Biography:Lijuan Yuan

From HandWiki
Lijuan Yuan
袁丽娟
CitizenshipChinese-American
Alma materBeijing University (Diploma)
Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing (M.S.)
The Ohio State University (Ph.D.)
Known forGnotobiotic pig models for rotavirus and norovirus research; mucosal immunology of enteric viruses; preclinical vaccine evaluation
Scientific career
FieldsVirology, Mucosal immunology, Vaccinology, Enteric virology
InstitutionsVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Doctoral advisorLinda J. Saif

Lijuan Yuan (袁丽娟) is a Chinese-American virologist and academic researcher. She is a Professor of Virology in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology at the Virginia–Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech).[1] She also holds appointment as Professor of Virology with the Faculty of Health Sciences for the Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health (TBMH) Program at Virginia Tech.[2] She is known for her contributions to mucosal immunology, human enteric viral disease research, and preclinical evaluation of human rotavirus and norovirus vaccines using gnotobiotic pig models.[3][4]

Education

Yuan received her Ph.D. in immunology and virology in 2000 from Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University, under Linda J. Saif.[5] She completed an M.S. in Beijing and diplomas from Peking University and a Beijing health school.[6]

Career

Yuan worked at The Ohio State University from 2002 to 2007, before joining Virginia Tech in 2007, where she was promoted to Associate Professor in 2013 and Professor of Virology in 2019, with a concurrent appointment in its Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health program since 2014.[7]

Research

Yuan's research focuses on host–pathogen interactions in enteric viruses, examining viral infectivity, pathogenesis, and immune responses, and developing intervention strategies including vaccines, prophylactics, therapeutics, probiotics, and prebiotics.[8] Her laboratory pioneered the use of gnotobiotic pig models to study human rotavirus and norovirus infections, evaluating vaccine immunogenicity, protective efficacy, and novel immunization routes.[9][10][11][12][13]

Honors and awards

  • Grant Turnwald Innovation Award, Virginia–Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine (2020–2021)
  • GADOR Foundation Award for research on nanobodies with neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2
  • Elected Council Member, U.S. Association for Gnotobiotics (2019–2022)
  • Pfizer Award for Research Excellence (2011)[7]
  • American Society for Microbiology International Professorship Award for Asia (2009)
  • Elected membership in Phi Zeta National Honor Society of Veterinary Medicine (inducted 2000)
  • Presidential Fellowship, The Ohio State University (1999–2000)
  • Elected membership in Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society (inducted 1998)

References

  1. "Yuan Laboratory" (in en). https://research.vetmed.vt.edu/content/research_vetmed_vt_edu/en/labs/faculty-labs/yuan-lab.html. 
  2. "Lijuan Yuan - Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University" (in en-GB). 2023-10-02. https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/contributor_profile/lijuan-yuan-department-of-biomedical-sciences-and-pathobiology-virginia-polytechnic-institute-and-state-university/. 
  3. "Lijuan Yuan, PhD" (in en). https://vetmed.vt.edu/content/vetmed_vt_edu/en/people/faculty/yuan-lijuan.html. 
  4. "Virginia Tech researchers testing potential vaccine for norovirus" (in en). 2022-08-07. https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2022/08/virginia-tech-researchers-testing-potential-vaccine-for-norovirus/. 
  5. "VMCVM Faculty Spotlight: Lijuan Yuan" (in en). https://news.vt.edu/content/news_vt_edu/en/articles/2024/10/vetmed-faculty-spotlight-yuan.html. 
  6. "Gnotobiotic pig models: Illuminating the enigma of human norovirus infection and immunity" (in en-GB). 2026-04-02. https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/article/gnotobiotic-pig-models-illuminating-the-enigma-of-human-norovirus-infection-and-immunity/167491/. 
  7. 7.0 7.1 "Lijuan Yuan honored with Pfizer award at veterinary college's 2011 Research Symposium" (in en). https://news.vt.edu/content/news_vt_edu/en/articles/2011/10/101011-vetmed-researchsymposium.html. 
  8. Yuan, Lijuan; Wen, Ke; Azevedo, Marli S. P.; Gonzalez, Ana M.; Zhang, Wei; Saif, Linda J. (2008-06-19). "Virus-specific intestinal IFN-gamma producing T cell responses induced by human rotavirus infection and vaccines are correlated with protection against rotavirus diarrhea in gnotobiotic pigs". Vaccine 26 (26): 3322–3331. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2008.03.085. ISSN 0264-410X. PMID 18456375. 
  9. "Animal Model Research for Veterinarians Ph.D. training program awarded NIH grant" (in en). https://news.vt.edu/content/news_vt_edu/en/articles/2020/07/vetmed-biomedical-research-training.html. 
  10. Yuan, Lijuan (2008). "Next-generation vaccines - An IBC Conference. Harnessing innovative technologies and processes to speed up your research, development & production of novel vaccines part 2". IDrugs: The Investigational Drugs Journal 11 (9): 633–635. ISSN 1369-7056. PMID 18763210. 
  11. Wu, Keyi; Sun, Xiaochun; Xu, Jiawen; Guan, Zhihang; Yuan, Weijie; Bao, Lijuan; Zhao, Yihong; Shan, Ruping et al. (2025-06-26). "Yeast-fermented feed improves high-concentrate diet-induced mastitis in dairy goats by regulating rumen microbiota" (in English). Frontiers in Microbiology 16. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2025.1582314. ISSN 1664-302X. PMID 40641870. 
  12. researchfeatures (2021-12-29). "Human norovirus animal model essential for vaccine development" (in en-GB). https://researchfeatures.com/human-norovirus-animal-model-essential-vaccine-development/. 
  13. Yang, Xingdong; Twitchell, Erica; Li, Guohua; Wen, Ke; Weiss, Mariah; Kocher, Jacob; Lei, Shaohua; Ramesh, Ashwin et al. (2015-10-13). "High protective efficacy of rice bran against human rotavirus diarrhea via enhancing probiotic growth, gut barrier function and innate immunity" (in en). Scientific Reports 5 (1). doi:10.1038/srep15004. ISSN 2045-2322. PMID 26459937.