Dr Yihua Wang
MBBS, PhD
Associate Professor
Profile page(s)
Yihua Wang is Associate Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton.
After successful completion of MBBS in medicine and PhD in cell biology in China, he undertook postdoctoral trainings in Julian Downward’s CRUK Signal Transduction laboratory and Prof Xin Lu’s lab in Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Oxford Branch. In 2016, he joined the University of Southampton as Lecturer.
He has a long-held interest in cell signaling in lung disease, drug target validation and gene function analysis. The long-term aim of his research is to provide effective targeted therapies for pulmonary fibrosis patients to improve their quality of life.
Landmark publications:
1. Brereton CJ, Yao L, Davies ER, Zhou Y, Vukmirovic M, Bell JA, Wang S, Ridley RA, Dean LSN, Andriotis OG, Conforti F, Brewitz L, Mohammed S, Wallis T, Tavassoli A, Ewing RM, Alzetani A, Marshall BG, Fletcher SV, Thurner PJ, Fabre A, Kaminski N, Richeldi L, Bhaskar A, Schofield CJ, Loxham M, Davies DE, Wang Y#, and Jones MG#. Pseudohypoxic HIF pathway activation dysregulates collagen structure-function in human lung fibrosis. eLife 2022; 11:e69348. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.69348
2. Yao L, Zhou Y, Li J, Wickens L, Conforti F, Rattu A, Ibrahim FM, Alzetani A, Marshall BG, Fletcher SV, Hancock D, Wallis T, Downward J, Ewing RM, Richeldi L, Skipp P, Jones MG#, and Wang Y#. Bidirectional epithelial-mesenchymal crosstalk provides self-sustaining profibrotic signals in pulmonary fibrosis. J Biol Chem 2021; 297(3):101096. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2021.101096
3. Wu X, Liu X, Zhou Y, Yu H, Li R, Zhan Q, Ni F, Fang S, Lu Y, Ding X, Liu H, Ewing RM, Jones MG#, Hu Y#, Nie H#, and Wang Y#. 3-month, 6-month, 9-month, and 12-month respiratory outcomes in patients following COVID-19-related hospitalisation: a prospective study. Lancet Respir Med 2021; 9(7):747-754. DOI: 10.1016/S2213-2600(21)00174-0
4. Liu X, Zhou H, Zhou Y, Wu X, Zhao Y, Lu Y, Tan W, Yuan M, Ding X, Zou J, Li R, Liu H, Ewing RM, Hu Y#, Nie H#, and Wang Y#. Temporal radiographic changes in COVID-19 patients: relationship to disease severity and viral clearance. Sci Rep 2020;10(1):10263. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-66895-w
5. Yao L, Conforti F, Hill C, Bell J, Drawater L, Li J, Liu D, Xiong H, Alzetani A, Chee SJ, Marshall BG, Fletcher SV, Hancock D, Coldwell M, Yuan X, Ottensmeier CH, Downward J, Collins JE, Ewing RM, Richeldi L, Skipp P, Jones MG, Davies DE#, and Wang Y#. Paracrine signalling during ZEB1-mediated epithelial-mesenchymal transition augments local myofibroblast differentiation in lung fibrosis. Cell Death Differ 2019;26(5):943-957. DOI: 10.1038/s41418-018-0175-7
Major grants:
1. MRC NIRG (2019-2022). "Defining the role of ZEB1-dependent epithelial-mesenchymal crosstalk in lung fibrosis".
2. The Academy of Medical Sciences/ the Wellcome Trust Springboard (2017-2019). "The role of Factor inhibiting HIF in the development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis".