Stillwater, OK – In a ceremony this evening, OMRF researcher Jordan Tang, Ph.D. will be inducted into the OSU Alumni Association Hall of Fame. Dr. Tang heads the Protein Studies Program at OMRF and holds the J.G. Puterbaugh Chair in Biomedical Research. A native of Fukien, China, Dr. Tang received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from the Taiwan provincial College and his M.S. in Biochemistry from Oklahoma State University.
In the course of his career, Dr. Tang has discovered a new digestive enzyme in the stomach, decoded the chemical structure of another stomach enzyme, and laid the foundation for developing AIDS-inhibiting drugs. Just last year, Tang headed the OMRF research team that made groundbreaking discoveries in Alzheimer’s disease.
Following their discovery of a new brain enzyme, “memapsin 2,” the research team designed and tested – for the first time – a potent inhibitor which can eliminate the memapsin 2 activity in a test tube. Most recently, as reported in Science, the premier medical research journal, Tang and his laboratory published a three-dimensional structure of the memapsin 2 enzyme with the inhibitor attached. This finding is of milestone importance because Dr. Tang and his team have provided the “roadmap” towards developing an effective way to manage Alzheimer’s disease. Moreover, they have offered their blueprint to researchers across the world.
In addition to his numerous scientific accomplishments, Dr. Tang is also a gifted artist. Early in his career, he spent a year and a half focusing on painting and sculpture. He and his wife, Kuen, live in Edmond. They are the parents of two grown sons, Joe, who is an attorney in Kentucky, and Albert, an architect in Dallas.
