King-Wai Yau

King-Wai Yau is a Professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator in the Department of Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland USA. He is known for innovative and fundamental contributions to understanding the mechanisms of sensory transduction in rod, cone, and non-image visual systems and in olfaction -- that is, how signals from light and odor are sensed within the eye and the nose and then transmitted to the brain. This has included identifying the pigment responsible for the light-level synchronization of our daily Circadian rhythm and explaining what factors limit the possible range of light wavelengths for vision in vertebrates. He has received many awards, including membership in the National Academy of Sciences (Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience), the 2008 Antonio Champalimaud Vision Award, the 1993 Friedenwald Award, and the 1980 Rank Prize in Optoelectronics.

Highly-cited papers
Articles with over 500 citations according to Web of Knowledge as of November 1, 2012
 * "Melanopsin-containing retinal ganglion cells: architecture, projections, and intrinsic photosensitivity", 832 citations
 * "Responses of retinal rods to single photons", 576 citations
 * "Primary structure and functional expression of a cyclic nucleotide-activated channel from olfactory neurons", 523 citations