Yahan Wei

NAME: Yahan Wei
CREDENTIALS: PhD
EMAIL: yahan.wei@utrgv.edu
OFFICE PHONE: 956-296-2320
PRIMARY ACADEMIC TITLE: Assistant Professor of Medicine
Dr. Yahan Wei is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the School of Podiatric Medicine, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (SOPM-UTRGV). Before joining UTRGV in 2023, Dr. Wei was a Postdoctoral Research Assistant in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas. She obtained her PhD in Biology from Ohio University. Dr. Wei is a microbiologist with broad expertise in bacterial pathogenesis. In the past, she has conducted systematic research on bacterial physiological responses to dynamic environments inside and outside of the host, including 1) characterized the molecular mechanisms of iron-and temperature-dependent regulation of virulence genes in gram-negative bacterial pathogens Shigella dysenteriae and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and 2) identified the detailed biosynthetic pathways of membrane components in mitis group streptococci (MGS), whose major members (i.e. S. mitis, S. oralis, and S. pneumoniae) are opportunistic pathogens causing diseases in humans.
- Bacterial genomics and pathogenesis
- Host microbial interactions
- Antimicrobial resistance
- Wei Y, Chen G, Yaqub M, Kim E, Tillett L, Joyce L, Dillon N, Palmer K, Guan Z. Biosynthesis of mitis group streptococcal glycolipids and their roles in physiology and antibiotic susceptibility. BioRxiv. 2024.10.30.621112; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.10.30.621112
- Wei Y, Palacios Araya D, Palmer K. Enterococcus faecium: evolution, adaptation, pathogenesis and emerging therapeutics. Rev. Microbiol. 2024. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-024-01058-6
- Wei Y, Sturges C, Palmer K. Human serum supplementation promotes Streptococcus mitis growth and induces specific transcriptomic responses. Spectr. 2023. PMID: 37014220
- Wei Y, Joyce L, Wall A, Guan Z, Palmer K. Streptococcus pneumoniae, S. mitis, and S. oralis produce a phosphatidylglycerol-dependent, ltaS-independent glycerophosphate-linked glycolipid. mSphere. 2021. PMID: 33627509
- Wei Y, Kouse AB, Murphy ER. Transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of Shigella shuT in response to host-associated iron availability and temperature. MicrobiologyOpen. 2017. PMID: 28127899
- Wei Y, Murphy ER. Temperature-dependent regulation of bacterial gene expression by RNA thermometers. Chapter 9 in book: Nucleic Acids - From Basic Aspects to Laboratory Tools. InTech. 2016. ISBN: 978-953-51-4616-2.
- Wei Y, Murphy ER. Shigella iron acquisition systems and their regulation. Cell. Infect. Microbiol. 2016. PMID: 26904516