Shanghai Institute of Material Medical Chinese Academy of Sciences

Biography

Dr. Lei Pan is a distinguished young talent and has been selected for the sixth batch of the National High-Level Talent Special Support Program. He is an outstanding member of the CAS Youth Innovation Promotion Association and is also recognized as a Shanghai Young Top Talent. Additionally, he has been selected as a Young Scientist by the Chinese Society for Cell Biology. Currently, Dr. Pan serves as a member of the Life Science Degree Evaluation Committee of the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) and as the Deputy Director of the CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Virology and Immunology. He is also a committee member of the Insect Microbiome Committee of the Chinese Society of Entomology and a council member of the Shanghai Entomological Society. Dr. Pan graduated from the College of Life Sciences at Nankai University in 2004. In the same year, he was admitted without examination to the Institute of Biophysics, CAS. From January 2006 to December 2009, he was selected for a joint doctoral training program and completed his doctoral studies at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in the United States, where he conducted research in genetics and stem cells. He obtained his Ph.D. in Cell Biology from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2010. That same year, he was directly appointed as an Associate Investigator at the Institute of Biophysics, CAS. Remarkably, he was promoted to Principal Investigator and Ph.D. Supervisor within just four years. Since 2018, he has been a Full Professor at the Pasteur Institute of Shanghai. In 2025, he is a Principle Investigator at State Key Laboratory of Immune Response and Immunotherapy, Shanghai lnstitute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Dr. Pan’s laboratory has long been engaged in pioneering research in immunogenetics, exploring the interaction mechanisms between innate immunity and critical physiological and pathological response pathways in the body. Currently, his research focuses on the homeostasis of the intestinal immune environment, with a particular emphasis on how local intestinal disturbances trigger systemic inflammatory responses mediated by distal organs, especially the immune, metabolic, and neural communication mechanisms between gut-axis organs.

Education Experience：

2004-2010 Ph.D., Cell Biology, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

2006-2009 CAS-Stowers joint Ph.D. training programs, Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri, US

2000-2004 B.S., the College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, China

Work Experience：

2010.03-2014.10 Associate Investigator, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

2014.10-2017.12 Principal Investigator, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

2018.01-2025 Principal Investigator, Pasteur Institute of Shanghai (Shanghai Institute of Inmmunity and Infection), Chinese Academy of Sciences

2025-now Principal Investigator, Intestinal microenvironment and health Unit, Shanghai lnstitute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Research Directions

Combing the manipulation of Drosophila and the mouse, at present our lab mainly focus on the regulation of intestinal eco-immunological homeostasis including three aims:

1) Innate immune signaling homeostasis: to identify new regulatory factors and to determine network regulations of mucosal innate immunity, especially to decipher the inter-organ communications to coordinate local-systemic immune signal transduction;

2) Cellular homeostasis: to study the damages initiation and stem cell mediated tissue repair of intestinal epithelia during combating pathogens;

3) Commensal flora homeostasis: to learn corporately the change pattern and the immunological regulation mechanisms of gut commensal microflora and the fat/energy metabolism.

Grants & Research Projects

National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFC2303504、2012CB518900、2011DFG32790)

National Natural Science Foundation of China (92157106、32270917、31870887、31570897、31370909)

National Natural Science Foundation of China for Young Scholars（31000403、82003361、32000138）

Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDPB16)

Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Major Project (24N12800400、2019SHZDZX02)

Shanghai Committee of Science and Technology, China (22ZR1469900)

Novo Nordisk – Chinese Academy of Sciences Research Foundation, Joint research projects (NNCAS-2011-2)

Achievements

1. Established a mature genome-wide, tissue-specific loss-of-function/gain-of-function large-scale in vivo screening system in Drosophila.

2. Established in vivo interorgan communication models using mouse/fruit fly,such as gut-liver, gut-brain, gut-muscle, and gut-skin interactions.

3. Put forward a novel mechanism to regulate stem cell fate through protein competition (Nature, Cell stem cell)

4. Identify metabolic DAMPs which contribute to local-systemic innate immune communication (Cell Host Microbe)

5. Identify a chromatin remodeling factor Bap180/Baf180 which is required for the homeostasis of intestinal innate immunity in Drosophila and mice (Nature Microbiology)

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Social Titles

2014-2022 Committee member of Life Society, the Youth Innovation Promotion Association, CAS

2018-Present Editorial board member of Bioprotocol

2019-Present Member of CAS Center for Excellence in Biotic Interactions

2019-Present Committee member of Shanghai entomological society

2020-2024 Deputy Director of the CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Virology and Immunology

2022-2025 Director of the Education and Degree Committee of the Shanghai Institute of Immunity and Infection, CAS

2022-Present Committee member of the Life Science Degree Evaluation Committee of the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS)

2022-Present Committee member of the Insect Microbiome Committee of the Chinese Society of Entomology

2023-Present Editorial board member of hLife

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Awards & Honors

2006 Predoctoral Fellowship, Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri, USA

2012 Membership of the Youth Innovation Promotion Association, CAS

2016 Outstanding Membership of the Youth Innovation Promotion Association, CAS

2018 Shanghai Youth Top-notch Talent

2020 Young Scientists of the Chinese Society for Cell Biology

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Pubilcations

Selected Publications

1.Pan L*, Wang S*, Lu T, Weng C, Song X, Park J, Sun J, Yang Z, Yu J, Tang H, McKearin D, Chamovitz D, Ni J, Xie T. Protein competition switches the function of COP9 from self-renewal to differentiation. NATURE, 2014; doi:10.1038/nature13562

2.Shuo Yang*, Yaya Zhao*, Junjing Yu*, Zhiqin Fan, Si-tang Gong, Hong Tang, Lei Pan. Sugar Alcohols of Polyol Pathway Serve as Alarmins to Mediate Local-Systemic Innate Immune Communication in Drosophila. Cell Host & Microbe (2019), 10.1016/j.chom.2019.07.001

3.Xiaomeng He*, Junjing Yu*, Min Wang, Yang Cheng, Yanan Han, Shuo Yang, Lei Sun, Ying Fang, Si-tang Gong, Zhong Wang, Yang-Xin Fu, Lei Pan # and Hong Tang# . Bap180/Baf180 is required to maintain the homeostasis of intestinal innate immune response. Nature Microbiology, 2, 17056 (2017). (#Correspondence author)

4.Pan L, Chen S, Weng C, Call G, Zhu D, Tang H, Zhang N, Xie T. Stem Cell Aging Is Controlled Both Intrinsically and Extrinsically in the Drosophila Ovary. CELL STEM CELL, 2007, 1:458-469

5.Lei Wang*, Jiaxin Lin*, Junjing Yu, Kaiyan Yang, Li Sun, Hong Tang, Lei Pan. Downregulation of Perilipin1 by the Immune Deficiency Pathway Leads to Lipid Droplet Reconfiguration and Adaptation to Bacterial Infection in Drosophila. Journal of Immunology, 2021, 207: 1-12.

6.Lei Wang, Jiaxin Lin, Kaiyan Yang, Weina Wang, Yan Lv, Xiangkang Zeng, Yaya Zhao, Junjing Yu, Lei Pan. Perilipin 1 Deficiency Prompts Lipolysis in Lipid Droplets and Aggravates the Pathogenesis of Persistent Immune Activation in Drosophila. J Innate Immun 2023;15:697–708 DOI: 10.1159/000534099

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