WSU Graduate on front line in the battle to save cancer victims

For many people, Dr. Soo Young Yang is a matchmaker—and a good one at that. But she’s not pairing people for blind dates or coaxing couples to tie the knot.  Although, that might be easier. 

Instead, Yang is in the tricky business of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) tissue typing, which means matching the special markers on white blood cells that the immune system reads as good or bad.  In other words, Yang finds the perfect bone marrow donor so that a recipient’s immune system doesn’t reject the transplant. Yang’s specific work in this field, called Immunogenetics, has opened new doors in cancer research and has helped save the lives of many patients. 

Yang, however, never imagined her true calling would be to pioneer genetic tissue typing, and when she came to the United States from Korea during the sixties, she never imagined her journey would be so difficult.

“I had every disadvantage you could think of,” Yang said.  “There were language and cultural barriers, gender and social issues, and economic difficulties that stood in my way.  I came to this country with practically nothing.” 

But Yang was determined to get a graduate degree, and she wanted to choose a university without being too far from her older siblings who were doing graduate work in different cities, Minneapolis and Madison.  Yang decided the best university was Winona State University. 

“I chose Winona State because it was a convenient location.  It was small, quiet and beautiful,” Yang said.  “I am so lucky to have chosen Winona.”

Yang said that luck came in the form of Dr. Fred Foss of the WSU chemistry department.  When Yang arrived at Winona State, she wasn’t sure which program of study she should be in.  She originally wanted to pursue a doctorate in psychology, but felt it wasn’t the right fit for her.  Foss helped guide Yang into her real passion: chemistry.

“I really wanted to be in chemistry and Fred Foss helped me to do it,” Yang said. 

Even in high school, she displayed an aptitude for chemistry.

“My high school teachers always said I should pursue the sciences,” said Yang.  “I told Dr. Foss that I wanted to change majors, and he encouraged me, but he said it could be time consuming, that I would have to start the major from the beginning.”   That’s just what Yang did.  She took all the necessary chemistry courses for her degree, and she did well enough that Dr. Jerry Witt, another chemistry faculty member, asked her to tutor a student.  Soon, Yang even became a laboratory assistant for Witt.

“I remember my first time teaching as a lab assistant,” said Yang. “I was demonstrating to students how to construct glass tubing and I was so nervous.  I could hardly speak.  Dr. Witt helped me so much.”

Yang quickly got over her teaching jitters, and in 1972 she graduated from Winona State University with a master’s degree in chemistry education.  As she looks back on those chemistry classes at Winona, she knows WSU was the perfect match for her, as it propelled her into the career she’s enjoying today.

“Winona State was the turning point of my career. That was the turning point,” she said.  “The faculty at Winona State were dedicated to helping me and others.  I learned all the principles of chemistry at Winona, and I apply them daily in my work.”

Yang’s hard work and determination at Winona State helped her get accepted into New York University, and in 1981 she earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry. 

Since earning a doctorate, Yang has been both a member and a professor at the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and her research in immunogenetics has helped her achieve professorships at various institutions including Cornell University, New York Medical College and Harvard University.  In fact, Yang was the fastest person to go from completing a Ph.D. to earning a Harvard faculty position in the history of Harvard.  Not bad for someone who came to this country with practically nothing.

It was inevitable that Yang took the calculated risk of opening her own business laboratory, where she could take time to expand her own research and invest in her own technology.  She is now president and founder of Histogenetics, an internationally successful, state-of-the-art business that is leading the way in HLA tissue typing and discovering how genetic diseases may be cured in the future.  Yang said it was the best risk she ever took.

“Giving up my academic position, that security, to make a business investment was a difficult decision,” said Yang. “But there was a demand for my research. [Histogenetics] is so satisfying; the intellectual exercise is so satisfying in my own business.”

Yang said she feels fortunate to have such a rewarding and necessary career, how her work helps so many others.

“I am very grateful that I can serve the patients and see the benefits of my work in my lifetime,” Yang said.  “Many people never get to see that.” 

Yang said she’ll continue investing in her business, as immunogenetics may someday eliminate inherited diseases such as cancer and heart disease, and even allergies.

“People think that at my age I shouldn’t still be working around in the lab, that I shouldn’t have to.  But I love it.”