Bing ZHAIProfessor

Using system biology and synthetic biology approaches, we investigate the mechanisms underlying the antifungal resistance and the pathogenesis of the human-associated fungi. We also study the interactions between the fungal and bacterial compartments of human microbiome, and their influence on different physiological and disease processes

Dr. Bing Zhai received her PhD degree from Texas A&M University, where she studied the molecular mechanisms of virulence in the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans. Following that, she conducted postdoctoral training in New York City at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, focusing on antifungal immunity and the human intestinal mycobiome. In 2021, Dr. Zhai established her research lab as a principal investigator at the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Email: bing.zhai@siat.ac.cn

Zhai lab website: zhailabs.wordpress.com

Selected publications (*corresponding author):

1. Fan Y, Wu L, Zhai B*. The mycobiome: interactions with host and implications in diseases. Curr. Opin. Microbiol. 2023 75, 102361.

2. Zhai B#,*, Liao C#, Jaggavarapu S#, Tang Y#, Rolling T, Ning Y, Sun T, Bergin SA, Gjonbalaj M, Miranda E, Babady NE, Taur Y, Butler G, Zhang Li, Xavier JB, Weiss DS*, Hohl TM*. “Echinocandin heteroresistance causes prophylaxis failure and facilitates breakthrough Candida parapsilosis infection.” medRxiv (# equal contribution)

3. Rolling T#, Zhai B#, Gjonbalaj M, Tosini N, Yasuma-Mitobe K, Fontana E, Amorett LA, Wright RJ, Ponce DM, Perales MA, Xavier JB, van den Brink MRM, Markey KA, Peled JU, Taur Y, Hohl, TM. Intestinal fungal dynamics and linkage to hematopoietic cell transplantation outcomes. Nat. Microbiol. 2021 6 (12), 1505-1515. (# equal contribution)

4. Zhai B, Ola M, Rolling T, Tosini NL, Joshowitz S, Littmann ER, Amoretti LA, Fontana E, Wright RJ, Miranda E, Veelken CA, Morjaria SM, Peled JU, van den Brink MRM, Babady NE, Butler G, Taur Y, and Hohl TM. High-resolution mycobiota analysis reveals dynamic intestinal translocation prior to invasive candidiasis. Nat. Med. 2020 Jan;26, 59-64.

5. Drummond RA, Swamydas M#, Oikonomou V#, Zhai B#, Dambuza IM, Brian C Schaefer BC, Bohrer AC, Mayer-Barber KD, Lira SA, Iwakura Y, Filler SG, Brown GD, Hube B, Naglik JR, Hohl TM, Lionakis MS. CARD9+ microglia promote antifungal immunity via IL-1β-and CXCL1-mediated neutrophil recruitment. Nat. Immunol. 2019 May;20(5):559. (# equal contribution)