Hai Qi, Ph.D.
Executive Vice-Chancellor, Tsinghua Medicine
Director, Institute for Immunology, Tsinghua University
Professor, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tsinghua University
Office Address: Medical Science Building, Room A107, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
E-mail: qihai@tsinghua.edu.cn
Education:
1991 - 1996 B.M., Clinical Medicine
Beijing Medical University (Peking University Health Science Center) Beijing, China
1997 - 2003 Ph.D., Experimental Pathology
University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston, Texas, United States
Employment:
2003 – 2009 Postdoctoral Fellow
Laboratory of Immunology, NIAID/NIH, United States
2009 – 2015 Tenure-track Associate Professor
School of Medicine, Tsinghua University Beijing, China
2015 – present Professor
School of Medicine, Tsinghua University Beijing, China
Honors & awards:
2024 Beijing Outstanding Graduate Supervisor Award
2023 New Cornerstone Investigator
2019 Beijing Natural Science Award
2019 Outstanding Research of Higher Education Institutions Award, Chinese Ministry of Education
2018 AAI-BD Investigator Award
2017 Shulan Medical Award
2017-2022 HHMI International Research Scholar
2016 Wu Jieping-Paul Janssen Medical & Pharmaceutical Award
2016 CBIS Young Investigator Award, Chinese Biological Investigator Society
2015 “Cheung Kong Scholar" Award, Ministry of Education, China
2015 Tan Jiazhen Life Science Innovation Award
2014 “Young Talent in Science and Technology” Award, Ministry of Science & Technology of China
2014 “Distinguished Young Scientist”, National Science Foundation of China
2010 “Outstanding Talents of the New Century”, Chinese Ministry of Education
2009 “Scopus Future Star” in Life Sciences, Science News Bi-weekly and Elsevier
2003-2006 Cancer Research Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship
Research areas
A main focus of our lab is to understand the germinal center (GC) biology and how humoral immune memory is developed, maintained and recalled. Using a variety of genetic, biochemical, cell biological, and imaging approaches, we specifically ask (1) how do memory B cells and long-lived plasma cells develop from GC and persist; (2) how the GC facilitates productive while prevent unwanted immune activation at the same time; (3) how can we manipulate molecular pathways identified for improving vaccines and therapies.
Another area of focus in the lab is to understand the crosstalk between the nervous system and the immune system. We try to elucidate central neurocircuits in control of the humoral immune response and memory and understand whether and how peripheral immune responses are perceived and represented in the CNS. We also study how microglia regulate the immune homeostasis in the central nervous system.
Additionally, through collaborations with rheumatologists and clinical allergy specialists, we are deciphering immunological mechanisms underlying autoimmune and allergic diseases. By combining patient samples and disease models, we aim to uncover novel immune cell subsets, identify pathogenic autoreactive cells and autoantigen, and develop increasingly specific and targeted therapeutic strategies based on mechanistic understanding of disease pathogenesis.
Selected Publications:
1.Xiaocui Luo*, Xiaoxiao Hou*, Yifeng Wang, Ye Li, Shangcheng Yu, and Hai Qi#. An Interleukin 9-ZBTB18 axis promotes germinal center development of memory B cells. Immunity, 58:861-874, 2025.
2.Feng Lan*, Jizhou Li*, Wenxuan Miao*, Fei Sun*, Su Duan, Yabing Song, Jiacheng Yao, Xiangdong Wang, Chengshuo Wang, Xin Liu#, Jianbin Wang#, Luo Zhang#, Hai Qi#. GZMK-expressing CD8 T cells promote recurrent airway inflammatory diseases. Nature, 638:490-498, 2025.
3.Wen Shao*, Yifeng Wang*, Qian Fang, Wenjuan Shi, Hai Qi#. Epigenetic recording of stimulation history reveals BLIMP1–BACH2 balance in determining memory B cell fate upon recall challenge. Nature Immunology, 25: 1432-1444, 2024.
4.Yifeng Wang*, Wen Shao*, Xin Liu, Qingtai Liang, Jiaqi Lei, Wenjuan Shi, Miao Mei, Ying Li, Xu Tan, Guocan Yu, Li Yu, Linqi Zhang, Hai Qi#. High recallability of memory B cells requires ZFP318-dependent transcriptional regulation of mitochondrial function, Immunity, 2024.
5.Yihan Lin*, Zurong Wan*, Bo Liu*, Jiacheng Yao*, Tianqi Li, Fang Yang, Jianhua Sui, Yongshan Zhao, Wanli Liu, Xuyu Zhou, Jianbin Wang#, Hai Qi#. B cell-reactive triad of B cells, follicular helper and regulatory T cells at homeostasis. Cell Research, 34: 295–308, 2024.
6.Zhifeng Zhao*, Yiliang Zhou*, Bo Liu*, Jing He, Jiayin Zhao, Yeyi Cai, Jingtao Fan, Xinyang Li, Zilin Wang, Zhi Lu, Jiamin Wu#, Hai Qi#, Qionghai Dai#. Two-photon synthetic aperture microscopy for minimally invasive fast 3D imaging of native subcellular behaviors in deep tissue. Cell, 23: 00412-9, 2023.
7.Xin Liu*, Jiacheng Yao*, Yongshan Zhao, Jianbin Wang#, Hai Qi#. Heterogeneous plasma cells and long-lived subsets in response to immunization, autoantigen and microbiota. Nature Immunology, 23: 1564-1576, 2022.
8.Shiyue Hou*, Tiange Shao*, Tianyang Mao, Jingwen Shi, Jiahui Sun, Miao Mei Xu Tan, Hai Qi#, Virtual memory T cells orchestrate extralymphoid responses conducive to resident memory, Science Immunology, 6: eabg9433, 2021.
9.Dan Liu*, Jiacong Yan*, Jiahui Sun*, Bo Liu, Weiwei Ma, Ye Li, Xingxing Shao, Hai Qi#. BCL6 controls contact-dependent help delivery during follicular T-B cell interactions, Immunity, 54: 2245-2255.e4, 2021.
10.Bo Liu, Yihan Lin, Jiacong Yan, Jiacheng Yao, Dan Liu, Weiwei Ma, Jianbin Wang, Wanli Liu, Chengshuo Wang, Luo Zhang, and Hai Qi#. Affinity-coupled CCL22 promotes positive selection in germinal centres. Nature, 592: 133-137, 2021.
11.Xu Zhang*, Bo Lei*, Yuan Yuan*, Li Zhang*, Lu Hu, Sen Jin, Bilin Kang, Xuebin Liao, Wenzhi Sun, Fuqiang Xu, Yi Zhong#, Ji Hu# and Hai Qi#. Brain control of humoral immune responses amenable to behavioral modulation. Nature, 581: 204-208, 2020.
12.Ruozhu Zhao, Xin Chen, Weiwei Ma, Jinyu Zhang, Jie Guo, Xiu Zhong, Jiacheng Yao, Jiahui Sun, Julian Rubinfien, Xuyu Zhou, Jianbin Wang and Hai Qi#. A GPR174-CCL21 module imparts sexual dimorphism to humoral immunity. Nature, 577: 416-420, 2020.
13.Jingwen Shi, Shiyue Hou, Qian Fang, Xin Liu, Xiaolong Liu, and Hai Qi#. PD-1 controls follicular T helper cell positioning and function. Immunity, 49: 264-274, 2018.
14.Yifeng Wang*, Jingwen Shi*, Jiacong Yan*, Zhengtao Xiao, Xiaoxiao Hou, Peiwen Lu, Shiyue Hou, Tianyang Mao, Wanli Liu, Yuanwu Ma, Lianfeng Zhang, Xuerui Yang and Hai Qi#. Germinal center development of memory B cells driven by Interleukin-9-producing follicular T-helper cells. Nature Immunology, 18: 921-930, 2017.
15.Peiwen Lu*, Changming Shih*, and Hai Qi#. Ephrin B1–mediated repulsion and signaling control germinal center T cell territoriality and function. Science, 356: eaai9264, 2017.
16.Ran He*, Shiyue Hou*, Cheng Liu*, Anli Zhang, Qiang Bai, Miao Han, Yu Yang, Gang Wei, Ting Shen, Xinxin Yang, Lifan Xu, Xiangyu Chen, Yaxing Hao, Chuhong Zhu, Juanjuan Ou, Houjie Liang, Ting Ni, Xiaoyan Zhang, Xinyuan Zhou, Jianqing Xu, Hai Qi#, Yuzhang Wu# and Lilin Ye#. Follicular CXCR5-expressing CD8 T cells curtail chronic viral infection. Nature, 537: 412-428, 2016.
17.Dan Liu*, Heping Xu*, Changming Shih, Zurong Wan, Xiaopeng Ma, Weiwei Ma, Dan Luo, and Hai Qi#. T-B-cell entanglement and ICOSL-driven feed-forward regulation of germinal centre reaction. Nature, 517: 214-218, 2015.
18.Heping Xu, Xuanying Li, Dan Liu, Jianfu Li, Xu Zhang, Xin Chen, Shiyue Hou, Lixia Peng, Chenguang Xu, Wanli Liu, Lianfeng Zhang, and Hai Qi#. Follicular T-helper cell recruitment governed by bystander B cells and ICOS-driven motility. Nature 496: 523-527, 2013.
19.Hai Qi*, Jennifer L. Cannons*, Frederick Klauschen, Pamela L. Schwartzberg, and Ronald N. Germain. SAP-controlled T-B cell interactions underlie germinal centre formation. Nature 455: 764-769, 2008.
20.Hai Qi, Jackson G. Egen, Alex Y. C. Huang, and Ronald N. Germain. Extrafollicular activation of lymph node B cells by antigen-bearing dendritic cells. Science 312: 1672-1676, 2006.
