Dr. Ahn is a biochemist and educator. Her path through science has crossed several disciplines: an undergraduate thesis in organic chemistry, research in physiology, a Ph.D. in biochemistry, and further work in bioenergetics. Each step taught her something the others could not, and she has come to believe that varied experience, including trial and error, is what makes a scientist and a learner.
Her graduate research focused on the characterization of heme-copper oxygen reductases from a range of microorganisms. As terminal oxidases in the respiratory chain, these enzymes are essential to any organism that depends on aerobic respiration, including many human pathogens, which makes them attractive drug targets. That work taught her how basic science can open the door to real-world problems.
Today, her work centers on science education and student learning. The same curiosity that carried her across disciplines now draws her toward how students learn and how her teaching can better support them - questions that speak directly to real challenges in undergraduate STEM education.
Ahn Y, Albertsson I, Gennis RB & Ädelroth P (2018) Mechanism of proton transfer through the KC proton pathway in the Vibrio cholerae cbb3 terminal oxidase. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics 1859 (2018) 1191–1198.
Melin, F, Xie H, Meyer T, Ahn Y, Gennis RB, Michel H and Hellwig P (2016) The unusual redox properties of C-type oxidases. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics 1857(12): 1892-1899.
Ahn Y, Lee HJ, Kaluka D, Yeh Syun-Ru, Rousseau D, Ädelroth P & Gennis RB (2015) The two transmembrane helices of CcoP are sufficient for assembly of the cbb3-type heme-copper oxygen reductase from Vibrio cholerae. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics 1847(10):1231-1239.
Ahn Y, Mahinthichaichan P, Lee HJ, Ouyang H, Kaluka D, Rousseau D, Yeh S, Tajkhorshid E, Ädelroth P & Gennis RB (2014) Conformational coupling between the active site and residues within the KC-channel of the Vibrio cholerae cbb3-type (Cfamily) oxygen reductase. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111(42): E4419-4428.
Chang HY*, Ahn Y*, Pace L, Lin M, Lin YH & Gennis RB (2010) The diheme cytochrome c4 from Vibrio cholerae is a natural electron donor to the respiratory cbb3 oxygen reductase. Biochemistry 49(35):7494-7503. (*Equal contribution)
Dr. Ahn's own training has convinced her that learning happens through both joy and struggle. What shaped her most as a scientist and a learner were not the experiments that worked on the first try, but the long stretches of confusion that eventually gave way to understanding. She wants her students to have access to those experiences, too.
In her classroom, that means giving students opportunities to think critically through open-ended questions, group discussions, and analyses of real research data. Genuine problem-solving requires trial and error, and it is that process, rather than memorizing answers, that builds higher-order thinking and deeper learning
Making this possible takes deliberate course design. Indeed, she structures her courses to support all three domains of learning (Head: cognitive, Heart: affective, and Hand: psychomotor) and refines her teaching through data and student voice, using what students share to improve her practice.
STEM courses are demanding, and she wants her students to meet that challenge with curiosity, confidence, and persistence - to trust their own thinking, learn from setbacks, and grow alongside our learning community, herself included.