Biography
Dr. Yan is a professor in the Department of Population Health & Disease Prevention with an emphasis on global health. His research concentrates on epidemiology of vector-borne diseases and vectors. This includes evaluating the effects of environmental modifications and invasive vectors on malaria transmission and disease burden in Africa, assessing the impact of urbanization on dengue transmission and vector ecology in Asia, studying ecological genetics of insecticide resistance, developing adaptive and locally tailored vector intervention strategies.
Dr. Yan also serves as the program director for a Center of Excellence for Malaria Research (ICEMR) in Ethiopia and Kenya funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and is the project director for a global infectious disease training program funded by the Fogarty International Center.
Research Interests
• Ecological and molecular epidemiology of infectious diseases;
• Disease vector ecology and behavior;
• Population genetics and genomics of disease vectors;
• Global climate and environmental changes and infectious diseases;
• Infectious disease dynamics modeling.
Current Projects/Studies
- Environmental Modifications in sub-Saharan Africa: Changing Epidemiology, Transmission and Pathogenesis of Plasmodium falciparum and vivax Malaria (Supported by NIH; U19 AI129326)
- Serological Biomarkers for Monitoring Human-Vector Contact by Invasive Anopheles stephensi in Africa (Supported by NIH; R21AI178440)
- A Novel Hydrology-based Malaria Transmission Model and Field Applications (Supported by NIH; R21AI174183)
- Population Biology of African Malaria Vectors and Parasites (Supported by NIH; D43TW001505)
Education
- PhD, University of Vermont, Biology (1994)
- MSc., Peking University, Biology (1989)
- B.Sc., China Agricultural University, Entomology (1986)
Honors and Awards
- Chancellor’s Fellow, UC Irvine, 2019
- ICEMR Award of Excellence, NIAID, NIH, 2011
Publications
• Zhou G, Lee MC, Wang X, Zhong D, Githeko AK, Yan G (2024). Mapping Potential Malaria Vector Larval Habitats for Larval Source Management in Western Kenya: Introduction to Multimodel Ensembling Approaches. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 13 Feb 2024. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.23-0108
• Hubbard, A, Hemming‐Schroeder, E, Machani, MG, Afrane, Y, Yan, G, Lo, E and Janies, D (2023) Implementing landscape genetics in molecular epidemiology to determine drivers of vector‐borne disease: A malaria case study. Molecular Ecology, 32(8), pp.1848-1859.
• Yan, G, Lee, MC, Zhou, G, Jiang, AL, Degefa, T, Zhong, D, Wang, X, Hemming-Schroeder, E, Mukabana, WR, Dent, AE, King, CL, Hsu K, Beeson J, Githure J, Atieli H, Githeko AK, Yewhalaw D, Kazura JW. (2022) Impact of Environmental Modifications on the Ecology, Epidemiology, and Pathogenesis of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax Malaria in East Africa. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 107(4_Suppl), pp.5-13.
• Githure, JI, Yewhalaw, D, Atieli, H, Hemming-Schroeder, E, Lee, MC, Wang, X, Zhou, G, Zhong, D, King, CL, Dent, A, Mukabana, WR, Degefa T, Hsu K, Githeko AK, Okomo G, Dayo L, Tushune K, Omondi, CO, Taffese, HS, Kazura, JW, Yan, G. (2022) Enhancing Malaria Research, Surveillance, and Control in Endemic Areas of Kenya and Ethiopia. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 107(4_Suppl), pp.14-20.
• Zhou, J., Liu, S., Liu, H., Xie, Z., Liu, L., Lin, L., Jiang, J., Yang, M., Zhou, G., Gu, J., Zhou, X., Yan, G., A.A. James, X. Chen (2022) Interspecific mating bias may drive Aedes albopictus displacement of Aedes aegypti during its range expansion. PNAS nexus, 1(2), p.pgac041.
• Gunalan, K, E Lo, JB Hostetler, D Yewhalaw, J Mu, DE Neafsey, G Yan and LH Miller (2016). “The role of Plasmodium vivax Duffy binding protein 1 in invasion of Duffy null Africans.” PNAS USA 113(22):6271-6.
• Chen, XG, Jiang X, Gu J, Xu M, Wu Y, Deng Y, Zhang C, Bonizzoni M, Dermauw W, Vontas J, Armbruster P, Huang X, Yang Y, Zhang H, He W, Peng H, Liu Y, Wu K, Chen J, Lirakis M, Topalis P, Van Leeuwen T, Hall AB, Jiang X, Thorpe C, Mueller RL, Sun C, Waterhouse RM, Yan G, Tu ZJ, Fang X and James AA (2015). Genome sequence of the Asian Tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, reveals insights into its biology, genetics, and evolution. PNAS USA 112(44):E5907-E5915.
• Neafsey, DE, Waterhouse, RM, Abai, MR, Aganezov, SS, Alekseyev, MA, Allen, JE, Amon, J, Arca, B, Arensburger, P, Artemov, G, Assour, LA, Basseri, H, Berlin, A, Birren, BW, Blandin, SA, Brockman, AI, Burkot, T………. Yan, G,……. Zwiebel, LJ and Besansky, NJ (2015). Mosquito genomics. Highly evolvable malaria vectors: the genomes of 16 Anopheles mosquitoes. Science 347(6217):1258522.
• Li, J, Wang, X, Zhang, G, Githure, JI, Yan, G, & James, AA (2013). Genome-block expression-assisted association studies discover malaria resistance genes in Anopheles gambiae. PNAS USA 110(51), 20675-20680.
