Dr. Tang received her medical degree from Xian Jiaotong University. She had her Ph.D. at the University of California, San Diego. She did her postdoctoral training with Dr. Gail Martin at University of California, San Francisco before joining NIBS in 2012 as a Principal investigator.

The goal of Dr. Nan Tang’s laboratory is to understand the mechanisms regulating lung development and adult lung regeneration, as well as the mechanisms of the pathogenesis of lung diseases. Her research group established the first mouse model for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and elucidated the mechanism for the pathogenesis of IPF, a fatal disease with a median survival time of 3 years. Her findings led to the identification of new molecular targets for the treatment of IPF. She has led the development of several first-in-class therapeutic molecules to treat IPF.

Dr. Tang’s research has been widely recognized by the international community. She has been a member of the editorial board of Dev Cell since 2018. She serves as a member of the Program Committee for the 2023 ISSCR Annual Meeting. She has been invited to present seminars at many international conferences, including the Presidential Symposium at ISSCR and Scientific Breakthroughs in Lung Biology at ATS. Her research findings were selected into "China's Important Medical Progress in 2020" by the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.