About

Jie Li is a Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University, affiliated with the Committee on Regional Studies—East Asia. Her research interests encompass Chinese literary, media, and cultural studies, with a focus on cinematic representations of modern East Asian history, cultural memories of the Maoist Era, cinema under Japanese colonization, and contemporary Chinese films. She is engaged in exploring how these cultural forms reflect and shape historical and social narratives within East Asia.

Research topics

• Virology
• Biology
• Medicine
• Internal medicine
• Immunology
• Genetics
• Molecular biology
• Cell biology
• Endocrinology
• Obstetrics
• Intensive care medicine
• Biochemistry
• Cancer research

Selected publications

• High-Dose Inhaled Nitric Oxide in Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure Due to COVID-19: A Multicenter Phase II Trial

  American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine · 2023 · 44 citations

  • Medicine
  • Intensive care medicine
  • Internal medicine

  at 48 hours compared with usual care in adults with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure due to COVID-19.

  DOI

• A lab-on-a-chip for the concurrent electrochemical detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA and anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in saliva and plasma

  Nature Biomedical Engineering · 2022 · 267 citations

  • Virology
  • Biology
  • Medicine
  DOI

• Characterization of Virologic Rebound Following Nirmatrelvir-Ritonavir Treatment for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

  Clinical Infectious Diseases · 2022 · 93 citations

  • Medicine
  • Virology
  • Internal medicine

  We enrolled 7 individuals with recurrent symptoms or antigen test conversion following nirmatrelvir-ritonavir treatment. High viral loads (median 6.1 log10 copies/mL) were detected after rebound for a median of 17 days after initial diagnosis. Three had culturable virus for up to 16 days after initial diagnosis. No known resistance-associated mutations were identified.

  DOI

• Prospective mapping of viral mutations that escape antibodies used to treat COVID-19

  Science · 2021 · 856 citations

  • Virology
  • Biology
  • Genetics

  Antibodies are a potential therapy for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), but the risk of the virus evolving to escape them remains unclear. Here we map how all mutations to the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 affect binding by the antibodies in the REGN-COV2 cocktail and the antibody LY-CoV016. These complete maps uncover a single amino acid mutation that fully escapes the REGN-COV2 cocktail, which consists of two antibodies, REGN10933 and REGN10987, targeting distinct structural epitopes. The maps also identify viral mutations that are selected in a persistently infected patient treated with REGN-COV2 and during in vitro viral escape selections. Finally, the maps reveal that mutations escaping the individual antibodies are already present in circulating SARS-CoV-2 strains. These complete escape maps enable interpretation of the consequences of mutations observed during viral surveillance.

  DOI

• Maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection elicits sexually dimorphic placental immune responses

  Science Translational Medicine · 2021 · 138 citations

  • Biology
  • Immunology
  • Virology

  There is a persistent bias toward higher prevalence and increased severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in males. Underlying mechanisms accounting for this sex difference remain incompletely understood. Interferon responses have been implicated as a modulator of COVID-19 disease in adults and play a key role in the placental antiviral response. Moreover, the interferon response has been shown to alter Fc receptor expression and therefore may affect placental antibody transfer. Here, we examined the intersection of maternal-fetal antibody transfer, viral-induced placental interferon responses, and fetal sex in pregnant women infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Placental Fc receptor abundance, interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) expression, and SARS-CoV-2 antibody transfer were interrogated in 68 human pregnancies. Sexually dimorphic expression of placental Fc receptors, ISGs and proteins, and interleukin-10 was observed after maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection, with up-regulation of these features in placental tissue of pregnant individuals with male fetuses. Reduced maternal SARS-CoV-2–specific antibody titers and impaired placental antibody transfer were also observed in pregnancies with a male fetus. These results demonstrate fetal sex-specific maternal and placental adaptive and innate immune responses to SARS-CoV-2.

  DOI

• SARS-CoV-2 evolution in an immunocompromised host reveals shared neutralization escape mechanisms

  Cell · 2021 · 201 citations

  • Biology
  • Virology
  • Immunology
  DOI

• SARS-CoV-2 viral load is associated with increased disease severity and mortality

  Nature Communications · 2020 · 972 citations

  • Virology
  • Medicine
  • Biology

  The relationship between SARS-CoV-2 viral load and risk of disease progression remains largely undefined in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Here, we quantify SARS-CoV-2 viral load from participants with a diverse range of COVID-19 disease severity, including those requiring hospitalization, outpatients with mild disease, and individuals with resolved infection. We detected SARS-CoV-2 plasma RNA in 27% of hospitalized participants, and 13% of outpatients diagnosed with COVID-19. Amongst the participants hospitalized with COVID-19, we report that a higher prevalence of detectable SARS-CoV-2 plasma viral load is associated with worse respiratory disease severity, lower absolute lymphocyte counts, and increased markers of inflammation, including C-reactive protein and IL-6. SARS-CoV-2 viral loads, especially plasma viremia, are associated with increased risk of mortality. Our data show that SARS-CoV-2 viral loads may aid in the risk stratification of patients with COVID-19, and therefore its role in disease pathogenesis should be further explored.

  DOI

• Loss of Bcl-6-Expressing T Follicular Helper Cells and Germinal Centers in COVID-19

  Cell · 2020 · 774 citations

  • Biology
  • Virology
  • Cell biology
  DOI

• Assessment of Maternal and Neonatal SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load, Transplacental Antibody Transfer, and Placental Pathology in Pregnancies During the COVID-19 Pandemic

  JAMA Network Open · 2020 · 438 citations

  • Medicine
  • Immunology
  • Virology

  Importance: Biological data are lacking with respect to risk of vertical transmission and mechanisms of fetoplacental protection in maternal severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Objective: To quantify SARS-CoV-2 viral load in maternal and neonatal biofluids, transplacental passage of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody, and incidence of fetoplacental infection. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study was conducted among pregnant women presenting for care at 3 tertiary care centers in Boston, Massachusetts. Women with reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results positive for SARS-CoV-2 were recruited from April 2 to June 13, 2020, and follow-up occurred through July 10, 2020. Contemporaneous participants without SARS-CoV-2 infection were enrolled as a convenience sample from pregnant women with RT-PCR results negative for SARS-CoV-2. Exposures: SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy, defined by nasopharyngeal swab RT-PCR. Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcomes were SARS-CoV-2 viral load in maternal plasma or respiratory fluids and umbilical cord plasma, quantification of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in maternal and cord plasma, and presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the placenta. Results: Among 127 pregnant women enrolled, 64 with RT-PCR results positive for SARS-CoV-2 (mean [SD] age, 31.6 [5.6] years) and 63 with RT-PCR results negative for SARS-CoV-2 (mean [SD] age, 33.9 [5.4] years) provided samples for analysis. Of women with SARS-CoV-2 infection, 23 (36%) were asymptomatic, 22 (34%) had mild disease, 7 (11%) had moderate disease, 10 (16%) had severe disease, and 2 (3%) had critical disease. In viral load analyses among 107 women, there was no detectable viremia in maternal or cord blood and no evidence of vertical transmission. Among 77 neonates tested in whom SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were quantified in cord blood, 1 had detectable immunoglobuilin M to nucleocapsid. Among 88 placentas tested, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was not detected in any. In antibody analyses among 37 women with SARS-CoV-2 infection, anti-receptor binding domain immunoglobin G was detected in 24 women (65%) and anti-nucleocapsid was detected in 26 women (70%). Mother-to-neonate transfer of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was significantly lower than transfer of anti-influenza hemagglutinin A antibodies (mean [SD] cord-to-maternal ratio: anti-receptor binding domain immunoglobin G, 0.72 [0.57]; anti-nucleocapsid, 0.74 [0.44]; anti-influenza, 1.44 [0.80]; P < .001). Nonoverlapping placental expression of SARS-CoV-2 receptors angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 and transmembrane serine protease 2 was noted. Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study, there was no evidence of placental infection or definitive vertical transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Transplacental transfer of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was inefficient. Lack of viremia and reduced coexpression and colocalization of placental angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 and transmembrane serine protease 2 may serve as protective mechanisms against vertical transmission.

  DOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R56AI125109

  NIH · $897k · 2018

• Clinical Core

  NIH · $44.2M · 2004–2029

• Novel virologic and pharmacologic assays to predict clinical outcomes after first-line ART failure in sub-Saharan Africa

  NIH · $3.2M · 2018–2023

• NIH Grant R21AI114448

  NIH · $503k · 2016

• NIH Grant K08AI100699

  NIH · $682k · 2017

Frequent coauthors

• Daniel R. Kuritzkes

  Brigham and Women's Hospital

  214 shared

• Xu G. Yu

  Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard

  176 shared

• Eric S. Daar

  UCLA Medical Center

  165 shared

• Manish C. Choudhary

  163 shared

• Yijia Li

  University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

  148 shared

• Amy K. Barczak

  Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard

  125 shared

• James Regan

  Brigham and Women's Hospital

  116 shared

• Bruce D. Walker

  St Vincent's Hospital Sydney

  109 shared

Similar researchers at Harvard University

• Walter C Willetth-429
• JoAnn E Mansonh-359
• Randy L. Bucknerh-268
• Edward Giovannuccih-267
• Kristen Andersonh-263