Li Wen, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Medicine (Endocrinology) at Yale School of Medicine, is interested in how innate immunity changes in gut composition influence health. Through her research using preclinical models, she discovered that gut microbiota plays an important role in type 1 diabetes. Recently, she found that the loss of a specific innate immunity receptor in B cells leads to changes in gut bacteria that are linked to the development of obesity.
More than two in five U.S. adults have obesity, which puts them at increased risk for other serious diseases, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Wen notes that some of the health issues associated with obesity include type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and certain cancers. Obesity is linked with increased medical costs and lower quality of life…
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