effect on Immune Checkpoint Blockade Efficacy Across Diverse Murine Tumor Models

  2025-09-25

  articleOpen access

  <p>Serum metabolite peak areas from the YUMM1.1-9 model</p>

  PublisherDOI

• Figure S1 from Dietary Fiber Lacks a Consistent Effect on Immune Checkpoint Blockade Efficacy Across Diverse Murine Tumor Models

  2025-09-25

  articleOpen access

  <p>Flow cytometry gating strategy</p>

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Figure S3 from Dietary Fiber Lacks a Consistent Effect on Immune Checkpoint Blockade Efficacy Across Diverse Murine Tumor Models

  2025-09-25

  articleOpen access

  <p>Extended serum and fecal metabolomic analyses in the different tumor models</p>

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Table S9 from Dietary Fiber Lacks a Consistent Effect on Immune Checkpoint Blockade Efficacy Across Diverse Murine Tumor Models

  2025-09-25

  articleOpen access

  <p>Fecal metabolite peak areas from the B16-OVA model</p>

  PublisherDOI

• Table S10 from Dietary Fiber Lacks a Consistent Effect on Immune Checkpoint Blockade Efficacy Across Diverse Murine Tumor Models

  2025-09-25

  articleOpen access

  <p>Fecal metabolite peak areas from the YUMM1.1-9 model</p>

  PublisherDOI

• Figure S4 from Dietary Fiber Lacks a Consistent Effect on Immune Checkpoint Blockade Efficacy Across Diverse Murine Tumor Models

  2025-09-25

  articleOpen access

  <p>Extended data for the MC-38 tumor model</p>

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Development of retinoid nuclear receptor pathway antagonists through targeting aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A3

  iScience · 2025-10-04 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  and high-throughput screening approach followed by medicinal optimization to identify first-in-class, oral and safe antagonists of ALDH1A3 with potent anti-tumor immunotherapeutic activity and an optimized drug development profile.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Jagged1-dependent tumor-stromal interactions in bone metastasis

  NIH · $1.8M · 2017–2021

• The Role of miRNAs in Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition and Metastasis

  NIH · $1.6M · 2010–2017

• NIH Grant R01CA134519

  NIH · $1.6M · 2013

Frequent coauthors

• Bryan R. Cullen

  Duke Medical Center

  99 shared

• Yong Wei

  80 shared

• Minhong Shen

  Princeton University

  52 shared

• Joan Massagué

  Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

  48 shared

• Tianhua Zhou

  45 shared

• Hal P. Bogerd

  Duke University Hospital

  43 shared

• Glen A. Coburn

  Progenics Pharmaceuticals (United States)

  41 shared

• Min Yuan

  Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

  40 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Genetics

  Duke University

  2000

Awards & honors

• 2016 Komen Scholar Award, Susan G. Komen Foundation
• Innovation Award, Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton…
• Duke Graduate School Few-Glasson Alumni Society, Duke Univer…
• 2014 AACR Outstanding Investigator Award, American Associati…
• 2012 AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Resear…