Positions

Overview

  • Dr. Chen received her BS degree from Fudan University and her Ph.D. from Xiamen University. She completed postdoctoral training and was appointed as a research instructor at the University of Vermont, School of Medicine. Dr. Chen joined the faculty of Department of Pathology at UAB in June 2004. She is currently Jay M McDonald, MD, Endowed Professor in Laboratory Medicine, Professor in Molecular and Cellular Pathology and Vice Chair for Faculty Development and Education; as well as a Research Career Scientist at the Birmingham VA Medical Research Division. She is the director of the UAB Pathobiology, Pharmacology and Physiology Graduate Program. Dr. Chen serves as an editorial board member for Circulation Research, Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (ATVB) and the Journal of Biological Chemistry. She is a Fellow of the American Heart Association (AHA) and Chair of the ATVB Committee on Scientific Sessions Program of the AHA. Dr. Chen has served on several grant review panels of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including the NIH Atherosclerosis and Inflammation of the Cardiovascular System (AICS) and Vascular Cell and Molecular Biology (VCMB) study sections, VA Cardiology B grant review panel and Research Scientist Award Committee, and AHA Vascular Wall Biology grant review committee. Dr. Chen received many awards, including UAB Graduate School Deans Award for Excellence in Mentorship (2016), UAB School of Medicine Dean's Excellence Award for Mentorship (2019), Outstanding Faculty Senate Committee Member Award (2019), and the "Vascular Biology Special Recognition Award" from the AHA ATVB Council (2018).

    • Selected Publications

    Academic Article

    Year Title Altmetric
    2020 Regulation of pancreatic cancer TRAIL resistance by protein O-GlcNAcylation 2020
    2020 Arterial Stiffness: A Focus on Vascular Calcification and Its Link to Bone Mineralization 2020
    2020 Runx2 (Runt-Related Transcription Factor 2)-Mediated Microcalcification Is a Novel Pathological Characteristic and Potential Mediator of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm 2020
    2019 Metabolic stress and cardiovascular disease in diabetes mellitus: The role of protein O -GlcNAc modification 2019
    2019 Cytoplasmic PARP-1 promotes pancreatic cancer tumorigenesis and resistance 2019
    2019 Convergences of Life Sciences and Engineering in Understanding and Treating Heart Failure 2019
    2018 Defining the epigenetic status of blood cells using a cyanine-based fluorescent probe for PRMT1 2018
    2018 AKT-independent activation of p38 MAP kinase promotes vascular calcification 2018
    2017 Dietary potassium regulates vascular calcification and arterial stiffness. 2017
    2017 The long non-coding RNA HOTAIR enhances pancreatic cancer resistance to TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand 2017
    2017 The interplay between calmodulin and membrane interactions with the pleckstrin homology domain of akt 2017
    2016 Redox signaling in cardiovascular pathophysiology: A focus on hydrogen peroxide and vascular smooth muscle cells 2016
    2016 The AS-RBM15 lncRNA enhances RBM15 protein translation during megakaryocyte differentiation 2016
    2016 Identification of initial leads directed at the calmodulin-binding region on the Src-SH2 domain that exhibit anti-proliferation activity against pancreatic cancer 2016
    2016 TLR4 regulates Pulmonary vascular homeostasis and remodeling via redox signaling 2016
    2015 Molecular Mechanisms of Vascular Calcification in Chronic Kidney Disease: The Link between Bone and the Vasculature 2015
    2015 Inhibition of FOXO1/3 promotes vascular calcification 2015
    2015 Calmodulin antagonists promote TRA-8 therapy of resistant pancreatic cancer 2015
    2014 Activation of AKT by O-linked N-Acetylglucosamine induces vascular calcification in diabetes mellitus 2014
    2013 PARP-1 regulates resistance of pancreatic cancer to trail therapy 2013
    2013 Structural and biophysical characterization of the interactions between the death domain of fas receptor and calmodulin 2013
    2012 Vascular smooth muscle cell smad4 gene is important for mouse vascular development 2012
    2012 Smooth muscle cell-specific runx2 deficiency inhibits vascular calcification 2012
    2012 Serum response factor regulates bone formation via IGF-1 and Runx2 signals 2012
    2012 Reduced CaM/FLIP binding by a single point mutation in c-FLIP L modulates Fas-mediated apoptosis and decreases tumorigenesis 2012
    2011 Trifluoperazine regulation of calmodulin binding to Fas: A computational study 2011
    2011 Calmodulin mediates Fas-induced FADD-independent survival signaling in pancreatic cancer cells via activation of Src-Extracellular Signal-regulated Kinase (ERK) 2011
    2011 Runx2-upregulated receptor activator of nuclear factor κb ligand in calcifying smooth muscle cells promotes migration and osteoclastic differentiation of macrophages 2011
    2011 Tamoxifen enhances therapeutic effects of gemcitabine on cholangiocarcinoma tumorigenesis 2011
    2011 Mechanisms and consequences of salt sensitivity and dietary salt intake 2011
    2010 RANKL up-regulates brain-type creatine kinase via poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 during osteoclastogenesis 2010
    2009 Free fatty acids enhance breast cancer cell migration through plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 and SMAD4 2009
    2009 Molecular mechanisms of tamoxifen therapy for cholangiocarcinoma: Role of calmodulin 2009
    2008 A conserved domain of previously unknown function in Gap1 mediates protein-protein interaction and is required for biogenesis of a serine-rich streptococcal adhesin 2008
    2008 The effect of plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 on apoptosis 2008
    2008 Phospholipase Cγ2 mediates RANKL-stimulated lymph node organogenesis and osteoclastogenesis 2008
    2008 Calmodulin binding to cellular FLICE-like inhibitory protein modulates Fas-induced signalling 2008
    2008 Oxidative stress induces vascular calcification through modulation of the osteogenic transcription factor Runx2 by AKT signaling 2008
    2008 Calmodulin binding to the Fas-mediated death-inducing signaling complex in cholangiocarcinoma cells 2008
    2007 Reciprocal co-expression of Fas and Fas ligand in human cholangiocarcinoma 2007
    2006 Survivin promoter-based conditionally replicative adenoviruses target cholangiocarcinoma 2006
    2006 Augmentation of proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells by plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 2006
    2006 Fas-mediated apoptosis in cholangiocarcinoma cells is enhanced by 3,3′-diindolylmethane through inhibition of AKT signaling and FLICE-like inhibitory protein 2006
    2004 Inhibition of apoptosis and caspase-3 in vascular smooth muscle cells by plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 2004
    2002 Effect of fatty acid chain length and thioesterification on the augmentation of expression of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 2002
    2002 The independence of signaling pathways mediating increased expression of plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 in HepG2 cells exposed to free fatty acids or triglycerides 2002
    2000 Identification and localization of a fatty acid response region in the human plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 gene 2000
    1998 Cloning and functional expression of CPP32 cDNA in E. coli 1998

    Research Overview

  • Gene Regulation and Function in the Pathogenesis of Cardiovascular Disease and Aging:
    Regulation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) phenotype and differentiation contributes significantly to the development of cardiovascular diseases and aging. We study the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying VSMC regulation using comprehensive molecular, biochemical and physiology approaches and translational animal models for human disease.

    • Principal Investigator On

    Investigator On

    Teaching Overview

  • Dr. Chen is currently Professor and Vice Chair for Faculty Development and Education, Department of Pathology. She has also been the Director of the Pathobiology, Pharmacology and Physiology (P3) Theme of the UAB Graduate Biomedical Science (GBS) Program since 2015, and served on the advisory committee for the election of the UAB postdoctoral association committee. Dr. Chen is currently the course director of “Molecular Basis of Disease” for the GBS students (since 2010) as well as “Research Data Analysis” for all graduate students in the P3 theme (since 2017). In addition, Dr. Chen has been actively and effectively teaching 5 graduate courses since she joined the faculty of Department of Pathology in 2004; and serving on many graduate student thesis committees. She is a faculty mentor on six UAB pre- or post-doctoral training programs that are funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

    Dr. Chen has advised many trainees in her research laboratory, who have succeeded in competing and receiving national awards, including Young Investigator Awards, Scholar-in-Training Award, Travel Awards to present at national and international meetings, as well as pre- or post-doctoral fellowship awards from the American Heart Association or being selected on NIH funded T32 pre- or postdoctoral fellowship programs. Dr. Chen received the UAB Graduate School Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentorship in 2016, as well as UAB School of Medicine Dean’s Excellence Award for Mentorship in 2019.

    • Teaching Activities

    Education And Training

  • Master of Business Administration in Business Administration and Management, University of Vermont 2001
  • Doctor of Philosophy Level Degree in Zoology / Animal Biology, Xiamen University 1997

    • Full Name

  • Yabing Chen