Tao Shen, Ph.D.  Associate Professor, Doctoral Supervisor

Contact Information

Email: taoshen@hsc.pku.edu.cn

Specialty

Virology and Immunology

Main Research Interests

Novel diagnostic targets and methods for infectious diseases; Viral immunology of HIV/HBV/HCV

Research Focus

Infectious diseases and molecular diagnostics

EDUCATION

2002.09-2005.07 Ph.D. in Immunology, National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

1999.09-2002.07 M.S. in Pathogenic Biology, Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, Ministry of Public Health

1989.09-1994.07  B.S. in Medical Laboratory Science, Bengbu Medical College

WORK EXPERIENCES

2012.08-Present Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University

2009.01-2012.08    Lecturer, Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Basic

Medical Sciences, Peking University

2006.05-2009.01 Postdoctoral Fellow, The Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University

2005.08-2006.5  Lecturer, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Wenzhou medical University

ACADEMIC MEMBERSHIPS

1. Board Member, 11th and 12th Council of Beijing Society for Microbiology (2017-2025)

2. Executive Member, Vaccine Basic Research Committee, China Vaccine Industry Association (2022-2027)

3. Editorial Board Member, 7th and 8th Editorial Committee of  Chinese Journal of Microbiology and Immunology  (2013-2028)

4. Editorial Board Member, 8th and 9th Editorial Committee of  Chinese Journal of Blood Transfusion  (2018-2025)

5. Member, Blood Safety Committee, Chinese Preventive Medicine Association (2020-2025)

6. Member, HIV Virology Committee, China Association of STD/AIDS Prevention and Control (2020-2025)

7. Member, HIV Co-infection with Hepatitis Committee, China Association of STD/AIDS Prevention and Control (2020-2025)

8. Member, Basic Medicine and Experimental Collaboration Group, Hepatology Branch, Chinese Medical Association (2020-2025)

9. Secretary-General and Council Member, AIDS Vaccine Research Association of Tianjin Binhai New Area (2015-2023)

BIOGRAPHY

Prof. Tao Shen is a medical doctor with a Ph.D., serving as Associate Professor and Doctoral Supervisor in the Department of Microbiology & Pathogen Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, and designated Independent Principal Investigator. He obtained his Ph.D. from the National Center for STD/AIDS Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and conducted postdoctoral research at The Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in the United States. Since returning to China, he has been engaged in research on infection immunology and molecular diagnostics related to HIV, SARS-CoV-2, and hepatitis viruses at Peking University. He has extensive experience in the development and evaluation of molecular diagnostic reagents for infectious diseases and microbial enrichment strategies, with 6 authorized invention patents. As first or corresponding author, he has published over 70 papers in Chinese and English, including 43 SCI-indexed papers published in top-tier journals such as  Gastroenterology ,  Journal of Hepatology ,  Journal of Medical Virology ,  Journal of Infection ,  JHEP Reports ,  Cellular & Molecular Immunology , and  OncoImmunology , with more than 1,300 citations. His collaborative projects on novel diagnostic reagents for SARS-CoV-2 and HDV have achieved significant social and economic impact.

TEACHING

Teaches medical microbiology theory courses, laboratory courses, graduate courses, 8-year clinical medicine research training, elective courses, PBL teaching, and experimental methodology courses, with an average annual teaching load of 104.92 hours. Responsible for elective courses including "Pathogenic Basis of Important Infectious Diseases" and "Microbial Infection and Human Health."

RESEARCH TEAM

As an Independent Principal Investigator, he directs the PKU-Yahuilong Joint Laboratory for Molecular Diagnostics of Infectious Diseases. The research group has developed into an independent laboratory with distinct research directions, featuring a "small but elite" research team. Main research areas include:

1. Novel diagnostic targets and methods for infectious diseases

2. Viral immunology research of HIV/HBV/HCV

3. Development and quality evaluation of novel diagnostic reagents

Total research funding exceeds 40 million RMB, providing sufficient financial support for laboratory development. Students under his supervision have received funding from the National Natural Science Foundation doctoral student projects and selection as outstanding doctoral students for the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in China. Many supervised students have received honors including National Scholarships, President's Scholarships, Academic Innovation Awards, Beijing Outstanding Graduate, Peking University Outstanding Graduate, Merit Student Pacesetter, and Merit Student awards.

RESEARCH ACHIEVEMENTS

MAJOR RECENT RESEARCH PROJECTS

1. National Key R&D Program: "Vaccine Immune Effect Evaluation and Efficacy Enhancement Mechanism Research" (2025-2028) — 1.2 million RMB, Principal Investigator

2. National Natural Science Foundation Project: "Blockade of immune checkpoint NKG2A to enhance NK and T cell-mediated cytotoxic effects for clearing HIV-1 latent infection" (Grant No.: 82072277) (2021.1-2024.12) — 550,000 RMB

3. Biosafety Special Project: "Research and Development of Novel Microbial Enrichment Technology" (SWAQ-2021-01) (2021.1-2024.7) — 2 million RMB, Principal Investigator

4. Beijing Natural Science Foundation Project: "Genetic polymorphism study on susceptibility to severe COVID-19 in adults" (Grant No.: M21021) (2021.1-2023.12) — 300,000 RMB

5. PKU-Yahuilong Joint Laboratory Phases 1 & 2: (2021-2029), over 30 million RMB total, Joint Laboratory Director

6. Chinese Foundation for Hepatitis Prevention and Control Project: "Significance of Novel Biomarkers in Diagnosing Severe Liver Pathological Changes in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients" (Grant No.: GRG202301) (2023-2025) — 500,000 RMB

REPRESENTATIVE RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS

1. Yue Yin^#, Xinjie Li^#, Chungen Qian, Bangning Cheng, Fengmin Lu, Tao Shen*. Antibody efficacy of inactivated vaccine boosters (CoronaVac) against Omicron variant from a 15-month follow-up study. Journal of Infection, 2022, 85(4): e119-e121.

2. Xinjie Li^#, Yuqi Zhang^#, Jie Wang, Jun Han*, Tao Shen*. Long-term dynamic shifts in genomic base content and evolutionary trajectories of SARS-CoV-2 variant. Journal of Medical Virology, 2023, 95(10): e29128.

3. Xinjie Li^#, Yue Yin^#, Qianqian Cui^#, Weijin Huang, Qinghua Zou*, Tao Shen*. Long-term variations and potency of neutralizing antibodies against Omicron subvariants after CoronaVac inactivated booster: a 7-month follow-up study. Journal of Medical Virology, 2023, 95(1): e28279.

4. Xinjie Li^#, Yue Yin^#, Ling Pang, Shuyun Xu, Fengmin Lu, Dong Xu, Tao Shen*. Colloidal gold immunochromatographic assay (GICA) is an effective screening method for identifying detectable anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies. International Journal of Infectious Diseases. 2021, 108: 483-486.

5. Rongtao Lai^#, Xinjie Li^#, Jie Zhang^#, Jun Chen^#, Changqing Yang, Wen Xie, Yuecheng Yu, Xiaoyan Guo, Xinrong Zhang, Guoliang Lu, Xi'an Han, Qing Xie, Chengwei Chen*, Tao Shen*, Yimin Mao*. Drug-induced liver injury in children: A nationwide cohort study from China. JHEP Reports, 2024, 6(8):101102.

6. Tao Shen^#, Yingxia Liu^#, Jia Shang^#, Qing Xie, Jun Li, Ming Yan, Jianming Xu, Junqi Niu, Jiajun Liu, Paul B. Watkins, Guruprasad P. Aithal, Raúl J. Andrade, Xiaoguang Dou, Lvfeng Yao, Fangfang Lv, Qi Wang, Yongguo Li, Xinmin Zhou, Yuexin Zhang, Peilan Zong, Bin Wan, Zhengsheng Zou, Dongliang Yang, Yuqiang Nie, Dongliang Li, Yuya Wang, Xi’an Han, Hui Zhuang, Yimin Mao*, Chengwei Chen*, Incidence and etiology of drug-induced liver injury in mainland China. Gastroenterology, 2019, 156(8): 2230-2241. (Highly cited paper, 482 citations)

7. Wang Jie^#, Shen Tao^#, Huang Xiangbo^#, G. Renuka Kumar, Xiangmei Chen, Zhenzhen Zeng, Ruiyang Zhang, Ran Chen, Tong Li, Tianying Zhang, Quan Yuan, Pao-Chen Li, Qi Huang, Richard Colonno, Jidong Jia, Jinlin Hou, Malcolm A. McCrae, Zhiliang Gao(*), Hong Ren(*), Ningshao Xia(*), Hui Zhuang and Fengmin Lu*, Serum hepatitis B virus RNA is encapsidated pregenome RNA that may be associated with persistence of viral infection and rebound, Journal of Hepatology, 2016, 65(4): 700-710. (Highly cited paper, 438 citations)

8. Maermaer Tuohutaerbieke^#, Xinjie Li^#, Yue Yin, Wei Chen, Dongmei Wu, Zhize Mao, Jiamixi Mamuerjiang, Yimin Mao*, Tao Shen*. The Characteristics, Prevalence, and Risk Factors of Drug-Induced Liver Injury among Brucellosis Inpatients in Xinjiang, China. Frontiers in Pharmacology. 2021, (12): 657805.

9. Zhe Xie^#, Jiajia Zheng^#, Yuya Wang, Dan Li, Tuohutaerbieke Maermaer, Yuantao Li, Jing Tu, Qiang Xu, Hua Liang*, Weiping Cai*, Tao Shen*, Deficient IL-2 produced by activated CD56+ T cells contributed to impaired NK cell-mediated ADCC function in chronic HIV-1 infection. Frontiers in Immunology, 2019, 10:1647.  

10. Hua Liang^#, Zhaojun Duan, Dan Li, Dongliang Li, Zheng Wang, Li Ren, Tao Shen*, Yiming Shao*, Higher level of circulating monocyte-platelet aggregates correlated with viremia and increased sCD163 level in HIV-1 infection. Cellular & Molecular Immunology, 2015, 12(4): 435-443.

TEACHING AWARDS

1. 2023 Peking University Excellence in Teaching Award

2. 2023 Peking University Health Science Center Excellence in Teaching Award

3. 2021 First Prize for Teaching Achievement, Peking University Health Science Center "Establishing Online and Offline Experimental Course System for Medical Microbiology Serving New Era Medical Talent Training"

4. 2021 First Prize for Teaching Achievement, Peking University "Establishing Online and Offline Experimental Course System for Medical Microbiology Serving New Era Medical Talent Training"

5. 2010 Outstanding Teacher, Peking University Health Science Center

6. 2013 Special Contribution Award for Teaching, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University

7. 2012 First Prize for Outstanding Teaching Paper, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University

RESEARCH AWARDS

1. 2024 Outstanding University-Industry Joint R&D Platform Award, Peking University Health Science Center

2. 2023 Outstanding Paper Award, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University

3. 2022 Second Prize, Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award. Project: "Research and Application of New Mechanisms, Diagnostic Indicators and Technologies for Hepatitis B and E"

4. 2020 Outstanding Annual Paper Award, 3rd Annual Forum for Excellence in Infectious and Liver Disease Research (LIFILD)

5. 2019 Outstanding Paper Award, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University

6. 2019 Outstanding Paper Citation Award, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University

7. 2017 Outstanding Paper Citation Award, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University