King-Wai Yau

King-Wai Yau (Chinese: 游景威; pinyin: Yóu Jǐngwēi;

born October 27, 1948) is a Chinese-born American King-Wai Yau
neuroscientist and Professor of Neuroscience at Johns
Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore,
Maryland.

Biography
Born in Guangzhou (formerly called Canton), King-Wai Yau delivering 2008 Champalimaud
Guangdong, China, he was the sixth of seven children. Award lecture at ARVO meeting
His family relocated to Hong Kong within months of Born October 27, 1948
his birth. His father, a businessman, died when Yau Guangzhou (Canton), China
was only five years old. Citizenship USA

He attended secondary school in Buddhist Wong Fung Alma mater Princeton A.B. in physics 1971,
Ling College and St. Paul's Co-educational College in Harvard Ph.D in neurobiology
Hong Kong, before entering University of Hong Kong 1975

Faculty of Medicine to study medicine. Not wanting to Known for mechanisms of sensory
be a physician, however, he departed for the United transduction in vision and
States in 1968 after only one year of medical study. He olfaction
received an A.B. in physics (University Scholar; Phi Scientific career
Beta Kappa) from Princeton in 1971 and a Ph.D. in Fields Neuroscience, Biophysics
neurobiology from Harvard in 1975, completing his
Institutions Johns Hopkins University,
doctoral thesis under John G. Nicholls, a former
University of Texas Medical
student of Bernard Katz. He did postdoctoral work
Branch
with Denis A. Baylor at Stanford University, then with
Sir Alan L. Hodgkin at University of Cambridge, Academic John G. Nicholls, Denis A.
United Kingdom. Thereafter, he was on the faculty of advisors Baylor, Alan L. Hodgkin
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston Website neuroscience.jhu.edu
(1981–86), rising to Professor of Physiology and /KingWaiYau.php (http://neuros
Biophysics in 1985. In 1986, he became Professor of cience.jhu.edu/KingWaiYau.ph
Neuroscience and Investigator of Howard Hughes p)
Medical Institute (1986-2004) at Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine, where he has been since.

Scientific contributions
He is known for discoveries on how light and odor are sensed in the eye and the nose, triggering neural
signals to be transmitted to the brain. He has greatly elucidated the properties of the light responses and
their underlying phototransduction mechanisms in retinal rods and cones,[1] as well as in intrinsically-
photosensitive retinal ganglion cells which express the photopigment, melanopsin, to mediate mostly
non-image vision such as pupillary light reflex and photoentrainment of the circadian rhythm.[2] He has
made similarly important discoveries on olfactory transduction in the receptor neurons of the nasal
olfactory epithelium. His work impacts broadly on understanding G-protein signaling at a quantitative
level. His investigations on the spontaneous activity of rod and cone pigments have provided a
physicochemical explanation for why our vision does not extend into Infrared wavelengths.[3]

He is a Member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine, and a
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, as well as a Member of Academia Sinica, Taiwan.

Selected honors & awards

1978, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow
1980, Visiting Fellow, Trinity College, Cambridge, United Kingdom
1980, Rank Prize in Optoelectronics, The Rank Prize Funds, United Kingdom
1993, Friedenwald Award,[4] Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)
1994, Alcon Award in Vision Research, Alcon Research Institute
1995, Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
1996, Magnes Prize, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
2004, Teacher of the Year, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
2005, Alcon Award in Vision Research (second time), Alcon Research Institute
2006, Balazs Prize, International Society for Eye Research (ISER)
2008, António Champalimaud Vision Award, The Champalimaud Foundation, Portugal
2010, Member, National Academy of Sciences
2012, CNIB Chanchlani Global Vision Research Award, Canada
2013, Alexander Hollaender Award in Biophysics,[5] National Academy of Sciences
2016, RRF Paul Kayser International Award for Retinal Research (ISER)
2017, Daniel Nathans Scientific Innovator Award, Johns Hopkins University School of
Medicine
2018, Member, National Academy of Medicine
2019, Helen Keller Prize for Vision Research, Helen Keller Foundation & BrightFocus
Foundation
2019, Beckman-Argyros Vision Award, Arnold & Mabel Beckman Foundation (http://www.be
ckman-foundation.org)
2022, Member, Academia Sinica, Taiwan

Highly-Cited Papers
Articles with over 500 citations according to Google Scholar [1] (https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=a
uthor%3AKW+author%3AYau&btnG=&hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C34) as of May 6, 2017:

1979 "The membrane current of single rod outer segments",[6] 607 citations
1979 "Responses of retinal rods to single photons",[7] 819 citations
1989 "Cyclic GMP-activated conductance of retinal photoreceptor cells",[8] 590 citations
 1990 "Primary structure and functional expression of a cyclic nucleotide-activated channel
from olfactory neurons",[9] 672 citations
1998 "Identification of ligands for olfactory receptors by functional expression of a receptor
library",[10] 534 citations
2002 "Melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cells: architecture, projections, and intrinsic
photosensitivity",[2] 1579 citations
2003 "Melanopsin and rod–cone photoreceptive systems account for all major accessory
visual functions in mice",[11] 838 citations
2003 "Diminished pupillary light reflex at high irradiances in melanopsin-knockout mice",[12]
608 citations
2005 "Melanopsin-expressing ganglion cells in primate retina signal colour and irradiance
and project to the LGN",[13] 798 citations
2006 "Central projections of melanopsin‐expressing retinal ganglion cells in the mouse",[14]
518 citations

References
1. Yau, KW (1994). "The Friedenwald Lecture: Phototransduction mechanism in retinal rods
and cones". Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. 35: 9–32.
2. Hattar, S; Liao HW; Takao M; Berson DM; Yau KW (2002). "Melanopsin-containing retinal
ganglion cells: architecture, projections, and intrinsic photosensitivity" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.
nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2885915). Science. 295 (5557): 1065–1070.
Bibcode:2002Sci...295.1065H (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002Sci...295.1065H).
doi:10.1126/science.1069609 (https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.1069609). PMC 2885915
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2885915). PMID 11834834 (https://pubmed.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11834834).
3. Luo, DG; Yue WWS; Ala-Laurila P; Yau KW (2011). "Activation of visual pigments by light
and heat" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4349410). Science. 332 (6035):
1307–1312. Bibcode:2011Sci...332.1307L (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011Sci...332.
1307L). doi:10.1126/science.1200172 (https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.1200172).
PMC 4349410 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4349410). PMID 21659602
(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21659602).
4. Baylor, D (1994). "Introduction of King-Wai Yau 1993 Friedenwald Award winner".
Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. 35 (1): 6–8. PMID 8300364 (https://pubme
d.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8300364).
5. "National Academy of Sciences 2013 Awards" (http://www.nasonline.org/news-and-multimed
ia/news/jan-7-2013-NASawards.html).
6. Baylor DA, Lamb TD, Yau KW (1979). "The membrane current of single rod outer segments"
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1281446). Journal of Physiology. 288: 589–
611. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.1979.sp012715 (https://doi.org/10.1113%2Fjphysiol.1979.sp01271
5). PMC 1281446 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1281446). PMID 112242
(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/112242).
7. Baylor DA, Lamb TD, Yau KW (1979). "Responses of retinal rods to single photons" (https://
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1281447). Journal of Physiology. 288: 613–634.
doi:10.1113/jphysiol.1979.sp012716 (https://doi.org/10.1113%2Fjphysiol.1979.sp012716).
PMC 1281447 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1281447). PMID 112243 (htt
ps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/112243).
 8. Yau KW, Baylor DA (1989). "Cyclic GMP-activated conductance of retinal photoreceptor
cells". Annual Review of Neuroscience. 12: 289–327. doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.12.1.289
(https://doi.org/10.1146%2Fannurev.neuro.12.1.289). PMID 2467600 (https://pubmed.ncbi.n
lm.nih.gov/2467600).
9. Dhallan RS, Yau KW, Schrader KA, Reed RR (1990). "Primary structure and functional
expression of a cyclic nucleotide-activated channel from olfactory neurons". Nature. 347
(6289): 184–187. Bibcode:1990Natur.347..184D (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1990Nat
ur.347..184D). doi:10.1038/347184a0 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F347184a0).
PMID 1697649 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1697649). S2CID 4362106 (https://api.sem
anticscholar.org/CorpusID:4362106).
10. Krautwurst D, Yau KW, Reed RR (1998). "Identification of ligands for olfactory receptors by
functional expression of a receptor library" (https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS0092-8674%2800%
2981716-X). Cell. 95 (7): 917–926. doi:10.1016/S0092-8674(00)81716-X (https://doi.org/10.
1016%2FS0092-8674%2800%2981716-X). PMID 9875846 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.go
v/9875846). S2CID 15004227 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:15004227).
11. Hattar S, Lucas RJ, Mrosovsky N, Thompson S, Douglas RH, Hankins MW, Lem J, Biel M,
Hofmann F, Foster RG, Yau KW (2003). "Melanopsin and rod–cone photoreceptive systems
account for all major accessory visual functions in mice" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/
articles/PMC2885907). Nature. 424 (6944): 76–81. Bibcode:2003Natur.424...75H (https://ui.
adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003Natur.424...75H). doi:10.1038/nature01761 (https://doi.org/10.
1038%2Fnature01761). PMC 2885907 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2885
907). PMID 12808468 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12808468).
12. Lucas RJ, Hattar S, Berson DM, Foster RG, Yau KW (2003). "Diminished pupillary light
reflex at high irradiances in melanopsin-knockout mice". Science. 299 (5604): 247–249.
Bibcode:2003Sci...299..245L (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003Sci...299..245L).
CiteSeerX 10.1.1.1028.8525 (https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.102
8.8525). doi:10.1126/science.1077293 (https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.1077293).
PMID 12522249 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12522249). S2CID 46505800 (https://api.
semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:46505800).
13. Dacey DM, Liao HW, Peterson BB, Robinson FR, Smith VC, Pokorny J, Yau KW (2005).
"Melanopsin-expressing ganglion cells in primate retina signal colour and irradiance and
project to the LGN". Nature. 433 (7027): 749–754. Bibcode:2005Natur.433..749D (https://ui.
adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005Natur.433..749D). doi:10.1038/nature03387 (https://doi.org/1
0.1038%2Fnature03387). PMID 15716953 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15716953).
S2CID 4401722 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:4401722).
14. Hattar S, Kumar M, Park A, Tong P, Tung J, Yau KW, Berson DM (2006). "Central
projections of melanopsin-expressing retinal ganglion cells in the mouse" (https://www.ncbi.
nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2885916). Journal of Comparative Neurology. 497 (3): 326–
349. doi:10.1002/cne.20970 (https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fcne.20970). PMC 2885916 (https://
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2885916). PMID 16736474 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nl
m.nih.gov/16736474).

External links
Vision Award, Champalimaud Foundation (2008) (http://www.fchampalimaud.org/vision-awar
d/award-recipients/)
Alcon Research Award past recipients (1994, 2005) (https://web.archive.org/web/20091216
164754/http://www.alcon.com/en/research-development/ari/past-grant-recipients.asp)
Friedenwald Award, ARVO - Association for Research in Vision & Ophthalmology (1993) (htt
p://www.arvo.org/awards/#friedenwald)
Rank Prize in Optoelectronics (1980) (https://web.archive.org/web/20121213162814/http://w
 ww.rankprize.org/opto-electronics1.htm)
King-Wai Yau laboratory web site (http://neuroscience.jhu.edu/KingWaiYau.php)

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