Biography:

Prof. Dr. Hai Li joined the University of Science and Technology of China in December 2022. He earned his Ph.D. in 2011 from the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Bern, Switzerland (2011-2022). He has published 29 high-impact papers, including first-author articles in top-tier journals such as Nature, Immunity, Nature Communications, and The EMBO Journal. With over 4,000 citations and an H-index of 21, his work has significantly advanced our understanding of how gut microbiota shapes the B cell receptor repertoire and long-term immune function. He has received prestigious awards including the Pfizer Research Prize.

Research Interest:

Dr. Hai Li’s research focuses on deciphering the fundamental principles of host-microbiota symbiosis. He employs simplified, reversible mono-colonization models and techniques like B cell receptor repertoire sequencing to investigate how specific commensal bacteria dynamically shape the adaptive immune system. His work aims to reveal the precise cellular and molecular mechanisms by which gut microbiota programs B cell development and long-term immune function, moving beyond correlation to establish causality in these critical interactions.

What You Can Expect in the Project:

The project will employ cutting-edge engineering approaches to investigate host-microbiota interactions. You will participate in constructing engineered bacterial strains designed to report or modulate specific physiological states of a single commensal bacterium in vivo. Through techniques like in vivo imaging and subsequent multi-omics analysis, you will help elucidate the real-time dynamics of bacterial behavior and its mechanistic impact on host immune functions, such as B cell response. This work integrates synthetic biology with immunology to achieve unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution.

Desired skill and background:

Students with prior experience in immunological and microbiological experiments are preferred.