Mentor: Bing Li, PhD

Comprehensive Exam:

Elucidating the Transcriptional Target and Molecular Function of Epidermal-Fatty Acid Binding Protein (FABP5) to Potentiate the Pro-Ferroptotic Effect of Omega-3 Fatty Acid (n-3 FA) in Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Presentations:

2026 5th Annual Metabolic Dysregulation and Cancer Risk Program (MeDOC) Consortium Meeting – Iowa City, Iowa. "Targeting Circulating FABP4 Ameliorates Obesity-Associated Hepatic Steatosis."                 

2025 3rd Annual Metabolic Dysregulation and Cancer Risk Program (MeDOC) Consortium Meeting. "Olive Oil High-Fat Diet Promotes Obesity-Driven Metastasis of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer via Oleic Acid-FABP5-Mediated Oncogenic Pathway." Oral presentation

2025 Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center (HCCC) Cancer Retreat – "Olive Oil High-Fat Diet Promotes Obesity-Driven Metastasis of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer via Oleic Acid-FABP5-Mediated Oncogenic Pathway." Poster presentation

2024 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting.  "Omega-3 fatty acid-induced ferroptosis in 4T1 breast cancer through CD36/FABP5 axis."  Poster presentation
 

Awards:

2026 Best Abstract Presentation. 5th Annual MeDOC Consortium Meeting - Iowa City, IA. "Olive Oil High-Fat Diet Promotes Obesity-Driven Metastasis of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer via Oleic Acid-FABP5-Mediated Oncogenic Pathway" 

2025 Travel Award. 3rd Annual MeDOC Consortium Meeting – Boston, MA.  "Olive Oil High-Fat Diet Promotes Obesity-Driven Metastasis of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer via Oleic Acid-FABP5-Mediated Oncogenic Pathway"
 

Publications:

1. Jiang X^#, Avellino A^#, Yu J, Liu S, Zhao L, et al. “Targeting Circulating Fatty Acid Binding Protein 4 Ameliorates Obesity-Associated Hepatic Steatosis”. JHEP reports: innovation in hepatology, vol. 8,11 101999. 20 Aug. 2026.

2. Avellino A, Jiang X, Lee M, Yu J, Han X, Shilyansky J, et al.  An Olive Oil-Based High-Fat Diet Promotes Obesity-Driven Metastasis of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. Cancer Res 2025. DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.Can-25-0822.

3. Yu J, Hao J, Yorek MS, Jiang X, Avellino A, Liu S, Han X, et al. “FABP5 in skin macrophages mediates saturated fat-induced IL-1β signaling in psoriatic inflammation”. Cell reports vol 44,9 (2025): 116254.

4. Jiang X, Xiong Y, Yu J, Avellino A, Liu S, Han X, et al. Expression profiles of FABP4 and FABP5 in breast cancer: clinical implications and perspectives. Discover Oncology 16.1 (2025): 357.
5. Yu J, Hao J, Yorek MS, Han X, Avellino A, Jiang X, et al. Determination of the FABP5 expression profile in skin lesions of an IMQ-induced psoriasis mouse model using flow cytometry. STAR Protoc. 2024;5(2):103018.
6. Yorek M, Jiang X, Liu S, Hao J, Yu J, Avellino A, et al. FABP4-mediated lipid accumulation and lipolysis in tumor associated macrophages promote breast cancer metastasis. bioRxiv. 2024. PMC11244950