Yan Yang's research has focused on stucture-function relationship of a picornaviral RNA replication signal. Her efforts resulted in papers published in Journal of Virology, 2002 and Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2004. Her work has been selected for oral presentations at various international meetings. Using genetic approaches, her study provided the first in vivo evidence for the interaction between the RNA replication signal (cre) and viral non-structural proteins. Rearch Project: Protein-RNA Interactions in Picornavirus Replication.