Yuezhou Chen, M.D, Ph.D, joined School of Life Sciences at Peking University and the Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences as a Principle Investigator in 2022. Dr. Chen received her Ph.D in Cell Biology from Peking University & National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing in 2009. After that, Dr. Chen received medical training in China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, and got her M.D in 2014. From 2014-2020, Dr. Chen was a postdoc fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, and she was promoted to Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in 2020. Dr. Chen has a long-term research interest in investigating how inflammatory contexts and/or environmental factors influence antibody response to antigens in the settings of infection, vaccination, and autoimmunity. She has published original studies in the field of B cell immunology, immune responses after infection and vaccination, as well as antibody repertoire regulation by microbiota. The major focuses of Chen laboratory include understanding the protective immunity in infection and vaccination, the mechanisms of pathogenic autoantibody generation, and how environmental factors influence antibody repertoire in vaccination and autoimmunity. 

2011.9-2014.7 M.D China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences
2004.9-2009.7 Ph.D School of Life Sciences, Peking University
2000.9-2004.7 B.S School of Life Sciences, Sichuan University

2022.11-present, Assistant Professor,School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China;
2022.11-present, Investigator, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China;
2020.07-2022.09, Instructor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women`s Hospital, Boston, USA;
2014.09-2020.06, Postdoctral Fellow, Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women`s Hospital, Boston, USA

2024 Benyuan Fund Young Investigator Award
2023 Peking University Boya Young Scholar
2023 Yifang Talent Award
2021 Best Presentation Award at the annual meeting of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Brigham and Women`s hospital
2019-2021 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Institutional Research Training Grant, National Institute of Health (NIH)
2014 Innovative Research Award, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences
2008 Outstanding Graduate Award, National Institute of Biological Sciences

One of the central questions in immunology is how to recognize self and non-self. B cells produce a large immunoglobulin (Ig) repertoire through V(D)J recombination to recognize the vast diverse antigens. Remarkably, B cells can further evolve through somatic hypermutations in their antibody genes and produce affinity matured antibodies to adapt the evolving pathogens. On the other hand, negative selection occurs in B cell development to remove autoreactive B cells for self-tolerance. The two layers of B cell memories, which include long-lived plasma cells and memory B cells, play crucial roles in pathogen defense and autoimmunity.

How do the hosts generate long-lived antibodies with broad recognition breadth to evolving pathogens in infection and vaccination? How do the pathogenic autoantibodies form in autoimmune diseases? Whether and how modifiable environmental factors (i.e. microbiota) influence B cell differentiation and antibody repertoire formation? Based on these questions, our laboratory will establish mouse models and longitudinal human cohorts, and combine approaches including lineage tracing, single cell RNA sequencing, repertoire sequencing, in-vivo imaging, etc. to carry out studies in the following four areas:

1. The protective immunity in infection and/or vaccination
2. The mechanisms of pathogenic autoantibody generation in autoimmune diseases
3. The modulation of antibody responses by environmental factors
4. The regulation of immune responses by Chinese medicine

1. Chen Y, Humphries F, Li M, Kanneganti T, Ye D, Nelson S. Challenges and opportunities in regulating the immune system. Cell Chemical Biology, 2024 May 16;31(5):830-832

2.Chen Y, Tong P, Whiteman NB, Moghaddam A, Zuiani A, Habibi S, Gautam A, Xiao T, Cai Y, Chen B, Wesemann DR. Immune recall improves antibody durability and breadth to SARS-CoV-2 variants. Science Immunology, 2022, Dec, 23, 7(78)

3.Chen Y*, Zuiani A*, Fischinger S, Mullur J, Atyeo C, Travers M, Lelis FJN, Pullen KM, Martin H, Tong P, Gautam A, Habibi S, Bensko J, Gakpo D, Feldman J, Hauser BM, Caradonna TM, Cai Y, Burke JS, Lin J, Lederer JA, Lam EC, Lavine CL, Seaman MS, Chen B, Schmidt AG, Balazs AB, Lauffenburger DA, Alter G, Wesemann DR. Quick COVID-19 Healers Sustain Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Production. Cell 2020, Dec (10), 183(6):1496-1507. (*contributed equally to this work)

4.Chen Y, Chaudhary N, Yang N, Granato A, Turner JA, Howard SL, Devereaux C, Zuo T, Shrestha A, Goel RR, Neuberg D, Wesemann DR. Microbial symbionts regulate the primary Ig repertoire. Journal of Experimental Medicine 2018, 215(5): 1397-1415

5.Chen Y*, Zhu J, Zhang W. Antitumor effect of traditional Chinese herbal medicines against lung cancer. Anticancer Drugs, 2014, 25: 983-91 (* Co-corresponding author)

6.Chen Y, Zhu J. Anti-HBV effect of individual traditional Chinese herbal medicine in vitro and in vivo: an analytic review. Journal of Viral Hepatitis 2013, 20: 445-52

7.Chen Y*, Yang Z*, Meng M, Zhao Y, Dong N, Yan H, Liu L, Ding M, Peng HB, Shao F. Cullin Mediates Degradation of RhoA through Evolutionarily Conserved BTB Adaptors to Control Actin Cytoskeleton Structure and Cell Movement. Molecular Cell 2009, 35: 841-55 (* contributed equally to this work)
• Highlighted by previews: Destruction of RhoA CULtivates actin. Molecular Cell, 2009, 35: 735-6

8.Nelson R, Chen Y, Venezia O, Majerus R, Shin D, MGH COVID-19 Collection & Processing Team, Carrington M, Yu X, Wesemann DR, Moon J, Luster AD. SARS-CoV-2 epitope–specific CD4+ memory T cell responses across COVID-19 disease severity and antibody durability. Science Immunology, 2022 Jul 22;7(73):eabl9464

9.Windsor I*, Tong P*, Lavidor, O, Moghaddam A, McKay L, Gautam A, Chen Y, MacDonald E, Yoo D, Griffiths A, Wesemann DR, Harrison S. Antibodies induced by ancestral SARS-CoV-2 strain that cross-neutralize variants from Alpha to Omicron BA. 1. Science Immunology, 2022 Aug 12;7(74): eabo3425

10.Tong P*, Gautam A*, Windsor I*, Travers M, Chen Y, Garcia N, Whiteman N, Mckay L, Lelis F, Habibi S, Cai Y, Rennick L, Duprex W, MaCarthy K, Lavine C, Zuo T, Lin J, Zuiani A, Feldman J, MacDonald E, Hauser B, Griffths A, Seaman M, Schmidt A, Chen B, Neuberg D, Bajic G, Harrison S, Wesemann DR. Memory B cell repertoire for recognition of evolving SARS-CoV-2 spike. Cell. 2021 Sep 16; 184(19)

11.Shrock E, Fujimura E, Kula T, Timms RT, Lee IH, Leng Y, Robinson ML, Sie BM, Li MZ, Chen Y, Logue J, Zuiani A, McCulloch D, Lelis FJN, Henson S, Monaco DR, Travers M, Habibi S, Clarke WA, Caturegli P, Laeyendecker O, Piechocka-Trocha A, Li JZ, Khatri A, Chu HY; MGH COVID-19 Collection & Processing Team, Villani AC, Kays K, Goldberg MB, Hacohen N, Filbin MR, Yu XG, Walker BD, Wesemann DR, Larman HB, Lederer JA, Elledge SJ. Viral epitope profiling of COVID-19 patients reveals cross-reactivity and correlates of severity. Science. 2020 Nov 27;370(6520)

12.Yu J, Tostanoski LH, Peter L, Mercado NB, McMahan K, Mahrokhian SH, Nkolola JP, Liu J, Li Z, Chandrashekar A, Martinez DR, Loos C, Atyeo C, Fischinger S, Burke JS, Slein MD, Chen Y, Zuiani A, Lelis FJN, Travers M, Habibi S, Pessaint L, Van Ry A, Blade K, Brown R, Cook A, Finneyfrock B, Dodson A, Teow E, Velasco J, Zahn R, Wegmann F, Bondzie EA, Dagotto G, Gebre MS, He X, Jacob-Dolan C, Kirilova M, Kordana N, Lin Z, Maxfield LF, Nampanya F, Nityanandam R, Ventura JD, Wan H, Cai Y, Chen B, Schmidt AG, Wesemann DR, Baric RS, Alter G, Andersen H, Lewis MG, Barouch DH. DNA vaccine protection against SARS-CoV-2 in rhesus macaques. Science. 2020 Aug 14;369(6505):806-811

13.Gosmann C, Anahtar MN, Handley SA, Farcasanu M, Abu-Ali G, Bowman BA, Padavattan N, Desai C, Droit L, Moodley A, Dong M, Chen Y, Ismail N, Ndung`u T, Ghebremichael MS, Wesemann DR, Mitchell C, Dong KL, Huttenhower C, Walker BD, Virgin HW, Kwon DS. Lactobacillus-deficient cervicovaginal bacterial communities are associated with increased HIV acquisition in young South African women. Immunity. 2017 Jan 17;46(1):29-37

14.Granato A, Chen Y, Wesemann DR. Primary immunoglobulin repertoire development: time and space matter. Current Opinion in Immunology, 2015, 33:126-131

Laboratory Introduction