Dr. Yang earned his medical degree at Beijing Medical University in China followed by an orthopaedic residency at Peking University People’s Hospital in Beijing, China.  Following his training in China, he came to the United States where he earned a Master’s degree in Biological Sciences from Hunter College at the City University of New York. Dr. Yang completed a second orthopaedic surgery residency at the University of Texas, in Houston and then he did a fellowship in Orthopaedic Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Dr. Yang specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of benign and malignant tumors in the musculoskeletal system. A multidisciplinary approach is emphasized in his practice. He performs surgery to remove the tumor fom the limb and pelvis, and rebuild them using techniques tailored for each individual patient. Dr. Yang is also interested in treating metastatic bony lesions originating from other parts of the body.

Dr. Yang has a strong interest in the research of musculoskeletal tumors. He has been studying the tumorigenesis of osteosarcoma and the genetic profile of the tumors as comparison to its normal counterpart tissues.  He has also studied the mechanism of chemotherapy resistance in osteosarcoma and related signaling pathways, as well as novel strategies to overcome it in collaboration with the pediatric sarcoma teams.

1. Peer-reviewed Papers

1) Yang, R., Piperdi, S.,  Zhang, Y., Neophytou, N., Zhu, W., Hoang, B.H., Mason, G., Geller, D., Dorfman, H,, Healey, J.H., Phinney, D.G., and Gorlick, R. Transcriptional Profiling Identifies the Signaling Axes of the Insulin Growth Factor and the Transforming Growth Factor-beta as involved in the Pathogenesis of Osteosarcoma. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2015. PMID: 26463566

2) Nathan, S.S., Huvos, A.G., Casas-Ganem, J.E., Yang, R., Linkov, I., Sowers, R., DiResta, G.R., Gorlick, R., Healey, J.H. Tumour interstitial fluid pressure may regulate angiogenic factors in osteosarcoma . Ann Acad Med Singapore. 2009; 38(12):1041-7. PMID: 20052438

3) Li, N., Yang, R., Zhang, W., Dorfman, H., Rao, P., and Gorlick, R. Genetically Transforming Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Sarcomas: changes in cellular phenotype and multilineage differentiation potential. Cancer. 2009; 115(20): 4795-806. PMID: 19593798

4) Yang, R., Piperdi, S., and Gorlick, R. Activation of the RAF/MEK/ERK pathway mediates apoptosis induced by chelerythrine in osteosarcoma. Clin Cancer Res. 2008;14(20): 6396-404. PMID: 18927278

5) Yang, R., Qin, J., Hoang, B.H., Healey, J.H., and Gorlick, R. Polymorphisms and methylation of the reduced folate carrier in osteosarcoma. Clin Orthop Relat Res 2008;466:2046-51. PMID: 18528741

6) Nathan, S.S., Huvos, A.G., Casas-Ganem, J.E., Yang, R., Linkov, I., Sowers, R., Diresta, G.R., Gorlick, R., and Healey, J.H. Tumor interstitial fluid pressure may regulate angiogenic factors in osteosarcoma. J Orthop Res 2008;26:1-6. PMID: 18473395

7) Yang, R., Li, W.W., Hoang, B.H., Kim, H., Banerjee, D., Kheradpour, A., Healey, J.H., Meyers, P.A., Bertino, J.R., and Gorlick, R. Quantitative correlation between promoter methylation and messenger RNA levels of the reduced folate carrier. BMC Cancer 2008;8:124. PMID: 18452618

8) Yang, R., Kolb, E.A., Qin, J., Chou, A., Sowers, R., Hoang, B., Healey, J.H., Huvos, A.G., Meyers, P.A. and Gorlick, R. The folate receptor alpha is frequently overexpressed in osteosarcoma samples and plays a role in the uptake of the physiologic substrate 5-methyltetrahydrofolate. Clin Cancer Res 2007;13:2557-67. PMID: 17473184

9) Yang, R., Hoang, B.H., Kubo, T., Kawano, H., Chou, A., Sowers, R., Huvos, A.G., Meyers, P.A., Healey, J.H. and Gorlick, R. Over-expression of parathyroid hormone Type 1 receptor confers an aggressive phenotype in osteosarcoma. Int J Cancer 2007;121:943-54. PMID: 17410535

10) Laverdiere, C., Hoang, B.H., Yang, R., Sowers, R., Qin, J., Meyers, P.A., Huvos, A.G., Healey, J.H. and Gorlick, R. Messenger RNA expression levels of CXCR4 correlate with metastatic behavior and outcome in patients with osteosarcoma. Clin Cancer Res 2005;11:2561-7. PMID: 15814634

11) Nathan, S.S., DiResta, G.R., Casas-Ganem, J.E., Hoang, B.H., Sowers, R., Yang, R., Huvos, A.G., Gorlick, R. Elevated physiologic tumor pressure promotes proliferation and chemosensitivity in human osteosarcoma. Clin Cancer Res 2005;11:2389-97. PMID: 15788690

12) Flintoff, W.F., Sadlish, H., Gorlick, R., Yang, R., Williams, F.M. Functional analysis of altered reduced folate carrier sequence changes identified in osteosarcomas. Biochim Biophys Acta 2004;1690:110-7. PMID: 15469899

13) Hoang, B.H., Kubo, T., Healey, J.H., Yang, R., Nathan, S.S., Kolb, E.A., Mazza, B., Meyers, P.A. and Gorlick, R. Dickkopf 3 inhibits invasion and motility of Saos-2 osteosarcoma cells by modulating the Wnt-beta-catenin pathway. Cancer Res 2004;64:2734-9. PMID: 15087387

14) Hoang, B.H., Kubo, T., Healey, J.H., Sowers, R., Mazza, B., Yang, R., Huvos, A.G., Meyers, P.A. and Gorlick, R. Expression of LDL receptor-related protein 5 (LRP5) as a novel marker for disease progression in high-grade osteosarcoma. Int J Cancer 2004;109:106-11. PMID: 14735475

15) Yang, R., Sowers, R., Mazza, B., Healey, J.H., Huvos, A., Grier, H., Bernstein, M., Beardsley, G.P., Krailo, M.D., Devidas, M., Bertino, J.R., Meyers, P.A. and Gorlick, R. Sequence alterations in the reduced folate carrier are observed in osteosarcoma tumor samples. Clin Cancer Res 2003;9:837-44. PMID: 12576457

2. Book Chapters

1) Orthopedic Oncology. Editor: Xun, W.P., Feng, C.H. People’s Military Medical Publisher.

(ISBN: 7-80157-159-2), 2001.

2) Review of Surgery: A Guiding Book for Medical Students. Section of Orthopedics. Editor: Jiang, B.G. Beijing Medical University Publisher.  (ISBN: 7-81034-946-5), 1999.