Research

Meiqian Weng, MD
Instructor of Pediatrics

Phone: 617-726-7988
Fax: 617-724-1731
Email:

Curriculum Vita

My career goal is to be a principal investigator and to teach students at levels of undergraduate, graduate, postdoctor and medical school. The long term goal of my research is to find effective therapeutics for severe intestinal diseases in premature infants. Advanced molecular and cell biology techniques combined with comprehensive systems biology approaches will be used for investigating mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of preterm infant intestinal disorders, with a particular focus on host-pathogen interactions and developmental anomalies of the intestine in premature infants. Immortal and primary intestine cells and animal models will be used for studies.  

I have worked as a physician, an academic researcher, and a teacher in medicine for more than 18 years. My research has focused on: 1) the relationship between breast feeding or other intestinal related nutrients and the development of the immature intestine; and 2) the relationship between mucosal immunity and inflammation diseases including inflammation bowel disease, asthma, and chronic inflammation-induced pulmonary hypertension. I published 18 papers in peer-reviewed journals and successfully attracted grant supports from major Chinese government funding agencies. My research projects at the Mucosal Immunology Lab combined Program in Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition of MGH and the Pulmonary Critical Care Unit, Department of Medicine of MGH were supported by a fellowship from Nestle and a training grant from NICHD, respectively. 

My teaching experience began at Xinhua Hospital, a teaching hospital affiliated with Shanghai Second Medical University in China. During my work as a physician at Xinhua Hospital, I mentored each year several groups of medical students in clinical practice. As research fellow at MGH and BWH, I participated in training of several postdoctoral and clinical fellows. These teaching experiences will be invaluable for me to extend my mentorship and teaching in courses in future.