主要从事线粒体功能调控衰老领域的研究,将聚焦线粒体应激反应信号通路和衰老两个方面，利用模式动物秀丽线虫，应用遗传学、细胞生物学、分子生物学、生物化学、蛋白质组学等生物学手段，系统性研究：

Berendzen, K.M., Durieux, J., Shao, L.-W., Tian, Y., Kim, H., Wolff, S., Liu, Y., and Dillin, A. (2016). Neuroendocrine Coordination of Mitochondrial Stress Signaling and Proteostasis. Cell 166, 1553–1563.e10.

Tian, Y., Merkwirth, C., and Dillin, A. (2016). Mitochondrial UPR: A Double-Edged Sword. Trends in Cell Biology 26, 563–565.

Tian, Y., Garcia, G., Bian, Q., Steffen, K., Joe, Larry., Wolff, S., Meyer, B.J., and Dillin, A. (2016) Mitochondrial stress induces chromatin reorganization to promote longevity and UPRmt. Cell 165, 197-208.

Russell, R.C., Tian, Y., Yuan, H., Park, H.W., Chang, Y.-Y., Kim, J., Kim, H., Neufeld, T.P., Dillin, A., and Guan, K.-L. (2013). ULK1 induces autophagy by phosphorylating Beclin-1 and activating VPS34 lipid kinase. Nat. Cell Biol. 15, 741–750.

Tian, Y*., Li, Z*., Hu, W*., Ren, H*., Tian, E., Zhao, Y., Lu, Q., Huang, X., Yang, P., Li, X., et al. (2010a). C. elegans screen identifies autophagy genes specific to multicellular organisms. Cell 141, 1042–1055. (*equal contribution)

Tian, Y., Ren, H., Zhao, Y., Lu, Q., Huang, X., Yang, P., and Zhang, H.  (2010b). Four metazoan autophagy genes regulate cargo recognition, autophagosome formation and autolysosomal degradation. Autophagy 6, 984–985.

Tian, Y., Garcia, G., Bian, Q., Steffen, K., Joe, Larry., Wolff, S., Meyer, B.J., and Dillin, A. (2016) Mitochondrial stress induces chromatin reorganization to promote longevity and UPRmt. Cell 165, 197-208.

Tian, Y*., Li, Z*., Hu, W*., Ren, H*., Tian, E., Zhao, Y., Lu, Q., Huang, X., Yang, P., Li, X., et al. (2010a). C. elegans screen identifies autophagy genes specific to multicellular organisms. Cell 141, 1042–1055. (*equal contribution).

1）线粒体应激反应信号在不同的组织之间的信号传递机制。

2）发育早期的线粒体应激反应通过表观遗传调控衰老的分子机制。