Faculty Profile

Wei Perng

Wei Perng, PhD

  • Adjunct Assistant Professor, Nutritional Sciences
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology
  • Assistant Director, Life Course Epidemiology of Adiposity and Diabetes (LEAD) Center Colorado School of Public Health, Anschutz Medical Campus

Dr. Perng is a nutritional epidemiologist who focuses on maternal and child health. Her research interests fall under three lines of inquiry: elucidating early-life determinants of childhood obesity and related metabolic sequelae; identifying biological pathways that underlie excess weight gain during early life; and understanding how maternal condition during the peripartum period predict her future cardiovascular and metabolic health. Dr. Perng conducts her investigations primarily in Project Viva, a Boston-area pre-birth cohort, the Early Life Exposure in Mexico to ENvironmental Toxicants (ELEMENT) cohort, a birth cohort in Mexico City.

  • PhD in Epidemiological Science, University of Michigan School of Public Health, 2012
  • MPH in Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, 2010
  • BS in Brain Behavior and Cognitive Science, University of Michigan, 2008

Perng W, Hivert MF, Watkins SM, Newgard CS, Kenny LC, Kristal BS, Patti ME, Isganaitis E, DeMeo DL, Oken E, and Gillman MW (2015). Review: Metabolomics in the developmental origins of obesity and its cardiometabolic consequences. Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease; In press.

Perng W, Stuart J, Rifas-Shiman SL, Stuebe A, Rich-Edwards JW, Oken E. Preterm birth and long-term maternal cardiovascular health (2015). Annals of Epidemiology; 25(1):40-5

Perng W, Gillman MW, Fleisch AF, Michalek R, Watkins SM, Isgaiatis E, Patti ME, Oken E. Metabolomic profiles and childhood obesity (2014). Obesity (Silver Spring); 22(12):2570-2578.

Perng W, Gillman MW, Mantzoros CS, Oken E. Associations of maternal weight status and offspring cardiometabolic health during mid-childhood (2014). Annals of Epidemiology; 24(11):793-800.

Perng W, Rifas-Shiman SL, Rich-Edwards JW, Stuebe A, Oken E. Inflammation and weight gain in reproductive-aged women (2014). Annals of Human Biology; Epub ahead of print.

Perng W, Villamor E, Marin C, Mora-Plazas M, Baylin A. Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) are inversely related to development of adiposity in Colombian schoolchildren (2014). European Journal of Clinical Nutrition; Epub ahead of print.

Walter JR, Perng W, Kleinman KP, Rich-Edwards JW, Oken E. Early gestational weight gain is associated with weight change, waist circumference, and systolic blood pressure in a large cohort (2015). Obstetrics and Gynecology; Epub ahead of print.

Perng W, Villamor E, Shroff M, Pilsner JR, Liu Y, Diez-Roux, AV. Methyl-donor nutrient intake, total plasma homocysteine and global DNA methylation: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (2014). Nutrition, Metabolism, and Cardiovascular Disease; 24(6):614-622.

Perng W, Mora-Plazas M, Marin C, Baylin A, Villamor E (2013). Global DNA methylation and development of adiposity in school-age children. PLoS One; 8(4):e62587.

Perng W, Mora-Plazas M, Marin C, Villamor E. Higher iron status is related to slower linear growth in iron-replete school-age children (2013). European Journal of Clinical Nutrition; 67(6):646-651.

For a full list: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/collections/bibliography/45210848/ (sign-in required)

Email: wei.perng@ucdenver.edu

For media inquiries: sph.media@umich.edu 

Areas of Expertise: Nutrition