Principal Investigator

Dr. Jianfeng Dai, Professor and PhD Supervisor, Soochow University

Prof. Dai received his B.S. in Biology from Fudan University in 2001 and his Ph.D. from the State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Institute of Genetics, Fudan University in 2006. From 2006 to 2011, he completed his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Prof. Erol Fikrig, a leading expert in arboviral infections, at the Yale School of Medicine, USA. In June 2011, he joined the Institutes of Biology and Medical Sciences at Soochow University as a Professor and Ph.D. supervisor. His primary research interests focus on anti-infection immunity and vector-borne infectious diseases.

Prof. Dai and his team have led over 10 projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and five supported by provincial and ministerial grants. He has also participated in key national and provincial programs, including the Ministry of Education Innovation Team, Key Laboratories, Jiangsu Province Innovation Team, and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Cell Host & Microbe, Nature Communications, Hepatology, Advanced Science, EMBO Reports, and Science Bulletin, and holds seven national invention patents.

He serves on the Specialized Committee on Systemic Biomedicine of the Chinese Society of Pathophysiology, the Committee on Vector-Pathogen Interactions of the Entomological Society of China, and the Board of Directors of the Jiangsu Society of Immunology.

Main Research Interests:

1. Vector-borne infectious diseases and medical vector

2. Viral infections and host antiviral immunity

3. Vaccines and small molecule drugs for infectious diseases

Lab Members:

Jun Wang, Ph.D, Associate Professor, M.S supervisor

Dr. Wang received his B.S/M.S in Biology from Nanjing University in 2001/2004, and Ph.D. in Immunology from Leiden University Medical Center (the Netherlands) in 2011. He joined the Institutes of Biology and Medical Sciences at Soochow University as an Associate Professor in July 2012. Dr. Wang’s research mainly focuses on the regulations of T/B cell development & function under inflammatory, infectious and tumoral conditions. Dr. Wang’s work has been mainly supported by the Scientific Research Foundation for Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars from State Education Ministry and four projects from NSFC, and he has participated in multiple projects including the National Key Research and Development Program of China as well. Dr. Wang has published over 40 scientific papers, and is a member of Double-Innovation Doctor of Jiangsu Province and High-level Talents for Universities & Research Institutes at Suzhou.

Wen Pan, Senior Laboratory Technician

Ms. Wen Pan received her M.S. degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Xiamen University in 2011, and joined Prof. Jianfeng Dai's group at the Institute of Biology and Medical Sciences of Soochow University as a technician in the same year, and is now a Senior Laboratory Technician in the laboratory.

Selected publications

1.Lei Z, Gu Y, Liu Y, Liu H, Lu X, Chen W, Zhou L, Pan P, Chen Z, Yue Z, Ruan J, Zhu L, Li G, Xia X, Yu Y*, Dai J*, Chen X*. Identification of antiviral RNAi regulators ILF3/DHX9 recruit at ZIKV stem loop B to protect against ZIKV induced microcephaly. Nature Communications, 2025, 16:1991.

2.Zhu J, Wu R, Yang T, Yuan Y, Liu G, Chen S, Chen Z, Liu S, Wang S, Li D, Yao H, He Y, He S, Qin CF*, Dai J*, Ma F*. Harnessing ZIKV NS2A RNA for alleviating acute hepatitis and cytokine release storm by targeting translation machinery. Hepatology. 2025 Jul 1;82(1):110-126.

3.Huang C, Jiang T, Pan W, Feng T, Zhou X, Wu Q,Ma F*, Dai J*, Ubiquitination of NS1 Confers Differential Adaptation of Zika Virus in Mammalian Hosts and Mosquito Vectors, Advanced Science，2024 19:e2408024.

4.Chen Z, Zhang J, Wang J, Tong H, Pan W, Ma F*, Wu Q*, Dai J*. N6-methyladenosine RNA modification promotes Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus infection. PLoS Pathog. 2024 Nov 25;20(11):e1012725.

5.Zhao Y*, Man R, Zheng JB, Zhang L, Liu LM, Zhou X, Zhao LM*, van Eck M, Wang J*. Enhanced B-1 self-renewal and attenuated atherosclerosis lesion development in Cd19cre/+Ldlr-/- mice on Western-type diet. Atherosclerosis. 2025 Aug; 407:120406.

6.Hu MM, Zhao Y, Zhang N, Gong FY, Zhang W, Dong CS, Dai JF*, Wang J*. Tumor microenvironment: obstacles and opportunities for T-cell based tumor immunotherapies, Mol Cancer Res. 2025 Apr 1;23(4):277-287.

7.Gao H, Zhao Y, Zhao S, Dai XQ, Qin XY, Zheng WL, He TT, Zhang N, Zhu C, Wang HM, Pan W, Zhu XM, Gao XM, Dai JF*, Gong FY*, Wang J*. The ICF2 gene Zbtb24 specifically regulates the differentiation of B1 cells via promoting heme synthesis. Cell Mol Biol Lett. 2024 Sep 14; 29(1):123.

8.Jiang T, Huang C, Ruan Q, Huang X, Liang C, Chen Z, Yu X, Peng Y, Liu Z, Cheng G, Dai J*, Sun J*. Envelope domain III E324, E351, and E380 mutations lever adaptive evolution of DENV-1 genotype I. J Virol. 2024 Sep 4:e0118324.

9.Zhao Y*, Zhang L, Liu L, Zhou X, Ding F, Yang Y, Du S, Wang H, Van Eck M, Wang J*. Specific loss of ABCA1 (ATP-binding cassette transporter A1) suppresses TCR (T-cell receptor) signaling and provides protection against atherosclerosis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2022 Dec; 42(12):e311-e326.

10.Wang K, Huang C, Jiang T, Chen Z, Xue M, Zhang Q, Zhang J, Dai J*, RNA-binding protein RBM47 stabilizes IFNAR1 mRNA to potentiate host antiviral activity, EMBO Rep, 2021: e52205.

11.Wang K, Zhang J, Ge Y, Dong C, Dai J*. Cyclovirobuxine D inhibits Dengue virus replication by impeding the complete autophagy via a cholesterol-dependent manner, Science Bulletin, 2021 Feb, 66(3):284-296.

12.Wang K, Zou C, Wang X, Huang C, Feng T, Pan W, Wu Q, Wang P, Dai J*. Interferon-stimulated TRIM69 interrupts dengue virus replication by ubiquitinating viral nonstructural protein 3. PLoS Pathog. 2018 Aug 24;14(8):e1007287.

13.Liu L#, Dai J#*, Zhao YO, Narasimhan S, Yang Y, Zhang L, and Fikrig E. The Ixodesscapularis JAK-STAT pathway regulatestick antimicrobial peptides, thereby controlling the agent of human granulocyticanaplasmosis，J Infect Dis, 2012 Oct;206(8):1233-41.

14.Dai J, Narasimhan S, Zhang L, Liu L, Wang P and Fikrig E. Tick histamine release factor is critical for Ixodesscapularis engorgement and transmission of Lyme disease agent. PLoS Pathog. 2010;6(11):e1001205.

15.Dai J, Wang P, Adusumilli S, Booth CJ, Narasimhan S, Anguita J, and Fikrig E. Antibodies against a tick protein, Salp15, protect mice from the Lyme disease agent. Cell Host & Microbe. 2009;6(5):482-92.

16.Dai J, Wang PH, Bai FW, et al. ICAM-1 participates in the entry of West Nile virus into the central nervous system. J Virol. 2008;82(8):4164-4168.

E-mail：daijianfeng@suda.edu.cn

Office：Dushu Lake 703-B415

Office Tel：(86)512 658 82472