
BMB PhD Program Faculty
Fengyi Wan
Investigating colonic health and diseases
Professor
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Bloomberg School of Public Health

Research Overview
Our laboratory is interested in investigating the signal transduction and gene regulation in bacterial infection- and genotoxic stress-associated colonic inflammation and tumorigenesis, using a combination of genetic, immunological, molecular, and cellular approaches. We are studying the molecular/cellular mechanisms and pathophysiological significance of the novel and critical pathogen-host interactions and DNA damage responses that can be mechanistically linked to colon cancer etiology in mice and humans.
Selected Publications
- Xu D, Zhou S, Liu Y, Scott AL, Yang J, Wan F. Complement in breast milk modifies offspring gut microbiota to promote infant health. Cell, 2024.
- Liu Y, Fu K, Wier EM, Lei Y, Hodgson A, Xu D, Xia X, Zheng D, Ding H, Sears CL, Yang J, Wan F. Bacterial genotoxin accelerates transient infection-driven murine colon tumorigenesis. Cancer Discovery, 2022
- Xia X, Liu Y, Hodgson A, Xu D, Guo W, Yu H, She W, Zhou C, Lan L, Fu K, Vallance BA, Wan F. EspF is crucial forCitrobacter rodentium-induced tight junction disruption and lethality in immunocompromised animals. PLoS Pathogens, 2019.
- Sun X, Fu K, Hodgson A, Wier EM, Wen MG, Kamenyeva O, Xia X, Koo LY, Wan F. Sam68 is required for DNA damage responses via regulating poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation. PLoS Biology, 2016.
- Wan F, Anderson DE, Barnitz RA, Snow A, Bidere N, Zheng L, Hegde V, Lam LT, Staudt LM, Levens D, Deutsch WA, Lenardo MJ. Ribosomal protein S3: a KH domain subunit in NF-kappaB complexes that mediates selective gene regulation. Cell, 2007.