Fan Fan, MD, MS, FAHA

Associate Professor of Physiology

Fan photo

Phone: (706) 721-5615
Fax: (706) 721-7299
Email: ffan@augusta.edu
Office: CA-2098
Lab: CA-2059

Learn more about Dr. fan's Research

Education and Training

Qingdao Medical College, Clinical Medicine, MD, 1989

The Medical University of South Carolina, Immunology/Molecular Biology, Postdoctoral Fellow, 2001

University of Mississippi Medical Center, Biomedical Science/Pharmacology, MS, 2013

University of Mississippi Medical Center, Pharmacology, Postdoctoral Fellow/ Senior Scientist, 2015

Academic Appointments

2015-2015 Instructor, Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Mississippi Medical Center

2015-2021 Assistant Professor, Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Mississippi Medical Center

2021-2023 Associate Professor, Pharmacology & Toxicology, University of Mississippi Medical Center

2023 Associate Professor, Physiology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University

Research Interests

My lab uses multidisciplinary approaches with an array of techniques to investigate how genetic-based microvascular dysfunction in aging, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity contributes to end-organ damage, including vascular cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease-related dementias (AD/ADRD), and renal disease. The lab also focuses on studying the contribution of changes in the actin cytoskeleton in vascular cells to the hemodynamics in cerebral and renal circulation, as well as changes in the actin cytoskeleton in podocytes in glomerular function. Recent work from the lab revealed that inhibition of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) and soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) reversed impaired cerebral hemodynamics and cognitive deficits. Ultimately, our goals are to develop novel biomarkers and new therapeutic strategies to prevent the onset, ensure early diagnosis and delay the progression of devastating cardiorenal and cerebral vascular diseases.

Current Projects

Awards and Accomplishments

2015 APS selected, American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology.

2015 New Investigator Travel Award, AHA Council of Hypertension 2015 Scientific Sessions.

2016 NIH/NIEHS Travel Award,16th International Winter Eicosanoid Conference.

2016 PLOS Early Career Travel Award.

2017 Excellence in Research Awards (Bronze level), University of Mississippi Medical Center.

2017 NIH Center for Scientific Review Early Career Reviewer

2018 NIH/NIEHS Travel Award, the 17th International Winter Eicosanoid Conference.

2018 Excellence in Research Awards (Silver level). University of Mississippi Medical Center.

2019 Fellow of the American Heart Association conferred by the Council on Hypertension.

2019 Kidney Council New Investigator Travel Award, AHA Hypertension 2019 Scientific Sessions.

2019 Excellence in Research Awards (Gold level), University of Mississippi Medical Center.

2019 Inventor, UMMC First Intellectual Property Recognition Ceremony.

2021 John F. Perkins, Jr. Research Career Enhancement Award (RCEA), American Physiological Society.

Representative Publications

(Go to Pub Med)

Chen CC, Geurts AM, Jacob HJ, Fan F, Roman RJ. Heterozygous knockout of transforming growth factor-B1 protects Dahl S rats against high salt-induced renal injury. Physiological Genomics. 2013; 45:110-118. PMID: 23249995, PMCID: PMC3568879.
Fan F, Sun C-W, Maier KG, Williams J, Didion S, Falck JR, Zhuo J, Roman RJ. 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid contributes to the inhibition of K channel activity and vasoconstrictor response to angiotensin II in renal arterioles. PLOS One 2013 Dec 4; 8(12): e8248. PMID: 24324797, PMCID: PMC3853207
Fan F, Guerts A, Pabbidi MR, Harder DR, Jacob H, Roman Zinc-finger nuclease knockout of dual-specificity protein phosphatase-5 enhances myogenic response in autoregulation of cerebral blood flow in FHH.1BN rats. PLoS One. 2014 Nov 14; 9(11): e112878. PMID: 25397684, PMCID: PMC4232417
Fan F, Chen CC, Zhang J, Schreck CMN, Roman EA, Williams JM, Hirata T, Sharma M, Beard DA, Savin VJ and Roman RJ. Fluorescence dilution technique for measurement of albumin reflection coefficient in isolated glomeruli. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol. 2015 Dec 15; 309(12): F1049-59. PMID: 26447220, PMCID: PMC4683305
Fan F, Geurts AR, Murphy SR, Pabbidi MR, Jacob H and Roman RJ. Impaired myogenic response and autoregulation of cerebral blood flow is rescued in CYP4A1 transgenic Dahl salt-sensitive rat. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. (*APSselect*), 2015 Mar 1; 308(5): R379-90. PMID: 25540098, PMCID: PMC4346760
Fan F, Pabbidi MR, Ge Y, Li L, Wang S, Mims PM and Roman RJ. Knockdown of Gamma-Adducin Impairs the Myogenic Response of Renal Afferent Arterioles and Middle Cerebral Arteries. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol. 2017; 312: F971-F981. PMID: 27927653, PMCID: PMC 5495887
Zhang C, He X, Murphy SR, Zhang H, Wang S, Ge Y, Gao W, Williams, JM, Geurts AM, Roman RJ, and Fan F. Knockout of dual-specificity protein phosphatase-5 protects against hypertension-induced chronic kidney disease. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2019 Aug; 370(2):206-217. PMID: 31118214, PMCID: PMC6636243.

Fang X, Tang C, Zhang H, Border JJ, Liu Y, Shin SM, Yu H, Roman RJ, and Fan F. Longitudinal Characterization of Cerebral Hemodynamics in the TgF344-AD Rat Model of Alzheimer’s Disease. GeroScience. 2023, 0000-0000 [In Press].

Wang S, Tang C, Liu Y, Border JJ, Roman RJ, Fan F. Impact of cerebral blood flow autoregulation on cognitive impairment. Frontiers in Aging. 2022; 3: 1077302. PMID: 36531742. PMCID: PMC9755178

Song J, Liu Y, Guo Y, Qu Z, Liu P, Li F, Yang C, Fan F, Chen Z. TMEM173 rs7447927 genetic polymorphism and susceptibility to severe enterovirus 71 infection in Chinese children. Immun Inflamm Dis. 2022 Dec; 10(12): e742. PMID: 36444630. PMCID: PMC9695089.

Shin SM, Lauzadis J, Itson-Zoske B, Cai Y, Fan F, Natarajan GK, Kwok W, Puopolo M, Hogan QH, and Yu H. Targeting intrinsically disordered regions facilitates discovery of calcium channels 3.2 inhibitory peptides for adeno-associated virus–mediated peripheral analgesia. Pain. 2022 Dec 1;163(12):2466-2484. PMID: 35420557. PMCID: PMC9562599

Williams JM, Murphy SR, Wu W, Border JJ, Fan F, and Roman RJ. Renoprotective effects of empagliflozin in type 1 and type 2 models of diabetic nephropathy superimposed with hypertension. Geroscience. 2022 Jun 29. PMID: 35767209. PMCID: PMC: pending.

Fang X, Roman RJ, and Fan F. From 1901 to 2022, How Far Are We from Truly Understanding the Pathogenesis of Age-related Dementia? Geroscience. 2022 Jun;44(3):1879-1883. PMID: 35585301. PMCID: PMC9213583.

Thomas KN, Strong LB, Fan F, and Roman RJ. Turn up the HETE on Septic Shock. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 2022 Aug 1;80(2):206-209. PMID: 35575984. PMCID: PMC9378639.

Song J, Liu Y, Guo Y, Liu P, Li F, Yang C, Pan X, Yi L, Fan F, Zhao H, and Chen Z. Association of the IRAK4 rs4251545 genetic polymorphism with severity of enterovirus‐71 infection in Chinese children. Immun Inflamm Dis. 2022 May; 10(5): e614. PMID: 35478439. PMCID: PMC9017637

DeOre BJ, Partyka PP, Fan F, Galie PA. CD44 mediates shear stress mechanotransduction in an in vitro blood-brain barrier model through small GTPases RhoA and Rac1. FASEB J. 2022 May;36(5):e22278. PMID: 35436025. PMCID: PMC8754422: pending.

Fang X, Crumpler RF, Thomas KN, Mazique JN, Roman RJ, and Fan F. Contribution of Cerebral Microvascular Mechanisms to Age-Related Cognitive Impairment and Dementia. Physiol Int. 2022 Mar 2. doi: 10.1556/2060.2022.00020. Online ahead of print., PMID: 35238800, PMCID: PMC8754422: pending.

Crumpler RF, Roman RJ, and Fan F. Capillary Stalling: A Mechanism of Decreased Cerebral Blood Flow in AD/ADRD. J Exp Neurol. 2021; 2(4): 149–153. PMID: 35028643, PMCID: PMC8754422

Wang S, Jiao F, Ryu JJ, Fang X, Crumpler RF, Liu Y, Zhang H, Jefferson J, Guo Y, Elliott PS, Thoman KN, Strong LB, Urvina AH, Zheng B, Rijal A, Smith SV, Yu H, Roman RJ, Fan F. Luseogliflozin, a sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitor, reverses cerebrovascular dysfunction and cognitive impairments in aged diabetic animals. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2021 Dec 24. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00438.2021. Online ahead of print. PMID: 34951541, PMCID: PMC8759958

Gonzalez-Fernandez E, Fan L, Wang S, Liu Y, Gao W, Thomas KN, Fan F, and Roman RJ. The adducin saga: Pleiotropic genomic targets for precision medicine in human hypertension; vascular, renal, and cognitive diseases. Physiol. Genomics. 2022 Feb 1;54(2):58-70. PMID: 34859687. PMCID: PMC8799388

Ou Y, Clifton BA, Li J, Chen T, Huang J, Li N, Wu L, Sandlin D, Allison J, Fan F, Roman RJ, Zhou W, Pang Y, Zhu H. Traumatic brain injury induced by exposure to blast overpressure via ear canal. Neural Regen Res. Neural Regen Res. 2022 Jan;17(1):115-121. PMID: 34100446, PMCID: PMC8451570.

Zhang H, Roman RJ, Fan F. Hippocampus is More Susceptible to Hypoxic Injury: Has the Rosetta Stone of Regional Variation in Neurovascular Coupling Been Deciphered? GeroScience. 2022 Feb;44(1):127-130. PMID: 34453273. PMCID: PMC8810993

Gonzalez-Fernandez E, Liu Y, Auchus AP, Fan F, Roman RJ. Vascular Contributions to Cognitive Impairment and Dementia: The Emerging Role of 20-HETE. Clin. Sci. 2021 Aug 13;135(15):1929-1944. PMID: 34374423. PMCID: PMC8783562.

Shin SM, Moehring F, Itson-Zoske B, Fan F, Stucky CL, Hogan QH, Yu H. Piezo2 mechanosensitive ion channel is located to sensory neurons and non-neuronal cells in rat peripheral sensory pathway: implications in pain. Pain. 2021 Nov 1;162(11):2750-2768. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34285153, PMCID: PMC8526381.

Fan F, Booz GW, Roman RJ. Aging diabetes, deconstructing the cerebrovascular wall. Aging (Albany NY). 2021 Apr;43(2):1065-1067. PMID: 33846281, PMCID: PMC8110616.

Fan F, and Roman RJ. Reversal of cerebral hypoperfusion: a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of AD/ADRD? Geroscience. 2021 Apr;43(2):1065-1067. PMID: 33772733. PMCID: PMC8110616.

Liu Y, Zhang H, Yu T, Fang X, Ryu JJ, Zheng B, Chen Z, Roman RJ, and Fan F. 20-HETE-promoted cerebral blood flow autoregulation is associated with enhanced pericyte contractility. Prostaglandins Other Lipid Mediat. 2021 Jun;154:106548. PMID:33753221, PMCID: PMC8154705

Jiao F, Varghese K, Wang S, Liu Y, Yu H, Booz GW, Roman RJ, Liu R, and Fan F . Recent Insights into the Neurological and Cardio-Renal Protective Mechanisms of Paeoniflorin. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 2021 Jun 1;77(6):728-734. PMID: 34001724, PMCID: PMC8169546.

Shekhar S, Liu Y, Wang S, Zhang H, Fang X, Zhang J, Fan L, Zheng B, Roman RJ, Wang Z, Fan F, and Booz GW. Novel mechanistic insights and potential therapeutic impact of TRPC6 in neurovascular coupling and ischemic stroke. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021 Feb; 22(4): 2074. PMID: 33669830 PMCID: PMC7922996

Fan L, Gao W, Liu Y, Jefferson, J. R., Fan F, Roman R.J. Knockout of γ-Adducin Promotes N^G-Nitro-L-Arginine-Methyl-Ester (L-NAME)-Induced Hypertensive Renal Injury. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2021 Apr;377(1):189-198. PMID:33414130, PMCID: PMC8051517.

Zhang C, Fang X, Zhang H, Hsu HJ, Roman RJ, Fan F. Genetic Susceptibility of Hypertension Induced Kidney Disease. Physiol Rep. 2021 Jan;9(1):e14688. PMID: 33377622 PMCID: PMC7772938

Liu Y, Zhang H, Wang S, Guo Y, Fang X, Zheng B, Gao W, Yu H, Chen Z, Roman RJ, and Fan F. Reduced pericyte and tight junction coverage in old diabetic rats are associated with hyperglycemia-induced cerebrovascular pericyte dysfunction. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2021 Feb 1;320(2):H549-H562. PMID: 33306445 , PMCID: PMC8082790

Gao W, Liu Y, Fan L, Zheng B, Jefferson JR, Wang S, Zhang H, Fang X, Nguyen BV, Zhu T, Roman RJ, and Fan F. Role of γ-Adducin in Actin Cytoskeleton Rearrangements in Podocyte Pathophysiology. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol. 2021 Jan 1;320(1):F97-F113. PMID: 33308016, PMCID: PMC7847051.

Duncan JW, Azubuike D, Booz GW, Fischer B, Williams JM, Fan F, Ibrahim T, LaMarca M, and Cunningham JM. Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Autoantibody Blockade Improves Cerebral Blood Flow Autoregulation and Hypertension in a Preclinical Model of Preeclampsia. Hypertens. Pregnancy. 2020 Oct 29;1-10. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33119997 DOI: 10.1080/10641955.2020.1833215

Wang S, Roman RJ, Fan F. Duration and magnitude of bidirectional fluctuation in blood pressure: the link between cerebrovascular dysfunction and cognitive impairment following spinal cord injury. J Neurobiol Physiol. 2020; 2(1): 15–18. PMID: 33336208, PMCID: PMC7739907.

Guo Y, Liu Y, Song J, Liu P, Wu S, Tan Y, Fan F, Chen Z. Association of CD14 rs2569190 G/A genetic polymorphism with the severity of enterovirus 71 infection in Chinese children. Virology. 2020 Sep;548:25-30. PMID: 32838942, PMCID: PMC7724738.

Gonzalez-Fernandez E, Staursky D, Lucas K, Nguyen B, Li M, Liu Y, Washington C, Coolen LM, Fan F, and Roman RJ. 20-HETE enzymes and receptors in the neurovascular unit: implications in cerebrovascular disease. Front Aging Neurosci. 2020, 11:983 PMID: 33013649 PMCID: PMC7499024

Jing Y, Deng W, Zhang H, Jiang Y, Dong Z, Fan F*, Sun P*. Corrigendum: Development and validation of a prognostic nomogram to predict cancer-specific survival in adult patients with pineoblastoma. Front. Oncol. 2020, Oct 2;10:594049. PMID: 33123489, PMCID: PMC7567025

Jing Y, Deng W, Zhang H, Jiang Y, Dong Z, Fan F*, Sun P*. Development and validation of a prognostic nomogram to predict cancer-specific survival in adult patients with pineoblastoma. Front. Oncol. 2020, Jul 24;10:1021. PMID: 32793463, PMCID: PMC7393244

Fan L, Gao W, Nguyen B, Jefferson JR, Liu Y, Fan F, and Roman RJ. Impaired Renal Hemodynamics and Glomerular Hyperfiltration Contribute to Hypertension-Induced Renal Injury. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol. 2020, Oct 1;319(4): F624-F635. PMID: 32830539, PMCID: PMC7642882

Wang S, Lv W, Zhang H, Liu Y, Li L, Jefferson JR, Guo Y, Li M, Gao W, Fang X, Paul IA, Rajkowska R, Shaffery JP, Mosley TH, Hu X, Liu R, Wang Y, Yu H, Roman RJ, and Fan F. Aging exacerbates impairments of cerebral blood flow autoregulation and cognition in diabetic rats. Geroscience. 2020 Oct;42(5):1387-1410. PMID: 32696219, PMCID: PMC7525432

Noureddine F, Altara R, Fan F, Yabluchanskiy A, Booz GW*, Zouein F. Impact of the Renin-Angiotensin System on the Endothelium in Vascular Dementia: Unresolved Issues and Future Perspectives. Int J Mol Sci. 2020, Jun 16;21(12):4268. PMID: 32560034, PMCID: PMC7349348.

Sachdeva R, Jia M, Wang S, Yung A, Zheng MMZ, Lee AHX, Monga A, Leong S, Kozlowski P, Fan F, Roman RJ, Phillips AA, Krassioukov AV. Vascular-Cognitive Impairment Following High-Thoracic Spinal Cord Injury is Associated with Structural and Functional Maladaptations in Cerebrovasculature. J. Neurotrauma. 2020 Sep 15;37(18):1963-1970. PMID: 32394805, PMCID: PMC7470217.

Wang S, Zhang H, Liu Y, Li L, Guo Y, Jiao F, Fang X, Jefferson JR, Li M, Gao W, Gonzalez-Fernandez E, Maranon RO, Pabbidi MR, Liu R, Alexander BT, Roman RJ, Fan F. Sex differences in the structure and function of rat middle cerebral arteries. J. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2020, May 1;318(5):H1219-H1232. PMID: 32216612, PMCID: PMC7525432

Fan F, Geurts AM, Pabbidi MR, Ge Y, Zhang C, Wang S, Liu Y, Guo Y, He X, Li L, Lv W, Muroya Y, Hirata T, Prokop J, Booz GW, Jacob H, and Roman RJ. A Mutation in Gamma-Adducin Impairs Autoregulation of Renal Blood Flow and Promotes the Development of Renal Disease. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2020, Apr;31(4):687-700. PMID: 32029431, PMCID: PMC7191921.