Rate My Professor Wei Perng

Wei Perng, PhD, MPH, is an Associate Professor with tenure in the Department of Epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She also serves as Associate Director of Research Training and Education at the Lifecourse Epidemiology of Adiposity and Diabetes (LEAD) Center. Dr. Perng's research specializes in nutritional and lifecourse epidemiology, employing 'omics sciences such as metabolomics and causal inference methods to elucidate the developmental origins of obesity and metabolic diseases across childhood and adolescence. Her work examines factors influencing cardiometabolic health from prenatal periods through young adulthood, including dietary patterns, environmental exposures, and biomarkers of disease risk.

Dr. Perng earned her BS in Brain, Behavior, and Cognitive Science from the University of Michigan in 2008, followed by an MPH and PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Michigan School of Public Health in 2010 and 2013, respectively. She completed postdoctoral fellowships in Perinatal Epidemiology at Harvard Medical School (2013-2014) and Michigan State University (2014-2015). Her career includes positions as Research Assistant Professor in Nutritional Sciences and Epidemiology at the University of Michigan (2015-2017), Assistant Professor at Colorado School of Public Health (2018-2023), and Adjunct Associate Professor and Instructional Lecturer at the University of Michigan Department of Nutritional Sciences since 2018. She has received honors including the DeVries Award for Excellence in International Health (2013), Early Nutrition New Investigator Award (2014), Society for Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiologic Research Rising Star Award (2019), University of Colorado Denver Chancellor’s Teaching Recognition Award (2020), and Colorado School of Public Health Faculty Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award (2022). As principal or multi-principal investigator, she leads major NIH-funded projects such as UG3OD035507 (Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes, $11.3 million, 2023-2030), U01DK134981 (Pathophysiology of Type 2 Diabetes in Navajo youth, $3.9 million, 2022-2027), and R01HL1281570 (Infant diet and cardiometabolic risk in preterm children, $4.2 million, 2023-2028). Key publications include 'Youth-Onset Type 2 Diabetes: The Epidemiology of an Accelerating Global Phenomenon' (Diabetes Care, 2023), 'Sex-Specific Metabolite Biomarkers of NAFLD in Youth' (Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2020), and 'A prospective study of associations between in utero exposure to phthalates and infant body fat' (Environment International, 2020). Dr. Perng contributes to the COMETs consortium steering committee and mentors trainees in advanced epidemiological methods.