Women Speakers Database
Photo
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Name
Yunn-Hwen Gan -
Email
bchganyh@nus.edu.sg -
Country/Region
Singapore -
Institute
National University of Singapore -
Career Stage
Tenured Faculty -
Website
https://bch.nus.edu.sg/bchganyh.htm -
Research Interests
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Profile
Yunn-Hwen Gan graduated from Purdue University with a BSc (Honours) in Molecular Biology and University of Wisconsin-Madison with a PhD in medical microbiology and immunology. She is a world leading researcher in melioidosis, a disease primarily in the tropics caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei. She established the first mucosal animal model in 2002 and had helped define the field by examining pathogen’s virulence as well as the host immune response to the disease. Her lab discovered a regulatory cascade that coordinately controlled two bacterial secretion systems which are absolutely critical for bacterial virulence. Other seminal findings include the discovery that the pathogen could infect plants and glutathione deficiency is the reason for increased disease risk to melioidosis for Type 2 diabetic patients. Her laboratory also works on identifying bacterial virulence factors of hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae responsible for causing liver abscess, which is prominent in Asia. Her team is interested in examining the gut microbiome interactions that contribute to colonization resistance to Klebsiella. Meanwhile, studies are underway to define the gut and liver immune responses to the disease.