Daniel Wang

Related Links

Biography

My research is situated where nutrition, the human microbiome and virome, and chronic disease epidemiology intersect. My program centers on three primary objectives: (1) elucidating the functional roles of the human microbiome and virome in chronic disease etiology, (2) developing personalized dietary strategies to enhance prevention efforts for cardiometabolic diseases and Alzheimer's dementia, and (3) characterizing the human virome and its dynamic interactions with the host and other microbiome components in longitudinal studies.

I currently serve as a PI of the NIH Human Virome Program (MPI, U54AG089325) and co-direct one of the five Human Virome Characterization Centers within the program. Our center leverages viral genomics to map the human virome—encompassing all viruses present on and within the human body—and investigates its implications for health and disease across diverse populations. Additionally, I am the PI of an R01 project (R01NR019992), which aims to identify gut microbial features and fecal and plasma metabolites that explain interindividual variations in cardiometabolic risk changes following dietary interventions in two randomized controlled trials. This project also investigates the combined effects of Mediterranean diet interventions and autologous fecal microbiota transplantation. Previously, through my K99/R00 project (DK119412), we demonstrated, for the first time, that the associations of a Mediterranean dietary pattern with cardiometabolic risk varied in individuals with different gut microbial profiles (Wang et al. Nature Medicine. 2021). Building on this, I established the MicroCardio Consortium, expanding my research from two cohorts to include 14 population-based studies across ten countries. Through this consortium, we recently identified strain-specific microbial signatures and functional genes underlying the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes (Mei and Wang et al. Nature Medicine. 2024). I also serve as PI of two ongoing projects (R01AG077489 and RF1AG083764) funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA). These projects investigate the interactions between dietary intake and the gut microbiome and aim to enhance dietary prevention strategies for Alzheimer's dementia. These studies involve multiple observational cohort studies and randomized controlled trials. In these NIA-funded projects, we have identified dysbiosis-related markers, including Veillonella spp. and the opportunistic pathogen Erysipelatoclostridium ramosum, as indicators of cognitive decline (Ma et al. Neurology. 2023).

Education and Training

• ScD, Nutrition and Epidemiology
  Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
• MD, Preventive Medicine
  Anhui Medical University
• MS, Nutrition
  National Institute for Nutrition and Health
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, Metabolomics
  Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, Human Microbiome and Computational Biology
  Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Publications

• Global adherence to a healthy and sustainable diet and potential reduction in premature death.

  Gu X, Bui LP, Wang F, Wang DD, Springmann M, Willett WC. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024 Dec 10

• Changes in fatty acid intake and subsequent risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality in males and females: a prospective cohort study.

  Liu Y, Gu X, Li Y, Rimm EB, Willett WC, Stampfer MJ, Hu FB, Wang DD. Am J Clin Nutr 2025

• F. prausnitzii potentially modulates the association between citrus intake and depression.

  Samuthpongtorn C, Chan AA, Ma W, Wang F, Nguyen LH, Wang DD, Okereke OI, Huttenhower C, Chan AT, Mehta RS. Microbiome 2024 Nov 14

• Gut microbial metabolism of bile acids modifies the effect of Mediterranean diet interventions on cardiometabolic risk in a randomized controlled trial.

  Gao P, Rinott E, Dong D, Mei Z, Wang F, Liu Y, Kamer O, Yaskolka Meir A, Tuohy KM, Blüher M, Stumvoll M, Stampfer MJ, Shai I, Wang DD. Gut Microbes 2024 Jan-Dec

• Strain-specific gut microbial signatures in type 2 diabetes identified in a cross-cohort analysis of 8,117 metagenomes.

  Mei Z, Wang F, Bhosle A, Dong D, Mehta R, Ghazi A, Zhang Y, Liu Y, Rinott E, Ma S, Rimm EB, Daviglus M, Willett WC, Knight R, Hu FB, Qi Q, Chan AT, Burk RD, Stampfer MJ, Shai I, Kaplan RC, Huttenhower C, Wang DD. Nat Med 2024