Kaiping Yang
Affiliations
Chair & Scientist, Division of Maternal, Fetal & Newborn Health, Children's Health Research Institute
Professor, Departments of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Physiology & Pharmacology, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University
How my research helps children
My research program addresses factors (both genetic and environmental) that are responsible for low birth weight, and how and why low birth weight babies are more susceptible to developing central obesity later in life.
Research
Current Research Activities
The recent discovery of production of a key appetite-stimulating hormone, NPY (only known to be produced by neuronal tissues), by fat tissue from Dr. Yang’s laboratory generated world-wide media attention, including BBC, CBC, Global National, Reuter, and other news organizations as well as numerous health magazines. This work was published in The FASEB Journal, the official journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.
Research Team
Dr. Yang’s current research team includes two graduate students, two undergraduate students, three research assistants, and one exchange graduate student from Fudan University in China. Dr. Yang has trained four postdoctoral fellows, all of whom are in senior academic positions. He has also trained numerous graduate, undergraduate, and summer students, with some of them taking up academic and management positions.
Future Research Plans
Dr. Yang has established an international collaboration with Professor Gang Sun at Fudan University, China, to investigate factors that contribute to premature delivery. They have recently secured funding from CIHR and Natural Science Foundation of China to support this joint research initiative. Dr. Yang has also initiated two new research projects: one examining how caffeine consumption during pregnancy may lead to low birth weight, and the other studying how BPA exposure during pregnancy may impact on fetal organ growth and maturation.
Awards & Grants
Awards & Grants
Funding in support of "Fetal Growth Restriction: Mechanisms & Outcomes" – Awarded by Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR)
Funding in support of "Early-life Origins of Visceral Adiposity" – Awarded by Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR)
Honorary Professor – Northwest Sci-Tech University of A & F, China
Funding in support of “Molecular mechanisms of fetal growth restriction” – awarded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Funding in support of “Molecular mechanisms underlying glucocorticoid induction of cPLA2 and PGHS2 ” – awarded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Funding in support of “Training Program in Reproduction, Early Development, and the Impact on Health” – awarded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Recent Publications
Publications
Cortisol Induces Aromatase Expression in Human Placental Syncytiotrophoblasts Through the cAMP/Sp1 Pathway. Wang W, Li J, Ge Y, Li W, Shu Q, Guan H, Yang K, Myatt L, Sun K. Endocrinology. 2012 April; 153(4):2012-22.
The Sp1 Transcription Factor is Crucial for the Expression of 11beta-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Type 2 in Human Placental Trophoblasts. Li JN, Ge YC, Yang Z, Guo CM, Duan T, Myatt L, Guan H, Yang K, Sun K. J Clin Endorcrinol Metab. 2011 June; 96(6):E899-907.
BMP-3 promotes mesenchymal stem cell proliferation through the TGF-beta/activin signaling pathway. Stewart A, Guan H, Yang K. J Cell Physiol. 2010 Jun;223(3):658-66.
Keratinocyte growth factor promotes preadipocyte proliferation via an autocrine mechanism.
Zhang T, Guan H, Yang K. J Cell Biochem. 2010 Mar 1;109(4):737-46.
The p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase regulates 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11beta-HSD2) expression in human trophoblast cells through modulation of 11beta-HSD2 messenger ribonucleic acid stability. Sharma A, Guan H, Yang K. Endocrinology. 2009 Sep;150(9):4278-86. Epub 2009 Jun 4.
Insulin and dexamethasone dynamically regulate adipocyte 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1. Balachandran A, Guan H, Sellan M, van Uum S, Yang K. Endocrinology. 2008 Aug;149(8):4069-79.
Neuropeptide Y is produced in visceral adipose tissue and promotes proliferation of adipocyte precursor cells via the Y1 receptor. Yang K, Guan H, Arany E, Hill DJ, Cao X.
FASEB J. 2008 Jul;22(7):2452-64
Additional publications
Contact
Phone: 519-685-8500 x 55069
Fax: 519-685-8186
Email: kyang [at] uwo [dot] ca
Website: http://www.uwo.ca/physpharm/faculty/yang_kaiping.html
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