Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine
Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute
473 West 12th Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210
6th Floor | 612 Office
3rd Floor | 310 Lab
Yohannes.Mebratu@osumc.edu
Education and Training
Postdoctoral Research: Molecular and Cell Biology of Chronic Lung Diseases, Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Albuquerque, NM
PhD: Molecular Epidemiology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
MS: Veterinary Epidemiology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
DVM: Veterinary Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia
Honors and Awards
MS Scholarship: German Catholic Academic Exchange Program, 1996PhD Scholarship: German Catholic Academic Exchange Program, 2002
American Thoracic Society Scholarship Award: ATS, 2008
Professional Activities
Society Member, American Thoracic Society (2006 – present).Society Member, American Heart Association (2011-2013)
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute (2017-2019)
Previous Appointments
- Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (04/2022-)
- Instructor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (08/2009-03/2022)
- Associate Research Scientist, Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Albuquerque, NM (2008-213)
- Associate Staff Scientist, Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Albuquerque, NM (2013-2019)
Research Interests
- Airway epithelial cell biology in chronic lung diseases
- Respiratory viral infections and lung inflammation
- The role of host cellular proteins in promoting influenza A virus replication and disease severity
- Host responses and host cellular proteins in SARS-CoV-2 virus replication and pathogenesis.
Current Research
My research program focuses on identification of novel mechanisms how influenza A virus (IAV) hijack and subvert host cellular processes to facilitate viral replication since this information will be useful in developing therapeutic host targets to treat the disease. My lab is particularly interested to study how IAVs exploits host cellular proteins to promote their pathogenesis, identify genetic factors contributing to influenza disease severity, and identify host cellular targets of treatments. Our research utilizes both basic and translational models of infectious/inflammatory lung diseases. We also use influenza-infected human cohorts from diverse ancestral background to identify genetic factors contributing to disease severity. These studies may identify host cellular targets for the treatment of influenza infections and will have potential implications for targeted prevention, disease management, and treatment based on susceptibility factors.
Publications
- Mebratu YA, Jones JT, Liu C, Negasi ZH, Rahman M, Rojas-Quintero J, O'Connor GT, Gao W, Dupuis J, Cho MH, Litonjua AA, Randell S, Tesfaigzi Y. Bik promotes proteasomal degradation to control low-grade inflammation. J Clin Invest. 2023 Dec 19;134(4). doi: 10.1172/JCI170594. PubMed PMID: 38113109; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10866658.
- Mebratu YA, Soni S, Rosas L, Rojas M, Horowitz JC, Nho R. The aged extracellular matrix and the profibrotic role of senescence-associated secretory phenotype. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2023 Sep 1;325(3):C565-C579. doi: 10.1152/ajpcell.00124.2023. Epub 2023 Jul 24. Review. PubMed PMID: 37486065; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10511170.
- Soni S, Walton-Filipczak S, Nho RS, Tesfaigzi Y, Mebratu YA. Independent role of caspases and Bik in augmenting influenza A virus replication in airway epithelial cells and mice. Virol J. 2023 Apr 24;20(1):78. doi: 10.1186/s12985-023-02027-w. PubMed PMID: 37095508; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10127399.
- Soni S, Mebratu YA. B-cell lymphoma-2 family proteins-activated proteases as potential therapeutic targets for influenza A virus and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2: Killing two birds with one stone? Rev Med Virol. 2023 Mar;33(2):e2411. doi: 10.1002/rmv.2411. Epub 2022 Nov 30. Review. PubMed PMID: 36451345; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9877712.
- Mebratu YA, Imani J, Jones JT, Tesfaigzi Y. Casein kinase II activates Bik to induce death of hyperplastic mucous cells in a cell cycle-dependent manner. J Cell Physiol. 2022 Feb;237(2):1561-1572. doi: 10.1002/jcp.30630. Epub 2021 Nov 6. PubMed PMID: 34741311; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8866207.
Presentations
“Programmed Cell Death in Health and Disease: Apoptosis and Inflammation in Chronic Lung Diseases” Invited Lecture. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (2011)
“Science Advances in Research into SARS-CoV-2” Journal Club/ Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School (2020)
“Bik promotes IAV Replication and susceptibility to Flu” Work-In-Progress. Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, BWH (2020)
“The role of the BH3-only protein Bik in regulating airway epithelial cell number in asthma and chronic bronchitis” Invited Lecture. Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (2011)
“The Bcl-2 Interacting Killer, BIK: Its Role in the Resolution of Allergen- or Cigarette Smoke-induced Epithelial Cell Hyperplasia and Influenza A Virus Replication” Invited Lecture. Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (2020)
“Bcl-2 Interacting Killer (BIK): Its Role in Regulating the Resolution of Allergen- or Cigarette Smoke-induced Epithelial Cell Hyperplasia and Influenza A Virus Replication” Invited Lecture Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC (2020)
“Inhibition of the BH3-only protein Bik by cigarette smoke sustains mucous cell metaplasia in chronic bronchitis”. American Thoracic Society Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA (2010)
“Peptides derived from Bik and reduce allergen- and cigarette smoke-induced mucous cell metaplasia in mice and primary human cultures” American Thoracic Society Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA (2013)
“Reducing the risk of Rift Valley Fever transmission in trade exchanges” Invited workshop, Report presentation. RVF Transmission and Trade, Nairobi, Kenya (2001)
“RNAi and reverse genetics in trypanosomes” Invited EMBO/TDR practical course Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (Organized by WHO), Accra, Ghana (2005)
“Developing, validating, and standardizing methodologies for the use of PCR and PCR-ELISA in the diagnosis and monitoring of control and eradication programs for trypanosomiasis” Invited lecture International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Hanoi, Vietnam (2005)
“Appearances of drug resistance strains of trypanosomes in Ethiopia” 10th International Conference of the Association of Institutions for Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Copenhagen, Denmark (2001)
“Bik Induces Death by Assembling DAPK1 and Bak at the Endoplasmic Reticulum to Causing Ca2+ Release” American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Warrenton, VA (2013)