Fred Chang
He/Him
I am gay and I am a cell biologist/ biophysicist.//
I am interested in fundamental questions of how cells are built from molecules. How do cells growth and divide? How do they adopt particular cell shapes and sizes? What is it like to swim through the cytoplasm? My lab at UCSF studies sub-cellular processes such as cytoskeletal regulation, cell size control, nuclear size scaling, cell division, and cellular mechanics. Recently, we have embarked on studying the cytoplasm itself; how is cytoplasmic density regulated and what is the impact of the crowded cytoplasm on sub-cellular processes? To address these questions, we study a cute rod-shaped cell (the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe). In my youth, I missed having LGBTQ+ role models, and feared that coming out would nix my chances of succeeding in science or medicine. Thus, now as an openly gay Asian American faculty member, I am learning how to support the community in STEM. I am currently serving as the co-chair of the LGBTQ+ committee at the American Society of Cell Biology and am honored to join the 500 Queer Scientists.