Department of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh
Yvonne R. Chan, MD
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Assistant Professor of Medicine Phone: 412-692-2139 Fax: 412-692-2260 Email: chany3@upmc.edu Assistant: Sharon Washington Assistant Email: washingtons2@upmc.edu |
Bio
Dr. Chan received her M.D. from the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Program (HST) in Boston, MA. During her training in this research intensive medical scientist training program, she became interested in the host effects of antimicrobial proteins. She completed a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Medical Student Fellowship and went on to internal medicine residency at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA. She finished her Pulmonary & Critical Care Fellowship at University of Pittsburgh in 2007 and has been on the faculty of the PACCM department since then. She is currently supported by a grant from the NIH (1K08HL089189-01) and is a recipient of the prestigious HHMI Early Career Physician Scientist Award.
Clinical Interests
Dr. Chan regularly attends on the MICU and Pulmonary Acute Care Units.
Academic and Research Interests
Dr. Chan's research focuses on the innate immune response to Gram negative pneumonias that commonly afflict patients who are immunocompromised with conditions such as cystic fibrosis, HIV, chronic alcoholism and the critically ill. Her studies focus on identifying antimicrobial proteins synthesized by the host in response to these infections, characterizing their mechanism of action and their interaction with the host immune response.
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Bacterial infection with Gram-negative pneumonias such as Klebsiella pneumoniae entail a potent stimulation of Toll-like receptors (TLR) including TLR4. This leads to direct upregulation of antimicrobial proteins in the epithelium, in this case, lipocalin 2. Subsequent downstream signaling from TLR4 also activates a potent inflammatory cytokine response that results in recruitment of T cells and development of adaptive immunity which augments the local innate response by further antimicrobial protein production. |
Key Publications
Chan YR, Gallo RL. PR-39, a syndecan-inducing antimicrobial peptide, binds and affects p130(Cas). J Biol Chem. 1998 Oct 30;273(44):28978-85.
Aujla SJ, Chan YR, Zheng M, Fei M, Askew DJ, Pociask DA, Reinhart TA, McAllister F, Edeal J, Gaus K, Husain S, Kreindler JL, Dubin PJ, Pilewski JM, Myerburg MM, Mason CA, Iwakura Y, Kolls JK. IL-22 mediates mucosal host defense against Gram-negative bacterial pneumonia. Nat Med. 2008 Mar;14(3):275-81. Epub 2008 Feb 10.
Kolls JK, McCray PB, Chan YR. Cytokine-regulation of antimicrobial proteins. Nat Rev Immunol. 2008 (In Press)
PubMed Link
News
Dr. Chan is a 2008 recipient of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Early Career Physician-Scientist Award.