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Academia Sinica is hosting the 18th Shang-Fa Yang Memorial Lectureship on September 15–16, 2026. At the award ceremony in Taipei on September 15, Academia Sinica President Chien-Jen Chen presented the lectureship award to Professor Alice Y. Cheung, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

In his remarks, President Chen highlighted Professor Cheung’s longstanding contributions to plant reproductive biology, polar cell growth, and receptor kinase signaling. Her pioneering research, he noted, has advanced our understanding of plant reproduction and provided an important scientific foundation for sustainable agriculture and global food security. President Chen also congratulated Professor Cheung on her election this year as an Honorary Academician of Academia Sinica, recognizing her outstanding scholarly achievements and international impact.

President Chen also paid tribute to Academician Shang-Fa Yang for his far-reaching contributions to research and education on agricultural biotechnology in Taiwan and around the world. Recalling their work together during his tenure at Taiwan’s National Science Council, President Chen noted Professor Yang’s leadership in bringing scientists and experts together to advance agricultural biotechnology research. He also commended the Shang-Fa Yang Memorial Education Foundation for carrying forward Professor Yang’s scientific legacy through science outreach, education, and the cultivation of young researchers.

Decoding the “Molecular Choreography” of Plant Fertilization

In her lecture, titled “The Molecular Choreography of Male-Female Interplays to Enable Fertilization in Flowering Plants,” Professor Cheung shared key findings from her decades of research on plant reproduction and cellular signaling. Her work has helped reveal how pollen tubes are guided by female tissues, grow toward the ovule, and ultimately deliver sperm cells for fertilization.

Reproduction in flowering plants depends on a precisely coordinated series of interactions between pollen and female reproductive tissues. After pollen lands on the stigma, it must hydrate and germinate, producing a pollen tube that grows through the pistil and delivers sperm cells to the ovule. Using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, Professor Cheung’s team has investigated how male and female cells coordinate this process through signaling molecules and receptor systems.

A major focus of her research is FERONIA, a receptor kinase that plays a key role in communication between male and female cells during fertilization. FERONIA-related signaling helps regulate pollen hydration and germination at the stigma and later coordinates pollen tube reception, rupture, and sperm release at the ovule. It also contributes to mechanisms that prevent additional pollen tubes from entering after successful fertilization. Together with signaling mediated by Rapid Alkalinization Factor (RALF) peptide ligands, these interactions form an intricate “molecular choreography” that helps ensure successful reproduction.

Professor Cheung’s research has not only deepened fundamental understanding of plant reproduction, but has also provided new scientific insights relevant to overcoming reproductive barriers, crop breeding, and improving agricultural productivity.

Professor Cheung is internationally recognized for her research in plant reproductive biology, polar cell growth, and receptor kinase signaling. She was elected an Honorary Academician of Academia Sinica in 2026 and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2025. She was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2020 and received the Lawrence Bogorad Award for Excellence in Plant Biology Research from the American Society of Plant Biologists in 2020.

Carrying Forward Shang-Fa Yang’s Legacy

The second day of the 18th Shang-Fa Yang Memorial Lectureship will take place on September 16 at the Academia Sinica Southern Campus in Tainan. The session will be chaired by Academician Ming-Che Shih, Corresponding Research Fellow at Academia Sinica’s Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center. Professor Cheung will present research on reproductive barriers in plants, while Dr. Hen-Ming Wu, Research Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, will discuss the role of the FERONIA receptor kinase in regulating plant growth and survival.