Research Interests
Research Topics
Immunology, Virology, Molecular Evolution, Protein Structure, Bioinformatics
Disease Research Interests
Infectious Diseases
Research Description
The Wu lab focuses on three research questions:
- What are the constraints of virus evolution?
- Can we predict antibody specificity?
- Can we improve the quality and speed of vaccine design?
The Wu lab addresses these questions mainly in the context of influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2, using molecular virology, protein biochemistry, next-generation sequencing, high-throughput assays, x-ray crystallography, cryo-EM, and machine learning.
Education
Postdoc, The Scripps Research Institute, 2020
Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, 2015
B.S., University of Virginia, 2010
Awards and Honors
Viruses Early Career Investigator Award (2022)
UIUC MCB Outstanding Junior Faculty Award (2022)
ASV Ann Palmenberg Junior Investigator Award (2022)
Searle Scholar Award (2022)
Michelson Prize (2021)
ESWI Young Scientist Innovative Award (2021)
NIH Director's New Innovator Award (2021)
NIH Pathway to Independence Award (2019)
Croucher Postdoctoral Fellowship (2015-2017)
Highlighted Publications
Lei R*, Kim W*, Lv H*, Mou Z*, Scherm MJ*, Schmitz AJ, Turner JS, Tan TJC, Wang Y, Ouyang WO, Liang W, Rivera-Cardona J, Teo C, Graham CS, Brooke CB, Presti RM, Mok CKP#, Krammer F#, Dai X#, Ellebedy AH#, Wu NC#. Leveraging vaccination-induced protective antibodies to define conserved epitopes on influenza N2 neuraminidase. Immunity 56:2621-2634.e6 (2023)
Tan TJC, Mou Z, Lei R, Ouyang WO, Yuan M, Song G, Andrabi R, Wilson IA, Kieffer C, Dai X, Matreyek KA, Wu NC. High-throughput identification of prefusion-stabilizing mutations in SARS-CoV-2 spike. Nature Communications 14:2003 (2023)
Ouyang WO*, Tan TJC*, Lei R, Song G, Kieffer C, Andrabi R, Matreyek KA, Wu NC. Probing the biophysical constraints of SARS-CoV-2 spike N-terminal domain using deep mutational scanning. Science Advances 8:eadd7221 (2022)
Lei R, Tan TJC, Hernandez Garcia A, Wang Y, Diefenbacher M, Teo C, Gopan G, Tavakoli Dargani Z, Teo QW, Graham CS, Brooke CB, Nair SK, Wu NC. Prevalence and mechanisms of evolutionary contingency in human influenza H3N2 neuraminidase. Nature Communications 13:6443 (2022)
Wang Y*, Yuan M*, Lv H, Peng J, Wilson IA, Wu NC. A large-scale systematic survey reveals recurring molecular features of public antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2. Immunity 55:1105-1117.e4 (2022)
(*co-first, #co-corresponding)
Recent Publications
Daulagala, P., Mann, B. R., Leung, K., Lau, E. H. Y., Yung, L., Lei, R., Nizami, S. I. N., Wu, J. T., Chiu, S. S., Daniels, R. S., Wu, N. C., Wentworth, D., Peiris, M., & Yen, H. L. (2023). Imprinted Anti-Hemagglutinin and Anti-Neuraminidase Antibody Responses after Childhood Infections of A(H1N1) and A(H1N1)pdm09 Influenza Viruses. mBio, 14(3). https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.00084-23
Lei, R., Kim, W., Lv, H., Mou, Z., Scherm, M. J., Schmitz, A. J., Turner, J. S., Tan, T. J. C., Wang, Y., Ouyang, W. O., Liang, W., Rivera-Cardona, J., Teo, C., Graham, C. S., Brooke, C. B., Presti, R. M., Mok, C. K. P., Krammer, F., Dai, X., ... Wu, N. C. H. (2023). Leveraging vaccination-induced protective antibodies to define conserved epitopes on influenza N2 neuraminidase. Immunity, 56(11), 2621-2634.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2023.10.005
Lei, R., Hernandez Garcia, A., Tan, T. J. C., Teo, Q. W., Wang, Y., Zhang, X., Luo, S., Nair, S. K., Peng, J., & Wu, N. C. (2023). Mutational fitness landscape of human influenza H3N2 neuraminidase. Cell Reports, 42(1), Article 111951. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111951
Luo, Y., Lv, H., Zhao, S., Sun, Y., Liu, C., Chen, C., Liang, W., Kwok, K. O., Teo, Q. W., So, R. TY., Lin, Y., Deng, Y., Li, B., Dai, Z., Zhu, J., Zhang, D., Fernando, J., Wu, N. C., Tun, H. M., ... Mu, X. (2023). Age-related seroprevalence trajectories of seasonal coronaviruses in children including neonates in Guangzhou, China. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 127, 26-32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2022.11.044
Rappazzo, C. G., Fernandez-Quintero, M. L., Mayer, A., Wu, N. C., Greiff, V., & Guthmiller, J. J. (2023). Defining and studying B cell receptor and TCR interactions. Journal of Immunology, 211(3), 311-322. https://doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.2300136
