Dr. Hongwei Yao is appointed as an Associate Professor of Molecular Biology, Cellular Biology & Biochemistry (Research) at Brown University Warren Alpert Medical School after his postdoctoral training and first faculty appointment as an Assistant Professor (Research) in the Department of Environmental Medicine of the University of Rochester. His research focuses on molecular pathogenesis and potential therapeutic targets in chronic lung diseases including adult Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and pulmonary fibrosis as well as neonatal Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) using in vitro in cells, in vivo in animals and ex vivo in human peripheral tissues. Dr. Yao has approximate 15 years’ experience and expertise in lung oxidative stress, inflammation, cellular senescence, metabolism, and mitochondrial autophagy (mitophagy).

Dr. Yao has a strong and track record of first/corresponding author articles in high impact journals (e.g., Br J Pharmcol 2016, FASEB J 2015, J Clin Invest 2012, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2010, J Biol Chem 2010) with total >100 co-author publications including original article, reviews, and book chapters. The total citations for these publications are >3,000 with H-index of 31 till July 2018. Due to scientific contributions, Dr. Yao won several awards and has been frequently invited to present his work at local, national and international forums and conferences.

Dr. Yao has been serving as an Ad-hoc member of several panels of federal grant study sections including the NIH. Dr. Yao was/is a member of the editorial board of several international journals, such as American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology. He also serves as a reviewer for more than 50 peer-reviewed journals including American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Dr. Yao’s research has been supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and American Lung Association as well as CardioPulmonary Vascular Biology COBRE Pilot Project as a PI. Dr. Yao’s work, as the Project 1 of the Phase II CPVB/COBRE, focuses on whether metabolic dysregulation contributes to lung endothelial cell dysfunction implicating arrested angiogenesis during hyperoxic lung injury. This would lead to a potential conceptual shift regarding metabolic reprogramming in the pathogenesis of BPD, where premature infants with BPD usually need supplemental oxygen for therapy.