Research

• Study the role of gut microbiota in contributing to and preventing obesity and metabolism-associated health issues including fatty liver, systemic inflammation, skin disease, mental and neurological issues, and cancer aiming to uncover means for treatment.
• Study the beneficial effects of vitamins and natural products such as chemicals derived from tea, β-carotene, milk, or fermentation-generated metabolites.
• Study the effect of gut microbiota in regulating bile acid synthesis that in turn affects metabolism, insulin sensitivity, immunity, inflammation, and cancer formation or prevention.

Active Research Grants

• NIH, NCI (1 R01 CA222490-01) 2018-2023
  Liver Cancer Therapy by MiR-22 and Its Inducers
  Role: PI
• NIH, NCI (1 U01 CA179582-03A1) 2014-2019
  The Role of Probiotic Bididobacteria and Bile Acid Metabolism in Carcinogenesis
  Role: Lead PI
• NIH, SC3 GM125546 2018-2022 Effect of Western Diet in Gastrointestinal Cancer by NMR Metabolomics
  PI: Krish Krishnan, California State University Fresno
  Role: Co-investigator
• National Psoriasis Foundation 2018-2019
  An experimental mouse model to understand the pathological role of high fat,
  high sugar (Western) diet in psoriasiform dermatitis
  PI: Samuel Hwang, UC Davis
  My Role: Co-investigator

Microbiome Publications

• Sheng L, Jena PK, Liu HX, Hu Y, Nidhi N, Bronner DN, Matthew LS, Bäumler AJ, Wan Y-J. (2018) Obesity treatment by epigallocatechin-3-gallate-regulated bile acid signaling and its enriched Akkermansia muciniphila. FASEB J. June 8, PMID: 29882708.
• Jena PK, Sheng L, Nagar N, Wu C, Barile D, Mills D, Wan Y-J. (2018) The effect of synbiotics Synbiotics Bifidobacterium infantis and milk oligosaccharides on shaping gut microbiota community structure and NASH treatment (2018) Data in Brief, The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry 2018 Aug; 19: 1025–1029, PMCID: PMC5997954; PMID: 29900399
• Jena PK, Sheng L, Nagar N, Wu C, Barile D, Mills D, Wan Y-J. (2018) Synbiotics Bifidobacterium infantis and milk oligosaccharides are effective in reversing cancer-prone nonalcoholic steatohepatitis using western diet-fed FXR knockout mouse models. The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, 57:246-254 PMID: 29800811, PMCID: PMC6015547
• Jena PK, Sheng L, Lucente JD, Jin L-W, Maezawa I, Wan Y-J. (2018) Dysregulated bile acid synthesis and dysbiosis are implicated in Western diet-induced systemic inflammation, microglial activation, and reduced neuroplasticity. FASEB J, 32 (5):2866-2877, PMID: 29401580, PMCID: PMC5901391
• Sheng L, Jena PK, Hu Y, Liu HX, Nagar N, Kalanetra K, French SW, French SW, Mills D, Wan Y-J. (2017) Hepatic inflammation caused by dysregulated bile acid synthesis is reversible by butyrate supplementation. Journal of Pathology, 243(4):431-441, PMID: 28892150, PMCID: PMC5953422
• Jena PK, Sheng L, Liu HX, Kalanetra K, Krishnan V, Mills D, Wan Y-J. (2017) Western diet-induced dysbiosis in FXR knockout mice causes persistent hepatic inflammation post antibiotic treatment. American Journal of Pathology, 187(8):1800-1813, PMID: 28711154, PMCID: PMC5530909. (Cover story of the journal).
• Sheng L, Jena PK, Liu HX, Kalanetra K, Gonzalez F, French S, Krishnan V, Mills D, Wan Y-J. (2017) Gender differences in bile acids and microbiota in relationship with gender dissimilarity in steatosis induced by diet and FXR inactivation. Scientific Reports 7(1) 1748, PMID: 28496104, PMCID: PMC5431816. (Journal highlight and featured in Nutrition Frontiers, a publication of the Nutritional Science Research Group at NCI)
• Liu H-X, Rocha CS, Dandekar S, Wan Y-J. (2016) Functional analysis of the relationship between intestinal microbiota and the expression of hepatic genes and pathways during the course of liver regeneration. Journal of Hepatology, 64(3): 641-50. PMID: 26453969, PMCID: PMC4761311. (March issue Journal highlights).
• Li Y-Y, Ge Q-X, Cao J, Zhou Y-J, Du Y-L, Shen B, Wan Y-J, Nie Y-Q. (2016). Association of Fusobacterium nucleatum infection with colorectal cancer in Chinese patients. World Journal of Gastroenterology, 22(11):3227-3233. PMID: 27004000 PMCID: PMC4789998
• Liu H-X, Hu Y, Wan Y-J. (2016) Microbiota and bile acid profiles in retinoic acid-primed mice that exhibit accelerated liver regeneration. Oncotarget, 7(2):1096-106. PMID: 26701854, PMCID: PMC4811446
• Liu H-X, Keane R, Sheng L, Wan Y-J. (2015). Implications of microbiota and bile acid in liver injury and regeneration. Journal of Hepatology, S0168-8278(15)00533-4. PMID: 26256437, PMCID: PMC4654653
• Tsuei J, Chau T, Mills D, Wan Y-J. (2014) Bile acid dysregulation, gut dysbiosis, and GI cancer. Experimental Biology and Medicine 239(11): 1489-504. PMCID: PMC435742