LI, Conglei

Presidential Young Fellow

Assistant Professor

Education Background

Ph.D. (University of Toronto)

B.MED (Anhui Medical University)

Research Field
Antibody’s function and production,Infection and immunity,Intestinal immunology,DNA damage and repair
Email
liconglei@cuhk.edu.cn
Biography

Dr. Conglei Li currently is an Assistant Professor, School of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen.

Dr. Conglei Li majored in Clinical Medicine and received his Bachelor of Medicine degree from Anhui Medical University, China, in 2007. With the support of prestigious Connaught Scholarships from University of Toronto, Canada, Dr. Li performed his graduate studies in Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, and earned his Ph.D. in 2012. Under the supervision of Dr. Heyu Ni (Fellow of Canadian Academy of Health Sciences), Dr. Li’s Ph.D. research was centered on investigating the pathogenesis of anti-platelet antibody-mediated thrombocytopenia in fetuses and neonates. In 2011, Dr. Li received the Chinese Government Award for Self-financed Students Studying Abroad.

After his Ph.D. studies, Dr. Li switched to the field of Immunology, and chose to be co-supervised by two eminent researchers (Drs. Jennifer Gommerman and Alberto Martin) in the Department of Immunology, University of Toronto, for his post-doctoral/research associate work. With the support of Post-Doctoral Fellowship from Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Dr. Li investigated the cellular and molecular mechanisms of how B lymphocytes generate the IgA antibodies against gut microbes, including intestinal microbiota and rotavirus. Dr. Li has received the tenure-track Assistant Professor offers from Dalhousie University, Canada, and Institut national de la recherché scientifique, Canada, respectively (declined both). 

In December of 2021, Dr. Li joined the School of Medicine at CUHK-Shenzhen. His research interests include 1) Roles of new DNA repair factors in antibody production, infectious diseases and cancers; 2) Crosstalk between stromal cell microenvironment and immune cells. As the first-author or corresponding author, Dr. Li has published multiple papers in high-profile journals, including Nature (2021), Science Immunology (2019), Nature Communications (2018), Cell Reports (2016), Journal of Clinical Investigation (2012), Blood (2010).

In addition, Dr. Li is the Review Editor of Frontiers in Immunology. His independent research at CUHK-Shenzhen has been funded by several competitive grants from National Science Fund of China, and Shenzhen Bureau of Research Innovation, respectively. 
 

Academic Publications

Representative papers after joining CUHK-Shenzhen

1. Li C#, Ward LA, Lam E, Nguyen A, Dasoveanu D, Ahmed M, Haniuda K, Buechler MB, He HH, Ludewig B, McNagny KM and Gommerman JL. Neonatal LTbR signaling is required for the accumulation of eosinophils in the inflamed adult mesenteric lymph node. Mucosal Immunology, 2022, 15(3): 418-427 (# Corresponding author).

2. Feng Y*, Li C*, Stewart J, Barbulescu P, Desivo NS, Quilon AA, Pezo RC, Perera MLW, Chan K, Tong AHY, Mohamad-Ramshan R, Berru M, Nakib D, Li G, Kardar GA, Carlyle J, Moffat J, Durocher D, Di Noia JM, Bhagwat AS and Martin A. FAM72A antagonizes UNG2 to promote mutagenic repair during antibody maturation, Nature, Dec 9th 2021, 600(7888): 324-328 (* Shared first author).

(This paper was published back to back in Nature with this related paper: Rogier M et al, Fam72a enforces error-prone DNA repair during antibody diversification, Nature, Dec 9th 2021, 600(7888): 329-333).

 

Representative papers prior to November 2021

1. Li C#, Li J and Ni H#. Crosstalk between platelets and microbial pathogens. Frontiers in Immunology, 2020 Aug 7;11: 1962 (# Corresponding author).

2. Li C, Lam E, Perez-Shibayama C, Ward LA, Zhang J, Lee D, Nguyen A, Ahmed M, Brownlie E, Korneev KV, Rojas O, Sun T, Navarre W, He HH, Liao S, Martin A, Ludewig B and Gommerman JL. Early-life programming of mesenteric lymph node stromal cell identity by the lymphotoxin pathway regulates adult mucosal immunity. Science Immunology, 2019 Dec 20, 4(42). pii: eaax1027.

3. Li C, Irrazabal T, So CS, Berru M, Du L, Lam E, Ling AK, Gommerman JL, Pan-Hammarstrom Q and Martin A. The H2B deubiquitinase Usp22 promotes antibody class switch recombination by facilitating non-homologous end joining, Nature Communications, 2018, 9(1): 1006.

4. Ramachandran S*, Haddad D*, Li C*, Le MX*, Ling AK, So CC, Nepal RM, Gommerman JL, Yu K, Ketala T, Moffat J and Martin A. The SAGA deubiquitination module promotes DNA repair and class switch recombination through ATM and DNAPK-mediated gH2AX formation. Cell Reports, 2016, 15(7): 1554-65 (* Co-first authors).

5. Li C, Chen P, Vadasz B, Ma L, Zhou H, Lang S, Freedman J, Ni H. Co-stimulation with LPS or Poly I:C markedly enhances the anti-platelet immune response and severity of fetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia. Thrombosis and Haemostasis. 2013, 110(6): 1250-8. 

6. Li C, Li J, Li Y, Lang S, Yougbare I, Zhu G, Chen P and Ni H. Crosstalk between platelets and the immune system: old systems with new discoveries. Advances in Hematology, 2012; 2012: 384685.

7. Li C, Piran S, Chen P, Lang S, Zarpello A, Jin JW, Zhu G, Reheman A, van der Wal E, Simpson EK, Ni R, Gross PG, Ware J, Ruggeri ZM, Freedman J and Ni H. The maternal immune response to fetal platelet GPIba causes the frequent miscarriage in mice that can be prevented by intravenous IgG and anti-FcRn therapies. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2011, 121(11): 4537-47 (Editorial commentary, Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2011, 121(11): 4241-3).

8. Chen P*, Li C*, Lang S, Zhu G, Reheman A, Spring CM, Freedman J and Ni H. Animal model of fetal and neonatal immune thrombocytopenia: role of neonatal Fc receptor in the pathogenesis and therapy. Blood, 2010, 116(18): 3660-8 (* These two authors contributed equally to this work) (Editorial commentary, Blood, 2010, 116 (18): 3384-6).

9. Chu D*, Li C*, Wu Q and Shen J. Paeoniflorin prevents hepatic fibrosis of Schistosomiasis Japonica by inhibiting TGF-b1 production from macrophages in mice. Frontiers of Medicine (formerly Frontiers of Medicine in China), 2008, 2(2): 154-165 (*These authors contributed equally to this work).