About

Ying-Chen Claire Hou, PhD, FACMG, is a director within the Institute for Genomic Medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and an assistant professor-clinical within the Departments of Pathology and Pediatrics at The Ohio State University. She received her doctoral degree in Genetics from the University of British Columbia, where she performed functional screening tests to understand the crosstalk between apoptosis and autophagy. Claire completed her post-doctoral training at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, where she performed genome-wide RNAi screens to understand endoplasmic reticulum stress and its association with neurodegenerative diseases. She also completed her Laboratory Genomics and Genetics (LGG) fellowship at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, developing strong interests in cancer cytogenetics and cancer genomics. Prior to her fellowship, she worked in industry positions involving the development and validation of genomic tests, including pharmacogenomics, inherited cancer, and whole genome sequencing, and was actively involved in research activities. Her research includes integrating whole-genome sequencing, metabolomics, and advanced imaging to understand the clinical impact of surveying genome-wide disease-causing genes and variants in presumed healthy adults.

Research topics

• Virology
• Biology
• Genetics
• Immunology
• Medicine
• Internal medicine
• Computer Science
• Pathology
• Microbiology
• Anatomy

Selected publications

• mRNA-1273.251 and mRNA-1283.251 vaccines expressing SARS-CoV-2 variant LP.8.1 antigens broadly neutralize contemporary JN.1-lineage viruses

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2025-09-17 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen access

  Abstract The continued evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron JN.1 lineage has led to the emergence of antigenically distinct subvariants including KP.2, KP.3, XEC, and LP.8.1, which became the dominant strains in the Americas and Europe by mid-2025. LP.8.1 was designated a Variant Under Monitoring by the WHO in January 2025 due to its potential to displace prior circulating variants. Informed by early growth modeling and antigenic analysis, we selected LP.8.1 as a candidate strain for the 2025-2026 vaccine season. Here, we describe the development of updated LP.8.1-matched mRNA vaccine compositions encoding either the full-length spike protein for mRNA-1273 (monovalent) or the membrane-anchored receptor-binding and N-terminal domains for the mRNA-1283 vaccine. Initial in vitro characterization, including structural analysis, demonstrated robust antigen expression and intact antigenic features. Immunogenicity of both vaccines were evaluated in murine models following immunization as either a primary series in naïve animals or as a booster dose. LP.8.1-matched vaccines elicited strong neutralizing antibody responses against the homologous LP.8.1 strain and more recently emerging JN.1-lineage subvariants, including XFG and NB.1.8.1. Notably, the mRNA-1283 vaccine expressing LP.8.1 induced higher mean neutralization titers than the mRNA-1273 version across multiple variants. These data demonstrate the immunogenicity and breadth of both LP.8.1-based mRNA-1273 and mRNA-1283 vaccines in the context of ongoing JN.1 lineage evolution and support the selection of LP.8.1 as the updated vaccine antigen for the 2025-2026 season.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Towards stabilized and efficient 3D Gaussian splatting training for limited data point cloud rendering

  2025-01-28

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Recently, 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) has made remarkable progress in real-time rendering. It has significantly advanced realistic 3D scene rendering in various academic and industrial applications. However, 3DGS requires a substantial number of consecutive views for scene modeling and faces challenges in synthesis quality due to inputs such as sparse view input. Overfitting of the training views by 3DGS can result in artifacts and floaters in the rendered images, particularly when the number of training views is limited. To address this challenge, we introduce a novel method for training 3D models from limited data. Our approach involves continuously tracking Gaussian variations to guide the synthesis of novel view synthesis, thereby reducing local geometric overfitting and improving rendering quality without sacrificing speed. Additionally, we propose an annealing strategy to prevent the emergence of ambiguous scene representations while considering both global structure and fine texture details. Experimental results demonstrate that our method can achieve superior results in novel view synthesis with limited data. In the single-view training results compared to the baseline on the Nerf-LLFF dataset, our method exhibited an improvement of 5.40% in PSNR, 9.36% in SSIM, 8.54%p in LPIPS without additional inference costs.

  PublisherDOI

• Associations of temperament, family functioning with loneliness trajectories in patients with breast cancer: a longitudinal observational study

  BMC Psychology · 2025-02-10 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  PURPOSE: Loneliness is a prevalent affective issue among patients with breast cancer, with its developmental trajectory being a contentious subject. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore trends in loneliness in patients with breast cancer and identify predictors of different trajectory categories. METHODS: Using convenience sampling, 176 patients planning to undergo breast cancer surgery in a university hospital in Shaanxi Province, China, were followed up six times over 12 months following surgery, and data from 144 patients were analyzed. The data were analyzed using a mixed growth model (GMM) and logistic regression. RESULTS: Two latent classes of loneliness trajectory were identified among patients with breast cancer, namely "persistent high loneliness" and "persistent low loneliness." Patients who with education level of junior secondary and less (OR = 13.59, P = 0.002), had a melancholic temperament (OR = 12.07, P = 0.002) were more likely to be categorized in the "persistent high loneliness group", whereas the better family functioning (OR = 0.60, P < 0.001) and choleric temperament (OR = 0.16, P = 0.025) of the patients were more likely to be categorized in the "persistent low loneliness group". CONCLUSION: Patients with breast cancer exhibit diverse trajectories of loneliness, with educational level, temperament type, and family functioning being predictive of these trajectories. Therefore, it is crucial to promptly identify populations at risk in a clinical setting and devise intervention strategies, grounded in identified trajectory characteristics and influencing factors, to enhance patient outcomes.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The influence of self-efficacy on career maturity in college students: mediating the moderation of creativity tendency and achievement motivation

  Frontiers in Psychology · 2025-11-05

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Objective: This study explores the relationship between self-efficacy and career maturity among college students, while investigating the mediating role of creativity tendency and achievement motivation. Methods: A survey was conducted on 950 college students using the Self-Efficacy Scale, Career Maturity Scale, Creativity Tendency and Achievement Motivation Scale. Results: Self-efficacy significantly and positively predicts career maturity. Creativity tendency has a mediating effect between self-efficacy and career maturity among undergraduate students. The interaction between self-efficacy and achievement motivation significantly predicts creativity tendency, while the interaction between creativity tendency and achievement motivation significantly predicts career maturity. Conclusion: Creativity tendency partially mediates the relationship between self-efficacy and career maturity. Achievement motivation moderates both the initial and later stages of the mediating pathway as "self-efficacy → creativity propensity → career maturity."

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Engineered three-dimensional Au@Ag NCs/MXene/polystyrene microsphere SERS substrate for ultrasensitive detection

  Optics & Laser Technology · 2025-12-18

  article
  PublisherDOI

• A MERS-CoV antibody neutralizes a pre-emerging group 2c bat coronavirus

  UNC Libraries · 2025-01-07

  articleOpen access

  The repeated emergence of zoonotic human betacoronaviruses (&beta;-CoVs) dictates the need for broad therapeutics and conserved epitope targets for countermeasure design. Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)-related coronaviruses (CoVs) remain a pressing concern for global health preparedness. Using metagenomic sequence data and CoV reverse genetics, we recovered a full-length wild-type MERS-like BtCoV/<em>li</em>/GD/2014-422 (BtCoV-422) recombinant virus, as well as two reporter viruses, and evaluated their human emergence potential and susceptibility to currently available countermeasures. Similar to MERS-CoV, BtCoV-422 efficiently used human and other mammalian dipeptidyl peptidase protein 4 (DPP4) proteins as entry receptors and an alternative DPP4-independent infection route in the presence of exogenous proteases. BtCoV-422 also replicated efficiently in primary human airway, lung endothelial, and fibroblast cells, although less efficiently than MERS-CoV. However, BtCoV-422 shows minor signs of infection in 288/330 human DPP4 transgenic mice. Several broad CoV antivirals, including nucleoside analogs and 3C-like/M^pro protease inhibitors, demonstrated potent inhibition against BtCoV-422 in vitro. Serum from mice that received a MERS-CoV mRNA vaccine showed reduced neutralizing activity against BtCoV-422. Although most MERS-CoV-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) had limited activity, one anti-MERS receptor binding domain mAb, JC57-11, neutralized BtCoV-422 potently. A cryo-electron microscopy structure of JC57-11 in complex with BtCoV-422 spike protein revealed the mechanism of cross-neutralization involving occlusion of the DPP4 binding site, highlighting its potential as a broadly neutralizing mAb for group 2c CoVs that use DPP4 as a receptor. These studies provide critical insights into MERS-like CoVs and provide candidates for countermeasure development.

  PublisherDOI

• Erratum for Markmann et al., “Sex Disparities and Neutralizing-Antibody Durability to SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Convalescent Individuals”

  UNC Libraries · 2025-01-08

  erratumOpen access

  Erratum to "Sex disparities and neutralizing-antibody durability to sars-cov-2 infection in convalescent individuals" (mSphere (2021) 6:4 (e00275-21) DOI: 10.1128/mSphere.00275-21)

  PublisherDOI

• Publisher Correction: A mouse-adapted model of SARS-CoV-2 to test COVID-19 countermeasures

  UNC Libraries · 2025-01-08

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• mRNA-1273 vaccines adapted to JN.1 or KP.2 elicit cross-neutralizing responses against the JN.1 sublineages of SARS-CoV-2 in mice

  Vaccine · 2025-03-07 · 13 citations

  articleOpen access

  The continued diversification of SARS-CoV-2 omicron lineage has given rise to the JN.1 variant and descendant strains (KP.2, KP.3, and XEC) that have prolonged the JN.1 infection wave. JN.1 and KP.2 show decreased susceptibility to neutralization sera in recipients of XBB.1.5 vaccine boosters, supporting the recent authorization of JN.1- and KP.2-matched mRNA vaccines in the United States, Europe, and other regions. We evaluated the immunogenicity of two updated monovalent variant-containing formulations of mRNA-1273 vaccines encoding the spike protein of the omicron subvariants JN.1 (mRNA-1273.167) and KP.2 (mRNA-1273.712) as compared with the monovalent XBB.1.5 vaccine (mRNA-1273.815). The vaccines were administered either as a two-dose primary series in naive mice or as a booster (third) dose in mice previously immunized with two-dose primary series of mRNA-1273 (ancestral strain). The neutralizing antibody response elicited by these vaccines against JN.1 subvariants (KP.3 and LA.2) and the recombinant strain (XEC), which achieved dominance in the United States during late 2024, was evaluated. Primary series immunization with either JN.1- or KP.2-matched vaccine elicited robust neutralizing antibody titers against the matched strains and effectively cross-neutralized KP.3, LA.2, and XEC, but not the antigenically distant XBB.1.5. Similarly, JN.1- and KP.2-matched vaccines administered as a booster (third) dose increased titers against the corresponding strains and JN.1-related subvariants, but not against XBB.1.5. These data suggest these strains are antigenically similar with relatively few spike differences between JN.1 and KP.2/JN.1-related subvariants. Our results demonstrate the potency of JN.1- and KP.2-containing mRNA-1273 vaccines in neutralizing the matched variants and their utility in cross-neutralizing JN.1-related subvariants KP.3, LA.2, and XEC. Taken together, these data suggest that the licensed JN.1 and KP.2 mRNA vaccines are likely to continue to protect against the emerging strains as the JN.1 lineage further evolves.

  PublisherDOI

• Characterization of humoral and cellular immunologic responses to an mRNA-based human cytomegalovirus vaccine from a phase 1 trial of healthy adults

  Journal of Virology · 2024-03-25 · 21 citations

  articleOpen access

  ABSTRACT mRNA-1647 is an investigational mRNA-based vaccine against cytomegalovirus (CMV) that contains sequences encoding the CMV proteins glycoprotein B and pentamer. Humoral and cellular immune responses were evaluated in blood samples collected from healthy CMV-seropositive and CMV-seronegative adults who participated in a phase 1 trial of a three-dose series of mRNA-1647 (NCT03382405). Neutralizing antibody (nAb) titers against fibroblast and epithelial cell infection in sera from CMV-seronegative mRNA-1647 recipients were higher than those in sera from control CMV-seropositive samples and remained elevated up to 12 months after dose 3. nAb responses elicited by mRNA-1647 were comparable across 14 human CMV (HCMV) strains. Frequencies of antigen-specific memory B cells increased in CMV-seropositive and CMV-seronegative participants after each mRNA-1647 dose and remained elevated for up to 6 months after dose 3. mRNA-1647 elicited robust increases in frequencies and polyfunctionality of CD4 + T helper type 1 and effector CD8 + T cells in samples from CMV-seronegative and CMV-seropositive participants after stimulation with HCMV-specific peptides. The administration of three doses of mRNA-1647 to healthy adults elicited high nAb titers with wide-breadth, long-lasting memory B cells, and strong polyfunctional T-cell responses. These findings support further clinical development of the mRNA-1647 vaccine against CMV. IMPORTANCE Cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common virus that can infect people of all ages, may lead to serious health problems in unborn babies and those with a weakened immune system. Currently, there is no approved vaccine available to prevent CMV infection; however, the investigational messenger RNA (mRNA)–based CMV vaccine, mRNA-1647, is undergoing evaluation in clinical trials. The current analysis examined samples from a phase 1 trial of mRNA-1647 in healthy adults to better understand how the immune system reacts to vaccination. Three doses of mRNA-1647 produced a long-lasting immune response, thus supporting further investigation of the vaccine in the prevention of CMV infection. CLINICAL TRIALS Registered at ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT03382405 ).

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Ralph S. Baric

  56 shared

• Longping V. Tse

  Saint Louis University

  20 shared

• Alena J. Markmann

  18 shared

• Scott H. Randell

  Lung Institute

  17 shared

• Sarah R. Leist

  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  16 shared

• Luther A. Bartelt

  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  15 shared

• Kenneth H. Dinnon

  Rockefeller University

  14 shared

• Caitlin E. Edwards

  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  14 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Genetics

  University of California, San Francisco

  2006

• M.D.

  University of California, San Francisco

  2000

• B.A., Molecular and Cell Biology

  University of California, Berkeley

  1996

Awards & honors

• Fellow, American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, 2…
• Diplomate, American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics,…
• Poster Award, ACMG Clinical Genetics Meeting, 2022
• Fellowship, American Lung Association, 2012
• Seed Grant, San Diego Center for System Biology, 2011