The Department of Nutrition

Wei Jia, Ph.D.

Jia 2

Professor and Co-Director of the Center for Translational Biomedical Research
Director, The Metabolomics Center of Excellence, North Carolina Research Campus
Office: 704-250-5803
w_jia@uncg.edu

Dr. Jia's current research focuses on the identification and characterization of bioactive components from natural products and traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) concerning common multi-factorial, system-wide diseases such as metabolic disorders. He utilizes metabolic and chemical profiling approaches as a way to scientifically bridge different pharmaceutical and nutrional concepts and methodologies. A top-down strategy is taken in his research to capture the dynamic variations of biological systems in response to environmental stimuli or drug intervention, and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of pathophysiological development.

Dr. Jia was previously Professor of Natural Medicines and Vice Dean, School of Pharmacy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), P.R. China. In addition, he was Director of the Center for TCM and Systems Biology within Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a program with special emphasis on the synergy between multi-component drug and food research. He was Principal Investigator of Shanghai Center for Systems Biomedicine, the first system biology research institute focusing on clinical applications in China.

Education

- Ph.D., University of Missouri - Columbia, 1996
- M.S., University of Missouri - Columbia, 1991
- B.S., Jiangnan University, 1986

Research Interests

- Identification and evaluation of bioactive ingredients from foods and traditional Chinese medicines for the preventive treatment of metabolic disorders.

- Metabonomic study of disorders, including diabetes, obesity, and colorectal cancer, is performed to:

  • identify the metabolite markers for disease diagnosis and stratification;
  • understand how bioactive phytochemical compounds, either alone or in combination, interact with these metabolic pathways to restore the homeostasis of the disturbed metabolic regulatory network;
  • determine the baseline metabolic signatures that will predict how individuals will respond to a specific nutritional intervention.

Selected Publications Since 2008

    1. Chen, T.L., Xie, G.X., Wang, X.Y., Fan, J., Qiu, Y.P., Zheng, X.J., Qi, X., Cao, Y., Su, M.M., Wang, X.Y., Xu, L.X., Yen, Y., Liu, P., Jia, W.  Serum and urine metabolite profiling reveals potential biomarkers of human hepatocellular carcinoma. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics, Vol 10, Issue 7, DOI: 10.1074/mcp. M110.004945, 2011.
    2. Hua, Y.Q., Zhao, A.H., Qiu, Y.P., Wang, X.Y.; Chen, T.L., Zhang, Z.Y., Chi, Y. Hu, S., Sun, W., Li, G.D., Cai, Z.D., Zhou, Z.X., Jia, W.  Dynamic metabolic transformation in tumor invasion and metastasis in mice with LM-8 osteosarcoma cell transplantation. Journal of Proteome Research, Epub ahead of schedule, DOI: 10.1021/pr200147g, 2011.
    3. Wei, J., Xie, G., Zhou, Z., Shi, P., Qiu, Y., Zheng, X., Chen, T., Su, M., Zhao, A., Jia, W. A Salivary metabolite signatures of oral cancer and leukoplakia. International Journal of Cancer, PMID: 21190195, 2011.
    4. Cai, Z., Zhao, J., Li, J., Peng, D., Wang, X., Chen, T., Qiu, Y., Chen, P., Li, W., Xu, L., Li, E., Tam, J., Qi, R., Jia, W., Xie, D. A combined proteomic and metabolomic profiling of gastric cardia cancer reveals characteristic dysregulations in glucose metabolism. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics, 9, 2617-2628, 2010.
    5. Jiang, W., Qiu, Y., Ni, Y., Su, M., Jia, W., Du, X. An automated data analysis pipeline for GC-TOF-MS metabonomics studies. Journal of Proteome Research, 9(11), 5974-5981. 2010
    6. Zhang, Z., Qiu, Y., Hua, Y., Wang, Y., Chen, T., Zhao, A., Chi, Y., Pan, L., Hu, S., Li, J., Yang, C.W., Li, G., Sun, W., Cai, Z., Jia, W. A Serum and urinary metabonomic study of human osteosarcoma. Journal of Proteome Research, 9(9), 4861-4868, 2010.
    7. Sha, W., Ann daCosta, K., Fischer, L., Milburn, M., Lawton, K., Berger, A., Jia, W., Zeisel, S. Metabolomics profiling can predict which humans will develop liver dysfunction when deprived of dietary choline. The FASEB Journal, 24, 2962-2975, 2010.
    8. Xie, G., Zheng, X., Qi, X., Cao, Y., Chi, Y., Su, M., Ni, Y., Qiu, Y., Liu, Y., Li, H., Zhao, A., Jia, W. A Metabonomic evaluation of Melamine-induced acute renal toxicity in rats. Journal of Proteome Research, 9(1), 125-133, 2010.
    9. Qiu, Y., Cai, G., Su, M., Chen, T., Liu, Y., Xu, Y., Ni, Y., Zhao, A., Cai, S., Xu, LX., Jia, W. Urinary Metabonomic Study on Colorectal Cancer. Journal of Proteome Research, 9(3), 1627-1634, 2010.
    10. Li, X., Yang, S., Qiu, Y., Zhao, T., Chen, T., Su, M., Chu, L., Lv, A., Liu, P., Jia, W. A Urinary metabolomics as a potentially novel diagnostic and stratification tool for knee osteoarthritis. Metabolomics, 6(1), 109-118, 2010.
    11. Lan, K., Jia, W. An integrated metabolomics and pharmacokinetics strategy for multicomponent drugs evaluation. Current Drug Metabolism, 11(1), 105-115, 2010.
    12. Qiu, Y., Cai, G., Su, M., Chen, T., Zheng, X., Xu, Y., Ni, Y., Zhao, A., Xu, L., Cai, S., Jia, W. Serum metabolite profiling of human colorectal cancer using GC-TOFMS and UPLC-QTOFMS. Journal of Proteome Research, 8(10), 4844-4850. 2009.
    13. Zhao, T., Chen, T., Qiu, Y., Zou, X., Li, X., Su, M., Yan, C., Zhao, A., Jia, W. Trace element profiling using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and its application in an osteoarthritis study. Analytical Chemistry, 81(9), 3683-3692, 2009.
    14. Wang, X., Zhao, T., Qiu, Y., Su, M., Jiang, T., Zhou, M., Zhao, A., Jia, W. Metabonomics approach to understanding acute and chronic stress in rat models. Journal of Proteome Research, 8(5), 2511-2518, 2009.
    15. Bao, Y., Zhao, T., Wang, X., Qiu, Y., Su, M., Jia, W.P., Jia, W. Metabonomic variations in the drug-treated type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and healthy volunteers. Journal of Proteome Research, 8(4), 1623-1630, 2009.
    16. Li, H., Xie, Z., Lin, J., Song, H., Wang, Q., Wang, K., Su, M., Qiu, Y., Zhao, T., Song, K., Wang, Y., Zhou, M., Liu, P., Zhao, G., Zhang, Q., Jia, W. Transcriptomic and metabonomic profiling of obesity-Prone and obesity-resistant rats under high fat diet. Journal of Proteome Research, 7(11), 4775-4783, 2008.
    17. Jia, W., Li, H., Zhao, L., Nicholson, J. K. Gut microbiota: a potential new territory for drug targeting, Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. Vol 7, 123-131, 2008.
    18. Shen, Q., Li, X., Qiu, Y., Su, M., Liu, Y., Li, H., Wang, X., Zou, X., Yan, C., Yu, L., Li, S., Wan, C., He, L., Jia, W. A Metabonomic and Metallomic Profiling in the Amniotic Fluid of Malnourished Pregnant Rats. Journal of Proteome Research, 7(5), 2151-2157, 2008.
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