Yan Sweat, Ph.D. - Faculty Profile

Biography

Yan Sweat, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Cardiology at the Moss Heart Center.

Originally from Henan, China, Dr. Sweat earned her doctoral degree from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and completed her postdoctoral training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She also gained industry experience at Kojin Therapeutics, where she applied her expertise in ferroptosis—iron-dependent cell death—to advance the development of selective therapies for a broad range of hard-to-treat diseases.

Dr. Sweat studies cardiac arrhythmias and transcriptional regulation within cardiomyocytes. The lab previously identified genes required for the maintenance of atrial cardiomyocyte cell identity, that when perturbed, result in atrial fibrillation. Broadly, the work in the Sweat lab is focusing on defining the gene network controlling atrial rhythm and using this knowledge to create interventions for atrial fibrillation in patients.

Education

Graduate School: (2020)

Publications

Featured Publications

TBX5 and CHD4 Coordinately Activate Atrial Cardiomyocyte Genes to Maintain Cardiac Rhythm Homeostasis.: Sweat ME, Shi W, Sweat YY, Li J, Li J, Keating EM, Ponek A, Ma Q, Park C, Trembley MA, Wang Y, Hou C, Bezzerides VJ, Conlon FL, Pu WT, Circulation 2025 Aug
Irx1 mechanisms for oral epithelial basal stem cell plasticity during reepithelialization after injury.: Su D, Krongbaramee T, Swearson S, Sweat Y, Sweat M, Shao F, Eliason S, Amendt BA, JCI Insight 2025 Jan 10 1
Claudin-2 upregulation enhances intestinal permeability, immune activation, dysbiosis, and mortality in sepsis.: Oami T, Abtahi S, Shimazui T, Chen CW, Sweat YY, Liang Z, Burd EM, Farris AB, Roland JT, Tsukita S, Ford ML, Turner JR, Coopersmith CM, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024 Mar 121 10 e2217877121
Tacrolimus-binding protein FKBP8 directs myosin light chain kinase-dependent barrier regulation and is a potential therapeutic target in Crohn's disease.: Zuo L, Kuo WT, Cao F, Chanez-Paredes SD, Zeve D, Mannam P, Jean-François L, Day A, Vallen Graham W, Sweat YY, Shashikanth N, Breault DT, Turner JR, Gut 2023 May 72 5 870-881
Extracellular vesicle expansion of PMIS-miR-210 expression inhibits colorectal tumour growth via apoptosis and an XIST/NME1 regulatory mechanism.: Eliason S, Hong L, Sweat Y, Chalkley C, Cao H, Liu Q, Qi H, Xu H, Zhan F, Amendt BA, Clin Transl Med 2022 Sep 12 9 e1037
Serine 408 phosphorylation is a molecular switch that regulates structure and function of the occludin α-helical bundle.: Srivastava AK, Venkata BS, Sweat YY, Rizzo HR, Jean-François L, Zuo L, Kurgan KW, Moore P, Shashikanth N, Smok I, Sachleben JR, Turner JR, Meredith SC, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022 Aug 119 34 e2204618119
miR-17 acts as a tumor suppressor by negatively regulating the miR-17-92 cluster.: Sweat Y, Ries RJ, Sweat M, Su D, Shao F, Eliason S, Amendt BA, Mol Ther Nucleic Acids 2021 Dec 26 1148-1158
PTPN2 mutations cause epithelium-intrinsic barrier loss that synergizes with mucosal immune hyperactivation.: Sweat YY, Turner JR, J Clin Invest 2021 Sep 131 17
The miR-200 family is required for ectodermal organ development through the regulation of the epithelial stem cell niche.: Sweat M, Sweat Y, Yu W, Su D, Leonard RJ, Eliason SL, Amendt BA, Stem Cells 2021 Jun 39 6 761-775
Gene-environment interaction in molar-incisor hypomineralization.: Bezamat M, Souza JF, Silva FMF, Corrêa EG, Fatturi AL, Brancher JA, Carvalho FM, Cavallari T, Bertolazo L, Machado-Souza C, Koruyucu M, Bayram M, Racic A, Harrison BM, Sweat YY, Letra A, Studen-Pavlovich D, Seymen F, Amendt B, Werneck RI, Costa MC, Modesto A, Vieira AR, PLoS One 2021 16 1 e0241898

Books

Modulation of Intestinal Disorders by Claudin-2 and Occludin Via Canonical and Noncanonical Mechanisms. In Tight Junctions

Sweat, Yan Y., Shabnam Abtahi, Sandra D. Chanez-Paredes, Preeti Raju, Li Zuo, Nitesh Shashikanth, Wei-Ting Kuo, and Jerrold R. Turner. (2022).

Professional Associations/Affiliations

American Heart Association