副研究員 / 本院生醫所

EDUCATION AND POSITIONS HELD:

• Ph.D., Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA (1992)
• Senior Scientist, Wyeth-Ayerst Research, Pennsylvania, USA (1993-1994)
• Associate Investigator, Institute of Preventive Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan (1994-1998)
• Assistant Research Fellow, Institute of Biomedical Sciences (IBMS), Academia Sinica (AS), Taipei, Taiwan (1998-2002)
• Associate Research Fellow, IBMS, AS, Taipei, Taiwan (2002-present)

HONORS:

• National Science Council Research Award, 1996-2002
• National Defense Medical Center Research Award, 1997
• Young Investigator Award, Academia Sinica, 2000
• National Science Council Distinguished Research Award, 2003-2004

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

Virus-Host Interactions

Our laboratory centers on two reemerging flaviviruses in Taiwan, dengue virus (DEN) and Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). JEV is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes and causes acute encephalitis with high fatality rates. DEN generally causes a mild febrile illness, dengue fever and infrequently a much more severe disease, dengue hemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome. Research interests in this laboratory are the molecular biology, virology, pathogenesis, immunology and vaccine development of these viruses. The goal is to understand the virus-host interactions in flavivirus infection. Current projects include: 1.) multifaceted interactions between type I interferon (IFN) and JEV: the molecular mechanisms adopted by JEV to induce IFN production and to block the IFN-induced Jak-Stat signaling. 2.) Cytopathic effect (CPE) mechanism related: the role played by PI-3K/Akt pathway in virus infection; and the involvement of individual viral proteins in virus-induced CPE. 3.) Immunity related: the antiviral mechanism of IFN on DEN infection; and DNA vaccine against JEV/DEN infection. 4.) Anti-viral related: collaboration with other institutes to test the potential antiviral chemicals.

本實驗室的研究工作以兩個在台灣相當重要的黃質病毒：日本腦炎病毒（JEV）以及登革病毒（DEN）為主。JEV經由蚊子感染人類，會引起急性腦炎，有相當高的致死率。DEN會引起登革熱、或是較為嚴重的登革出血熱和登革休克症候群。我們研究方向著重於這兩個病毒的分子生物學、病毒學、致病機轉、免疫學以及疫苗研發，目標是希望能瞭解病毒與宿主之間的相互關係。目前的工作重點為：1.〉第一型干擾素與JEV之間的多面向交互作用：JEV誘發第一型干擾素以及擷抗Jak-Stat訊息傳遞的分子機制。2.〉細胞病變方面：PI-3K/Akt訊息傳遞在JEV和DEN感染時所扮演的角色；個別病毒蛋白質於細胞病變中所扮演的角色。3.〉病毒免疫方面：第一型干擾素抑制DEN感染的作用機制；發展對抗JEV/DEN的DNA疫苗。4.〉抗病毒方面：與其他機構合作測試可能的化合物對抗JEV和DEN的能力。