Affiliation: Boston University

Dr. Jingyan Han is an assistant professor and independent principal investigator leading a vascular biological research lab at Boston University School of Medicine. From the very beginning of her research training, her main research interests have been in vascular endothelial biology and cardiovascular pathophysiology. She is dedicated to studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms controlling the function and integrity of vascular endothelial cells, and their contribution to the pathogenesis of vascular diseases including acute lung injury in sepsis, and atherosclerosis associated with hyperlipidemia, aging, and chronic alcohol abuse. Her research group continues to investigate arterial endothelial dysfunction in murine models of cardiovascular diseases with a particular emphasis on thiol redox dependent mechanisms. Accurate evaluation of vascular endothelial function and barrier integrity particularly in, in vivo animal models is essential for cardiovascular research. Collaborating with research experts in optical coherence tomography, she developed a non-invasive method to evaluate in vivo vascular endothelial cell function by measuring flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) of murine femoral artery, which is analogues to FMD test in humans, a gold standard for clinical assessment of vascular endothelial function. All her research projects are funded by National Institute of Health, the American Heart Association (AHA) (Predoctoral fellowship, Scientist Development Grant).