Prof. Beinan Wang graduated from Army Surgeon Institution of Nanjing in 1980 and received her Master degree on Infection and Immunity in Academy of Military Medical Sciences in 1987. She obtained her Ph.D on microbiology from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 1998. Since then she worked as a senior postdoctoral scientist in the House Ear Institute; Los Angeles, California, a postdoctoral microbiologist in the University of California, Los Angeles; and a research associate, senior research associate and research assistant professor in the University of Minnesota, USA. During her career development, Prof. Wang focuses on the molecular pathogenesis of bacteria. She joined the Institute of Microbiology at the end of 2010.

Prof. Beinan Wang investigates immune response to bacterial infection with a focus on Th17 immunity to mucosal bacterial pathogens. Using a mouse mucosal model of group A Streptococcus pyogenes (GAS), she seeks to characterize protective immunity provided by Th17 and discover vaccine candidates that can induce efficient protection cross GAS serotypes. In addition, she studies mechanisms involved in secondary bacterial pneumonia following influenza viral infection and investigates the effects of viral infection on increased host susceptibility to bacterial adherence and on injured immune response to bacterial infection.

[1] Wang B*., Briscoe S., Hyland KA., and Cleary PP. 2010. Induction of TGF-b1 and TGF-b1-dependent predominant Th17 differentiation by group A Streptococcal infection. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 107(13):5937.
[2] Wang, B*., Li, S., Dedhar, S.,and Cleary, PP. 2007. Paxillin phosphorylation: Bifurcation point downstream of Integrin-Linked Kinase (ILK) in Streptococcal Invasion. Cell. Micro. 9(6): 1519.
[3] Wang, B., Li, S., Southern, P., and Cleary, PP. 2006. Streptococcal Modulation of Cellular Invasion via TGF-β1 signaling. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. Vol. 103 (7):2380.
[4] Wang, B., Yurecko, RS., Li, S., Dedhar, S., and Cleary, PP. 2006. Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is an essential link between integrins and and uptake bacterial pathogens by epithelial cells. Cell. Micro. Vol.8 (2):257.
[5] Wang, B., Cleary, PP., Xu, H., and Li, JD. 2003. Up-regulation of interleukin-8 by novel small cytoplasmic molecules of nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae via p38 and extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway. Infect. Immun. 71:5523.
[6] Wang, B., Han, J., Basbaum, C., Lim, D., and Li, JD. 2002. Novel cytoplasmic components of nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae up-regulate human mucin MUC5AC transcription via activation of a positive p38 MAP kinase pathway and a negative PI3-Akt pathway. J. Biol. Chem. 277: 949.