Immune dysfunction is a pervasive phenomenon in both cancer and chronic illnesses. The lab is specialized in precision medicine, focusing on how human immune system work and monitoring of human immune responses in clinical scenarios.

The principle investigator, Dr. Yen-Ling Chiu (M.D., Ph.D.) have strong background in both clinical and basic medical research on human immune function and T cell therapy. Our group at FEMH and NTU has long-term research experience on systemic inflammation, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular mortality in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients and established the immunity in ESRD (iESRD) cohort. My basic research at JHU focuses on the molecular regulation of T cell polyfunctionality and the results has been published on the Journal of Clinical Investigation and was featured on Nature Review immunology two times as well as F1000. We have identified a novel mediator, Sprouty-2, in the induction of T cell dysfunction which works independently from PD-1. Currently, our current research topics all start with clinical observations, patient samples and then molecular studies. Our group work on CYTOF and multi-color flow cytometry profiling of renal cell carcinoma and NPC. Beyond immunosenescence during normal aging, our group also explores the mechanisms of neuroinflammation during aging and cognitive decline.

Ongoing filed of studies

(1) Molecular regulation of virus-specific T cell polyfunctionality and T cell differentiation in chronic illnesses and cancer (科技部個人型計畫，科技部創新轉譯計畫)

(2) Using immunophenotyping for predicting cardiovascular disease in high-risk populations with a focus on aging-related immune changes (科技部多年期個人型計畫)

(3) Engineering tumor-infiltrating T cells for adoptive T cell therapy against renal cell carcinoma and nasal pharyngeal carcinoma (科技部整合型計畫，亞東醫院創新計畫，產學合作)

(4) Developing a novel, comprehensive immune monitoring system for healthy longevity and aging (產學合作)

(5) Multi-platform establishment integrating cognitive function decline and neuroinflammation imaging for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease during health checkups (科技部精準健康數據平台計畫，亞東醫院創新計畫，科技部多年期個人型計畫，產學合作)

We have active collaboration with many physicians at FEMH and NTUH, professor Jean-San Chia at the Graduate Institute of Immunology (NTU), professor Hsin-Cheng Tsai at Graduate Institute of toxicology (NTU), professor Shuei-Liong Lin at the Graduate Institute of Physiology (NTU), professor Tien Hsu at National Central University (NCU), professor Yi-Fang Chuang at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU), Dr. Owen Tien-Yu Yang at Oxford University, professor Jonathan Schneck at Johns Hopkins University (JHU), professor Daniel Duoek at National Institute of Health of USA (NIH), and professor Michel Betjes at Erasmus Medical Center at Netherlands (EMC).