Dr Yun Shen

Dr Yun Shen is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Diabetes Research.

Yun finished her post-doctoral research at the Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institute for Biological Science, Chinese Academy of Science. From 2004 to 2005 she worked as a visiting Research Fellow with the diabetes and metabolism group at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, studying insulin resistance using euglycaemic-hyperinsulinaemic clamp techniques.

She is currently researching the interactions of diet and genetic variation on obesity and diabetes ("diabesity"), as part of WAIMR's Centre for Food and Genomic Medicine. Additional studies include investigating the inheritance and physiology of insulin resistance in genetically defined mouse strains; identifying insulin resistance loci; and ultimately determining the molecular basis for action of insulin resistance genes.

Qualifications

1994	BMed - YunNan College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China
1999	MMed - Pharmacology, HeNan College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China
2002	PhD - Shanghai Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China Thesis Title: "Traditional Chinese herbs and irritable bowel syndrome - effect of Changjitai on expression of brain gut peptide in irritable bowel syndrome model"

Research Interests

• Genetic studies of insulin resistance
• Signalling mechanisms involved in lipid induced insulin resistance
• Pharmacological approaches to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes

Major Grants Awarded

• 2003 - CAS K.C. Wong Post-doctoral Research Award Fund, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
• 2006 - Shanghai Municipal Education Commission Grant, China.

Top 10 Publications

1. Shen Y, Zhao HL, Du J, Li YT, Tan F, Huang CG, Pei G. 2005. Feitai, a Chinese herbal medicine, reduces transforming growth factor-beta1 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 expression in bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis in mice. Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology 32(12):1071-7. [NCBI PubMed Entry]
2. Yang YJ, Shen Y, Chen SH, Ge XR. 2005. Role of interleukin 18 in acute lung inflammation induced by gut ischemia reperfusion. World Journal of Gastroenterology 11(29):4524-9. [NCBI PubMed Entry]
3. Lee YS, Kim WS, Kim KH, Yoon MJ, Cho HJ, Shen Y, Ye JM, Lee CH, Oh WK, Kim CT, Hohnen-Behrens C, Gosby A, Kraegen EW, James DE, Kim JB. 2006. Berberine, a natural plant product, activates AMP-activated protein kinase with beneficial metabolic effects in diabetic and insulin-resistant states. Diabetes 55(8):2256-64. [NCBI PubMed Entry]
4. Kraegen EW, Shen Y, Ye J, Hohnen-Behrens C, Gosby A, Kim JB. James DE. 2006. Berberine activates AMPK and has beneficial metabolic actions in diabetic and insulin resistant states. Abstract for 66th Annual Meeting of the American Diabetes Association.