Team Members

Liwu Li, Ph. D.  Principal Investigator

Dr. Li received his B.S. degree from China in 1986, a Ph. D from Univ. of Michigan in 1996, and did his post-doc training at Michigan till 1999 when he first cloned human CDC14A/B phosphatases involved in dephosphorylating p-Ser-Pro substrates, as well as related PTEN phosphatases.  He was an Assistant and Associate Professor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine from 1999 till 2005 working on innate memory dynamics.  He has served as an associate editor of the Journal of Immunology, a panel member for various NIH study sections, and president for the Inflammation Research Association. Dr. Li is currently a Professor at Virginia Tech, and has held joint appointment at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, and School of Biomedical Engineering & Sciences. Dr. Li is an elected fellow of the American Heart Association.

Dr. Shuo Geng, Research Assistant Professor

Selected publication:

Geng S, Lu R, Zhang Y, Wu Y, Xie L, Caldwell B, Pradhan K, Yi Z, Hou J, Chen X, Li L* (2024) Resolving monocytes trained by 4-PBA enable homeostasis and resolution of atherosclerosis. Circulation Research.

Resolving monocytes generated through TRAM deletion attenuate atherosclerosis.2021. JCI Insight 6(20):e149651

Low-grade inflammatory polarization of monocytes impairs wound healing. 2016 J Pathology. 238(4):571-83

The persistence of low-grade inflammatory monocytes contributes to aggravated atherosclerosis. 2016 Nature Communications. 7:13436.

Dr. Zhang Yao, Research Assistant Professor

Selected publication:

Zhang, Y, Lee C, Geng S, Wang, J, Bohara U, Hou J, Yi, Z, Li L* (2024) Immune-enhancing neutrophils reprogrammed by subclinical low-dose endotoxin in cancer treatment. EMBO Molecular Medicine. 16(8):1886-1900.

Neutrophils Deficient in Innate Suppressor IRAK-M Enhances Anti-tumor Immune Responses. 2020 Molecular Therapy. 28(1):89-99.

Enhanced tumor immune surveillance through neutrophil reprogramming due to Tollip deficiency. 2019. JCI Insight. 4(2):e122939.

Feng Xu, B.S. Chemistry, Pekin University. Research Faculty Coordinator

Jing Wang, Ph.D. Tsinghua University

Propagation of innate immune memory through cellular communications

Wang J, Wu Y, Lin R, Zhang Y, Li L*. (2023) TRAM deletion attenuates monocyte exhaustion and alleviates sepsis severity. Front Immunol. 14:1297329.

Blake Caldwell, Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania

Epigenetic modulation of innate immune memory dynamics; systems bioinformatics of innate memory dynamics

Caldwell B, Wu Y, Wang J, Li L* (2024) Altered DNA methylation underlies monocyte dysregulation and immune exhaustion memory in sepsis. Cell Reports.

Functionally distinct roles for TET-oxidized 5-methylcytosine bases in somatic reprogramming to pluripotency. 2021 Molecular Cell 81(4):859-869.e8.

Yajun Wu, Qingdao University School of Medicine, Graduate Student

Intervention of innate monocyte exhaustion

Wu Y, Caldwell B, Wang J, Zhang Y, Li L* (2024) Alleviation of monocyte exhaustion by BCG derivative mycolic acid. iScience. 27(2): 108978

Udipta Bohara, Hollins University (Joint supervisor: Dr. Biswarup Mukhopadhyay), Graduate Student

Intervention of innate exhaustion with BCG derivatives

Single-cell analysis of innate memory trajectory

Grace Atkinson, University of South Carolina, Graduate Student

Mechanisms of low-grade inflammation memory in monocytes and therapeutic interventions

Heba Mehran, Helwan University, Graduate Student

Neutrophil memory dynamics in health and disease

Jackie Hou, Virginia Tech, Undergraduate assistant

Ran Lu, Ph.D, Research Associate

High School Volunteer: Grace Lee