Innate Immune Exhaustion Memory, and Its Rejuvenation for Disease Treatment

Dr. Liwu Li, PhD
Endowed Professor of Inflammation Biology and Immunology Department of Biological Sciences Virginia Tech University

Dr. Li is internationally renowned for groundbreaking studies in the field of innate immune memory dynamics related to human health and diseases. Li pioneered the paradigm-shift concept of innate immune memory dynamics that can “memorize” the relative strength and duration of danger/damage signals, with memory states ranging from low-grade inflammation to exhaustion of monocytes and neutrophils that play key roles in disease pathogenesis of atherosclerosis; sepsis; cancer; and aging-related conditions. Mechanistically, Li’s group defined key principles of innate sensing and memory generation. Therapeutically, his team developed genetic and chemical approaches in rejuvenating innate leukocytes for calming down tissue inflammation and propagating homeostasis.

He served as President of Inflammation Research Association, and Director for the Genetics, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (GBCB) at Virginia Tech. Li is an elected fellow of the American Heart Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS), and elected Member of the Virginia Academy of Science Engineering and Medicine.

Hosted By: Dr. Peter Kim and Dr. Robert Bandsma

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