Introduction:

Professor Wenqing Gao earned her PhD through a joint training program between the National Institute of Biological Sciences (NIBS), Beijing and China Agricultural University, under the mentorship of Dr. Feng Shao. Her doctoral research focused on the molecular mechanisms governing inflammasome activation and Gasdermin-mediated inflammatory cell death. Following her PhD, she pursued postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Jonathan Kipnis, first at the University of Virginia and later at Washington University in St. Louis. Her postdoctoral work centered on the multifaceted functions of immune cells within the central nervous system (CNS), with an emphasis on developing T cell-based immunotherapy for CNS injuries. In 2025, she joined HKUST as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Life Science.

Research Question

Neuroimmunology and immune engineering

The central nervous system (CNS) was long regarded as an immune-privileged organ. However, growing evidence in neuroimmunology has revealed dynamic interactions between the nervous system and immune systems in both health and disease. Our lab uses mouse models to investigate neuro-immune communication under pathological conditions, including CNS injury, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). By deciphering the dialogue between peripheral-derived immune cells and resident CNS cells, we aim to identify immunopathogenic mechanisms and molecular drivers of disease progression. Leveraging immune engineering approaches, our ultimate goal is to develop next-generation therapeutic strategies for neurological disorders.

Representative Publications

1. Kim, M.W., Gao, W., Lichti, C.F., Dykstra, T., Smirnov, I., Kleverov, D., Salvador, A.F.M., Drieu, A., Kim, K., Blackburn, S., Crewe, C., Artyomov, M., Kipnis, J. (2025). Endogenous self-peptides guard CNS immune privilege. Nature 637, 176-183. 10.1038/s41586-024-08279-y.
2. Gao, W.*^#, Kim, M.W.*, Dykstra, T., Du, S., Boskovic, P., Lichti, C.F., Ruiz-Cardozo, M.A., Gu, X., Shapira, T.W., Rustenhoven, J., Molina, C., Smirnov, I., Merbl, Y., Ray, W.Z., Kipnis, J.^# (2024). T cell therapy for central nervous system injury. Nature 634, 693-701. 10.1038/s41586-024-07906-y. (*Co-first author, ^#co-responding author)
3. Salvador, A.F.M., Dykstra, T., Rustenhoven, J., Gao, W., Blackburn, S.M., Bhasiin, K., Dong, M.Q., Guimaraes, R.M., Gonuguntla, S., Smirnov, I., Kipnis, J., and Herz, J. (2023). Age-dependent immune and lymphatic responses after spinal cord injury. Neuron 111, 2155-2169 e2159. 10.1016/j. Neuron.2023.04.011.
4. Wang, Y.*, Gao, W.*, Shi, X., Ding, J., Liu, W., He, H., Wang, K., and Shao, F. (2017). Chemotherapy drugs induce pyroptosis through caspase-3 cleavage of a gasdermin. Nature 547, 99-103. 10.1038/nature22393. (*Co-first author)
5. Gao, W., Yang, J., Liu, W., Wang, Y., and Shao, F. (2016). Site-specific phosphorylation and microtubule dynamics control Pyrin inflammasome activation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 113, E4857-4866. 10.1073/pnas.1601700113.