Han Dong, Ph.D.-SHANGHAI IMMUNE THERAPY INSTITUTE

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Han Dong, Ph.D.

Investigator, Shanghai Immune Therapy Institute

hd2cq@virginia.edu

Dr. Dong received B.Sc. degree in 2009 from Zhejiang University with National Scholarship. She went to University of Virginia, USA for Ph.D., and graduated in 2015 as The Outstanding Graduate Student in Molecular Pathology. For postdoctoral research from 2015 to 2020, Dong focused on NK cell and T cell immunity at Weil Cornell Medicine and Harvard Medical School. She was promoted to Instructor (faculty member) of Harvard Medical School in 2020, honored by a prestigious ASH Scholar Award, and Dana-Farber Claudia Adams Barr Award. In the past five years, Dong has published as the sole first author in Nature Immunology (2019), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022), Blood (2020) and Journal of Leukocyte Biology (2019). She joined Shanghai Immune Therapy Institute in 2024 as PI to conduct basic and translational research in tumor immunity and immunotherapy.

Research Areas

To identify mechanisms of memory differentiation of natural killer (NK) cells and mechanisms regulating the effector function of NK cells during anti-viral and anti-tumour immune responses, shedding light on new strategies of developing novel NK cell-based immunotherapies.

Research Direction

Using transgenic mouse models, high-throughput drug and functional gene screening, and single-cell multi-omics analysis, Dong's laboratory focuses on the following scientific questions through the combination of basic and translational research: 1. Continue to reveal the key molecular mechnisms for NK cell fate decision during memory differentiation; 2. Decode the differential functionality of subpopulations of memory-like NK cells in antiviral and anti-tumor immunity and their regulatory mechanisms; 3. Discover new immune check points in tumor microenvironment that inhibit NK cell memory and inspire novel design of CAR-NK for the treatment of 'immume-cold' solid tumors.

荣誉奖项

2021-2024 Barr Award

2021-2023 ASH Scholar Award

2019-2021 Helen Gurley Brown Presidential Initiative Award

2010-2012 Robert R. Wagner Fellowship

2007 国家奖学金

教育经历&工作经历

2024.3-至今上海交通大学医学院附属仁济医院、上海市免疫治疗创新研究院研究员

2020.7-2024.2 美国哈佛大学医学院讲师

2017.1-2020.6 美国哈佛大学医学院博士后

2015.11-2016.12 美国康奈尔大学医学院博士后

2009.8-2015.5 美国弗吉尼亚大学分子病理学博士

2005.8-2009.6 浙江大学生命科学本科

重要论著

1.Dong H, Adams NM, Xu Y, Cao J, Allan DSJ, Carlyle JR, Chen X, Sun JC, Glimcher LH. The IRE1 endoplasmic reticulum stress sensor activates natural killer cell immunity in part by regulating c-Myc. Nat Immunol. 2019 Jul;20(7):865-878. doi: 10.1038/s41590-019-0388-z. Epub 2019 May 13. PubMed PMID: 31086333; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6588410.

2.Dong H, Ham JD, Hu G, Xie G, Vergara J, Liang Y, Ali A, Tarannum M, Donner H, Baginska J, Abdulhamid Y, Dinh K, Soiffer RJ, Ritz J, Glimcher LH, Chen J, Romee R. Memory-like NK cells armed with a neoepitope-specific CAR exhibit potent activity against NPM1 mutated acute myeloid leukemia. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 Jun 21;119(25):e2122379119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2122379119. Epub 2022 Jun 13. PubMed PMID: 35696582; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9231490.

3.Dong H, Buckner A, Prince J, Bullock T. Frontline Science: Late CD27 stimulation promotes IL-7Rα transcriptional re-expression and memory T cell qualities in effector CD8(+) T cells. J Leukoc Biol. 2019 Nov;106(5):1007-1019. doi: 10.1002/JLB.1HI0219-064R. Epub 2019 Jun 14. PubMed PMID: 31199542; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6824422.

4.Dong H, Franklin NA, Ritchea SB, Yagita H, Glennie MJ, Bullock TN. CD70 and IFN-1 selectively induce eomesodermin or T-bet and synergize to promote CD8+ T-cell responses. Eur J Immunol. 2015 Dec;45(12):3289-301. doi: 10.1002/eji.201445291. Epub 2015 Nov 6. PubMed PMID: 26461455; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4752831.

5.Dong H, Bullock TN. Metabolic influences that regulate dendritic cell function in tumors. Front Immunol. 2014;5:24. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2014.00024. eCollection 2014. Review. PubMed PMID: 24523723; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3906600.

6.Dong H, Franklin NA, Roberts DJ, Yagita H, Glennie MJ, Bullock TN. CD27 stimulation promotes the frequency of IL-7 receptor-expressing memory precursors and prevents IL-12-mediated loss of CD8(+) T cell memory in the absence of CD4(+) T cell help. J Immunol. 2012 Apr 15;188(8):3829-38. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1103329. Epub 2012 Mar 14. PubMed PMID: 22422886; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3326605.

7.Xie G, Dong H, Liang Y, Ham JD, Rizwan R, Chen J. CAR-NK cells: A promising cellular immunotherapy for cancer. EBioMedicine. 2020 Sep;59:102975. doi: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2020.102975. Epub 2020 Aug 24. Review. PubMed PMID: 32853984; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7452675.

8.Wan C, Keany MP, Dong H, Al-Alem LF, Pandya UM, Lazo S, Boehnke K, Lynch KN, Xu R, Zarrella DT, Gu S, Cejas P, Lim K, Long HW, Elias KM, Horowitz NS, Feltmate CM, Muto MG, Worley MJ Jr, Berkowitz RS, Matulonis UA, Nucci MR, Crum CP, Rueda BR, Brown M, Liu XS, Hill SJ. Enhanced Efficacy of Simultaneous PD-1 and PD-L1 Immune Checkpoint Blockade in High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer. Cancer Res. 2021 Jan 1;81(1):158-173. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-20-1674. Epub 2020 Nov 6. PubMed PMID: 33158814; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7878408.

9.Xie G, Ivica NA, Jia B, Li Y, Dong H, Liang Y, Brown D, Romee R, Chen J. CAR-T cells targeting a nucleophosmin neoepitope exhibit potent specific activity in mouse models of acute myeloid leukaemia. Nat Biomed Eng. 2021 May;5(5):399-413. doi: 10.1038/s41551-020-00625-5. Epub 2020 Oct 12. PubMed PMID: 33046866; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8039062.

10.LaMarche NM, Kane H, Kohlgruber AC, Dong H, Lynch L, Brenner MB. Distinct iNKT Cell Populations Use IFNγ or ER Stress-Induced IL-10 to Control Adipose Tissue Homeostasis. Cell Metab. 2020 Aug 4;32(2):243-258.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2020.05.017. Epub 2020 Jun 8. PubMed PMID: 32516575; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8234787.