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Yueh-Ying Han, PhD

  • Research Associate Professor of Pediatrics

Dr. Han is an epidemiologist with advanced analytical skills through her pre- and post-doctoral training.

Han joined the Division of Pulmonology as a Research Instructor in Pediatrics in 2011. She has not only brought her analytical skills to support the division on research, but also substantively contributes her innovative approaches to asthma studies. Han is funded as a co-Investigator and serves as an epidemiologist/data manager on NIH-funded studies. Her major research interest is on risk factors for asthma, with a particular focus on nutrients, diet, and psychosocial stress.

As an epidemiologist, Han has collaborated with physician-scientists on study design and implementation of the division’s research projects and has brought innovative ideas to several projects. She also leads a series of studies using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the U.S. Her exceptional knowledge of national health survey data and skills in epidemiologic methods has led to high-quality publications on asthma research and provided pilot data for grant proposals.

As a SAS® Certified Advanced Programmer, Han also serves as a data manager for the division. She has continued to work on questionnaire design, data collection and monitoring, and maintaining and curating research data. Under Dr. Celedón’s guidance, Han has mentored pediatric pulmonary fellows over the years. She works closely with fellows, including data processing and quality control, statistical programing, interpretation of analytical results, and manuscript preparation.

Han is a key contributor to asthma research in our Division, leading and facilitating NIH-funded publications and research projects. Han desires to build on her strong analytical expertise to enhance collaborative studies in the Division of Pulmonology that aim to decrease asthma burden in the U.S. population.

Professional and Scientific Society Memberships

  • American Public Health Association, 2006-Present
  • Society of Epidemiology Research, 2017-Present
  • American Thoracic Society, 2018-Present
  • European Respiratory Society, 2019-Present

Education & Training

  • BS, Public Health, Taipei Medical University, 2002
  • MS, Environmental Health, National Taiwan University, 2004
  • PhD, Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, 2007
  • Postdoctoral Scholar, Environmental Epidemiology, National Taiwan University Hospital Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, 2007-2008
  • Postdoctoral Scholar, Cancer/Environmental Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, 2008-2010

Selected Publications

Han YY, Rosser FJ, Forno E, Celedón JC. Electronic vapor products, marijuana use, smoking and asthma in U.S. adolescents. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2020 Mar;145(3):1025-1028

Stevens EL, Rosser FJ, Han YY, Forno E, Acosta-Pérez E, Celedón JC. Traffic-related air pollution, dust mite allergen, and childhood asthma in Puerto Ricans.  Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2020 Jul 1;202(1):144-146

Forno E. Bacharier LB, Phipatanakul W, Guilbert TW, Cabana, MD, Ross K, Covar R, Gern JE, Rosser FJ, Blatter J, Durrani S, Han YY, Wisniewski SR, Celedón JC. Effect of Vitamin D3 Supplementation on Severe Asthma Exacerbations in Children with Asthma and Lower Vitamin D Levels: The Vitamin D Kids Asthma (VDKA) Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA 2020. Aug 25;324(8):752-760

Jiang Y, Forno E, Han YY, Xu Z, Boutaoui N, Acosta-Pérez E, Colón-Semidey A, Alvarez M, Canino G, Burchard EG, Chen W, Celedón JC. A genome-wide study of DNA methylation in white blood cells and asthma in Hispanic children. Epigenetics. 2020 Aug 31:1-9

Forno E, Zhang R, Jiang Y, Kim S, Yan Q, Ren Z, Han YY, Boutaoui N, Rosser FJ, Weeks D, Acosta-Pérez E, Colón-Semidey A, Alvarez M, Canino G, Chen W, Celedón JC. Transcriptome-wide and differential expression network analyses of childhood asthma in nasal epithelium. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2020 Sep;146(3):671-675

Han YY, Yan Q, Yang G, Chen W, Forno E*, Celedón JC*. Serum free testosterone and asthma, asthma hospitalizations, and lung function in British adults. Thorax 2020 Oct; 75:849–854

Yang G, Han YY, Forno E, Yan Q, Rosser FJ, Chen W, Celedón JC. Glycated hemoglobin A1c, lung function, and hospitalizations among adults with asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol: In Practice 2020. June 19 [Online ahead of print]. Summary highlighted in the “Latest Research” section of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology website

Landeo-Gutierrez J, Han YY, Forno E, Rosser FJ, Acosta-Pérez E, Canino G, Celedón JC. Risk factors for atopic and non-atopic asthma in Puerto Rican children. Pediatr Pulmonol 2020. June 27 [Online ahead of print]

Rosser F, Han YY, Forno E, Acosta-Pérez E, Canino G, Celedón JC*. Interaction Between House Dust Endotoxin Exposure and Proximity to a Major Roadway on Asthma Outcomes. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 2020. Sep 8 [Online ahead of print]

Yan Q, Forno E, Herrera-Luis E, Pino-Yanes M, Qi C, Han YY, Kim S, Oh S, Acosta-Perez E, Zhang R, Hu D, Eng C, Huntsman S, Avila L, Boutaoui N, Cloutier M, Soto-Quiroz M, Xu C, Weiss S, Lasky-Su J, Kiedrowski  M, Figueiredo C, Bomberger JM, Canino G, Chen W, Koppelman G, Burchard E, Celedón JC. A genome-wide association study of severe asthma exacerbations in Latino children and adolescents. Eur Respir J 2020. Sep [In press]

Stevens EL*, Han YY*, Rosser F, Forno E, Acosta-Pérez E, Miller GE, Canino G, Celedón JC. Maternal depressive symptoms, lung function, and severe asthma exacerbations in Puerto Rican children. J Allergy Clin Immunol: In Practice 2020. October [In press]

Full Publication List via NIH PubMed »

Academic and Research Interests

  • Modifiable factors, diet, obesity and chronic stress, and asthma
  • Environmental exposure and allergic diseases 
  • Gene and environmental interaction and allergic diseases

Research Grants

NIH 1R01MD011764, Exposure to violence, epigenetic variation and asthma in Puerto Rican children (Co-I, 80% effort, PI: Celedón), 2017-2021, $1,272,508.

NIH 1R01HL149693, Obesity and Childhood Asthma: The Role of Adipose Tissue (Co-I, 20% effort, PI: Forno), 2020-2024.