Research Terms
Keywords
Beta Cell Regeneration Diabetes Pancreas Single-Cell Rna-Seq
Industries
Dr. Yue (Julia) Wang is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Sciences at Florida State University’s College of Medicine. Her research explores how the pancreas maintains healthy function and what goes wrong in diabetes. By combining genetics, molecular biology, and cutting-edge single-cell technologies, her team studies how pancreatic cells respond to stress, interact with each other, and sometimes lose their ability to produce insulin.
Dr. Wang earned her Ph.D. in Human Genetics from Johns Hopkins University under the mentorship of Dr. Steven Leach and Dr. Mike Parsons and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania with Dr. Klaus Kaestner.
At FSU, Dr. Wang leads a dynamic research program supported by the National Institutes of Health, the American Diabetes Association, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Her lab integrates advanced bioinformatics, imaging, and bioengineering to better understand the genetic and environmental factors driving diabetes.
• X. Hu, L. Guo, M. Pilar Toledo, P. Sandoval Sanchez, G. Xie, C. Liu, A. Naji, J. Irianto, M. G. Roper, & Y. J. Wang. (2025). Molecular Mechanisms of Human Pancreatic Islet Dysfunction Under Overnutrition Metabolic Stress. Diabetes, 74(10), 1825-1838.
• M. P. Toledo, G. Xie, & Y. J. Wang. (2024). Comprehensive Characterization of Islet Remodeling in Development and in Diabetes Using Mass Cytometry. Endocrinology, 165(9).
• G. Xie, M. P. Toledo, X. Hu, H. J. Yong, P. S. Sanchez, C. Liu, A. Naji, J. Irianto, & Y. J. Wang. (2024). NKX2-2 based nuclei sorting on frozen human archival pancreas enables the enrichment of islet endocrine populations for single-nucleus RNA sequencing. BMC Genomics, 25(1), 427.
• H. J. Yong, M. P. Toledo, R. S. Nowakowski, & Y. J. Wang. (2022). Sex Differences in the Molecular Programs of Pancreatic Cells Contribute to the Differential Risks of Type 2 Diabetes. Endocrinology, 163(11).
• H. J. Yong, G. Xie, C. Liu, W. Wang, A. Naji, J. Irianto, & Y. J. Wang. (2021). Gene Signatures of NEUROGENIN3+ Endocrine Progenitor Cells in the Human Pancreas. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne), 12, 736286.
• D Avrahami, YJ Wang, J Schug, E Feleke, L Gao, C Liu, A Naji, B Glaser, KH Kaestner, HPAP Consortium. Single-cell transcriptomics of human islet ontogeny defines the molecular basis of beta-cell dedifferentiation in T2D. Molecular Metabolism, 2020; 42:101057.
• AM Zahm, AW Wang, YJ Wang, J Schug, KJ Wangensteen, KH Kaestner. A High-Content Screen Identifies MicroRNAs That Regulate Liver Repopulation After Injury in Mice. Gastroenterology, 2020;158(4):1044-1057.
• AW Wang, YJ Wang, AM Zahm, AR Morgan, KJ Wangensteen, KH Kaestner. The Dynamic Chromatin Architecture of the Regenerating Liver. Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 2020;9(1):121-143.
• YJ Wang, J Schug, J Lin, Z Wang, A Kossenkov, HPAP consortium, KH Kaestner. Comparative analysis of commercially available single-cell RNA sequencing platforms for their performance in complex human tissues. bioRxiv, 2019.
• YJ Wang, D Traum, J Schug, L Gao, C Liu, HPAP consortium, MA Atkinson, AC Powers, MD Feldman, A Naji, KM Chang, KH Kaestner. Multiplexed in situ imaging mass cytometry analysis of the human endocrine pancreas and immune system in type 1 diabetes. Cell Metabolism, 2019; 29(3): 769-783.
• YJ Wang, KH Kaestner. Single-Cell RNA-Seq of the Pancreatic Islets––a Promise Not yet Fulfilled? Cell Metabolism, 2019.
• M Shoshkes-Carmel, YJ Wang, KJ Wangensteen, B Tóth, A Kondo, S Itzkovitz, KH Kaestner. Subepithelial telocytes are an important source of Wnts that support intestinal crypts. Nature, 2018; 557: 242-246.
• KJ Wangensteen, YJ Wang, Z Dou, AW Wang, E Mosleh-Shirazi, MA Horlbeck, LA Gilbert, JS Weissman, SL Berger, KH Kaestner. Combinatorial genetics in liver repopulation and carcinogenesis with a novel in vivo CRISPR activation platform. Hepatology, 2017.
• YJ Wang, ML Golson, J Schug, D Traum, C Liu, K Vivek, C Dorrell, A Naji, AC Powers, KM Chang, M Grompe, KH Kaestner. Single-cell mass cytometry analysis of the human endocrine pancreas. Cell Metabolism, 2016; 24(4): 616-626. Cover story.
• YJ Wang, J Schug, KJ Won, C Liu, A Naji, D Avrahami, ML Golson, KH Kaestner. Single cell transcriptomics of the human endocrine pancreas. Diabetes, 2016; 65(10): 3028-3038.
• YJ Wang, JT Park, MJ Parsons, SD Leach. Fate mapping of ptf1a-expressing cells during pancreatic organogenesis and regeneration in zebrafish. Developmental Dynamics, 2015; 244(6): 724-735.
• YJ Wang, F McAllister, JM Bailey, SG Scott, AM Hendley, SD Leach, B Ghosh. Dicer is required for maintenance of adult pancreatic acinar cell identity and plays a role in Kras-driven pancreatic neoplasia. PLoS One, 2014; 9(11): e113127.
• YJ Wang, J Bailey, M Rovira, SD Leach. Sphere-forming assays for assessment of benign and malignant pancreatic stem cells. Pancreatic Cancer: Methods in Molecular Biology, 2013.
Endocrine Society, Member; 2022 - present
American Diabetes Association, Member; 2018 - present
