Biography

Dr. Yiwen Zhang is an Associate Professor at the Sun Yat-sen University Zhongshan School of Medicine, a recipient of the Guangdong Provincial Distinguished Young Scholar Fund, and a “Yixian Outstanding Young Scholar” of Sun Yat-sen University. Dr. Zhang obtained her bachelor's degree from Central South University in 2011 and completed her Ph.D. at Sun Yat-sen University in 2016.

She has authored over ten research articles as the first or corresponding author in high-impact journals, including Immunity, Nature Immunology, PNAS, Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, Cellular & Molecular Immunology, Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, Cancer Research, Cell Reports, Advanced Science, and Journal of Nanobiotechnology.

Dr. Zhang has been the principal investigator of several major research grants, including a Key R&D Program (cultivation project) from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), as well as NSFC General and Young Scientist projects.

Research Interests

1. Mucosal immune responses to viral infection and vaccination
   Investigating the role of respiratory mucosal tissues in antiviral immunity and elucidating the mechanisms underlying mucosal immune responses induced by viral infections and vaccines.
2. Immune mechanisms under chronic infection and persistent antigen stimulation
   Exploring how prolonged antigen exposure shapes immune cell function, including T cell exhaustion, tissue-resident memory formation.

Academic achievement

Selected Publications as First or Corresponding Author

1. Liang C#, Li R#, Pu Z#, Chen R#, Li Y#, Chen S#,… Zhang Y*, Targeting Heptad Repeats and Fusion Peptide: Nanoparticle Vaccine Elicits Mucosal Immune Response Against SARS-CoV-2 Variants, Journal of Nanobitechnology, (2025)23:483.（IF：12.3)
2. Hao W…… Zhang Y*, Li W*, Liu H*. IL‐33‐Induced TREM2+ Macrophages Promote Pathological New Bone Formation Through CREG1‐IGF2R Axis in Ankylosing Spondylitis. Advanced Science, 2025, 12(18):2500952 (IF：14.1)
3.  He X#, Zhang X#, Wu B#, Deng J#, Zhang Y#… …Zhao J*, Wei J*, Chen R*, Zhang Y*, Zhang H*; The receptor binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants targets Siglec-9 to decrease its immunogenicity by preventing macrophage phagocytosis, Nature Immunology, 2024, 25(4) (IF：27.7)
4. Feng J#, Pu Z#..., Zhang H*, Zhang Y*; Correlation between Circulating T Follicular Helper Cell Levels after Infection and a Decreased Risk of COVID-19 Re-infection. Virologica Sinica (2024): S1995-820X. 
5. Chen Y#, Yan S#, ... Huang F*, Zhang H*, Zhang Y*. Dopamine/DRD5 Signaling Axis Modulates CD8+ T cells into the CD103+ Tissue-resident Memory Fate and Their Antitumor Immunity. Cancer Research. 2022, 82(17): 3130-3142. (IF：13.4)
6. Zhang Y#, Li R#, Li Y#, ... Zhang H*, He Y*. Antibody Response and Cross-Neutralization After Omicron BA.2 Infection. Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy. 2023, 8(1). (IF：52.2)
7. Zhang Y , ... Zhang J*, Zhang H*. The ORF8 Protein of SARS-CoV-2 Mediates Immune Evasion through Downregulating MHC-Ι. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2021, 118(23) . (IF：10.6)(ESI高引论文)
8. Zhang Y , ... Li B*, Zhang H*. Amino Acids and RagD Potentiate mTORC1 Activation in CD8+ T Cells to Confer Antitumor Immunity. Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, 2021, 9(4). (IF：11.5)
9. Yuan Y#, Zhang X#, Chen R#, ..., Zhang Y*, and Zhang H*. A bivalent nanoparticle vaccine exhibits potent cross-protection against the variants of SARS-CoV-2. Cell Reports. 2021: 110256. (IF：7.5)
10. Ma X#, Zou F#, Yu F#, Li R#, Yuan Y#, Zhang Y#, ... Zhang H. Nanoparticle Vaccines Based on the Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) and Heptad Repeat (HR) of SARS-CoV-2 Elicit Robust Protective Immune Responses. Immunity. 2020, 53(6): 1315-1330. e9. (IF：33.2)
11. Pan T#, Hu Z#, Hu F#, Zhang Y#, ... Tang X*, Zhang H*. Significantly reduced abilities to cross-neutralize SARS-CoV-2 variants by sera from convalescent COVID-19 patients infected by Delta or early strains. Cellular & Molecular Immunology. 2021: 1-3. (IF：22.6)
12. Zhang Y #, Chen Y#, ... Wei L*, Zhang H*. UHRF1 Controls Thymocyte Fate Decisions Through the Epigenetic Regulation of EGR1 Expression. Journal of Immunology. 2020, 204(12): 3248-3261.
13. Luo B#, Zhan Y#, ..., Zhang Y*, Zhang H*. Engineered Production of Anti-PD1 Antibody-Expressing Long-lived Plasma Cells by CRISPR/CAS9-Mediated Targeted Gene Integration.Cell Death and Diseases.2020 Nov 12;11(11):973.
14. Zhang Y，..., Liu B*, and Zhang H*. A cellular microRNA facilitates regulatory T lymphocyte development by targeting the FOXP3 promoter TATA-box motif. Journal of Immunology. 2018. 200(3):1053-1063.
15. Pan T, ..., Zhang Y*, and Zhang H*. Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) Potently Inhibit the Replication of Zika Viruses by Inducing the Degradation of Axl. Journal of Virology. 2018, 92(20): e01018-18.
16. Chen Y#, Yu F #, ..., Li L*, and Zhang Y*. Adoptive Transfer of Interleukin-21-stimulated Human CD8+ T Memory Stem Cells Efficiently Inhibits Tumor Growth. Journal of Immunotherapy. 2018, 41(6): 274. (IF:4.5).