Our group focuses on the following major aspects:​

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• Identify the functional impacts of TLSs in cardiovascular diseases and various types of cancer

TLSs are clusters of immune cells that form in response to chronic inflammation or long-lasting and unresolvable diseases. They aren’t usually found in healthy tissue but can develop in areas with diseases like cardiovascular disease (e.g., atherosclerosis) and cancer. We are interested in understanding what these immune cell clusters do - specifically, whether TLSs help or harm the body when they appear in diseased tissues. Current evidence suggests that TLSs have the opposite roles depending on the disease type. For example, TLSs generally have a harmful impact, fueling the immune system's attack on healthy cells and aggravating the disease in atherosclerosis and autoimmune diseases; while TLSs are believed to support anti-tumor immunity in most of cancer types, and potentially to improve survival, though their effectiveness can vary.

Therefore, we are fascinating the underlying mechanisms, we believed that understanding these impacts can guide targeted therapies in future: suppressing TLSs in autoimmune diseases and atherosclerosis and enhancing their anti-tumor functions in certain cancers.

• Define atherosclerosis as a bona fide autoimmune disease

Atherosclerosis views the disease as a complex, multi-step process driven by interactions between lipids (fats), inflammation, and immune responses within the walls of arteries. Atherosclerosis is no longer seen as just a buildup of cholesterol; it is considered a chronic inflammatory disease with characteristics of both lipid metabolism disorder and immune dysfunction. A growing body of evidence supports the idea that atherosclerosis would be an autoimmune disease. Defining atherosclerosis as an autoimmune disease could change our approach to treatment and prevention. If autoimmune mechanisms are a central factor, therapies could target the immune system’s inappropriate response instead of just focusing on lowering cholesterol or blood pressure. This shift could lead to more effective treatments, especially for individuals who continue to have atherosclerosis despite managing traditional risk factors.

• Elucidation tolerance dysfunction in chronic inflammatory diseases. 

Chronic inflammatory diseases affect millions of people and often have severe, life-long impacts. We try to understand how the immune system's failure to maintain "self-tolerance" - its ability to avoid attacking the body’s own tissues - contributes to diseases such as atherosclerosis. Tolerance dysfunction is a critical area because, in these diseases, the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissues, leading to chronic inflammation and tissue damage. A better understanding of this question will be crucial for disease mechanisms. By focusing on restoring tolerance, new treatments can be more precise, targeting only the dysfunctional immune pathways without compromising the entire immune system. This reduces the side effects and risks associated with broad immunosuppressive therapies, such as increased infection susceptibility.

• Developing the next generation of immunotherapies.

Understanding the above key questions, we are aiming to develop new the next generation of immunotherapies for chronic diseases. This is a major advancement in medical science, with the potential to offer safer, more effective, and more personalized treatment options.