Dr. Wenjun Fan had a banner 2023. She completed a doctoral degree in Public Health in July 2023, and on the heels of this accomplishment, she accepted an offer to become an assistant professor of teaching of epidemiology and biostatistics at the UCI Program in Public Health. No stranger to UCI, she received a Master of Science degree in biomedical and translational science from the UCI School of Medicine in 2015 prior to her doctoral degree.
A passion for teaching the next generation
As an assistant professor of teaching, Dr. Fan will be devoting much of her time to teaching. Not only does she love teaching, but she also brings a unique perspective of having just been a student not so long ago. Her teaching journey started during her doctoral work where she served as a Teaching Assistant for numerous courses, honed her methodology, and even received a teaching award during that time.
“What may seem like another obligation to stack on top of doctoral coursework and my research dissertation, I truly credit my time as a Teaching Assistant to my smooth transition to my current faculty position,” said Fan.
Dr. Fan is currently teaching Introduction to Epidemiology and statistical analysis programming to all graduate level students. Both courses have been successfully launched, which is a feat considering she has never taught them before. What may be already a sign of her potential impact on our student body, many graduate students have reached out to her for guidance and mentorship on their next steps after graduation. She has also taken on a formal mentorship role serving on a thesis committee for a master’s student that is passionate about the same research area Dr. Fan specializes in – cardiovascular disease prevention.
Ultimately, my goal through this project is to increase lipoprotein(a) testing, a one-time procedure that offers significant benefits in early prevention, aiding in the earlier prediction of cardiovascular risk and potentially saving lives from future cardiovascular events.”
– Wenjun Fan, MS ‘15, PhD ‘23
Tackling the leading cause of death for nearly everyone
Being raised in a family with numerous members affected by cardiovascular disease, she became interested in in understanding more about the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) that most racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. face. And from that point on, she has dedicated her research to alleviating those burdens and using her expertise in biostatistics and precision health, specifically big data, to find better predictors of cardiovascular risks, including coronary artery disease, heart attacks, and other heart related illnesses. Under the mentorship of Dr. Nathan Wong, professor of medicine and affiliated faculty under epidemiology & biostatistics, Dr. Fan is now collaborating with Dr. Wong on two active projects.
The first project has focused on quality improvement in clinical practice, where physicians are encouraged to comply with current guidelines in lipid management for those at high CVD risk. Research shows that even the standard of care treatment, statin, is under-prescribed though it is both recommended and low cost. Dr. Fan and her team launched a study to increase lipid testing and preventive lipid-lowering medication prescription compliance among our very own UCI Health physicians. Using an algorithm, physicians will see a pop-up message reminding them that the patient they are currently serving should be considered on certain preventive treatments based on the updated clinical guidelines. Simultaneously, identified patients will see on their portal a message that they have elevated markers and should speak to their physician about potential treatments. This dual method, in theory, will at least encourage physicians and patients to talk about their lipid management plan and their potential benefits to reducing CVD.
The second project was just awarded through a competitive process from the American Heart Association. The nationwide call was for innovative research that harnessed big data to find a connection between a novel biomarker called lipoprotein(a) and CVD risk. Triumphing over numerous peer institutions like Duke and Yale, Dr. Fan and her team’s model has shown promising preliminary findings that reclassify patients, who will experience the events in the future, from intermediate risk to high-risk group when considering lipoprotein(a) at their baseline CVD risk assessment.
“I am excited for the potential of my research findings to spread awareness that this genetically determined risk factor exists and is found in one in five people,” Fan said. “Ultimately, my goal through this project is to increase lipoprotein(a) testing, a one-time procedure that offers significant benefits in early prevention, aiding in the earlier prediction of cardiovascular risk and potentially saving lives from future cardiovascular events.”
