Yan is the Head of the Monash University Department of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering and Biomedical Engineering Course Director. He leads the Monash Vision Group and the Neurobionics Laboratory researching neural implants focused on using cutting-edge neural recording techniques to find ways to improve efficacy.

Yan works to improve vision prostheses to help restore sight, and brain machine interfaces to treat conditions such as limb paralysis. They do this by making discoveries around how populations of neurons communicate across brain areas to form representations of the world, and then design electronics to interact with these populations. This work is highly interdisciplinary and brings together teams from Medicine and Engineering.

He holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Biomedical Engineering from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), where he also completed a Master of Engineering (MEng) in Biomedical Engineering. Additionally, he earned a Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) in Computer Engineering with First Class Honours from UNSW.

Experience

• Professor and Head (2025 - present)

  Monash Neurobionics Laboratory

  Monash University

• Associate Professor (2021 - 2025)

  Monash Neurobionics Laboratory

  Monash University

• Senior Lecturer (2017 - 2021)

  Monash Neurobionics Laboratory

  Monash University

• Research Fellow (2014 - 2016)

  University of Melbourne

• Associate Research Scientist (2012 - 2014)

  New York University

• Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2008 - 2012)

  New York University

Education

• PhD, Biomedical Engineering (2004 - 2008)

  University of New South Wales (UNSW)