Dr. Liye Chen

Biography

Dr. Liye Chen originally trained in Medicine at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. He later developed an interest in rheumatology research during his Arthritis UK-funded PhD (2009-2013) in Paul Bowness's group at the University of Oxford. His work described functional explanations for the genetic association of ERAP1 in HLA-B27-positive spondyloarthritis (SpA). Following his PhD, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher (2014–2019) at the University of Oxford, expanding his research to demonstrate how ERAP1 regulates the HLA-B51 immunopeptidome, highlighting that a specific amino acid position can confer SpA risk by enhancing cell-surface expression of aberrant β2-microglobulin-free HLA-B heavy chains. Concurrently, he investigated T-cell biology in SpA, contributing to findings on the regulation of Th17 responses through miR-10b-5p and JAK kinases. He was supported by an Arthritis UK Fellowship and established his laboratory in 2019 at the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences at the University of Oxford. His lab focuses on immune mechanisms in inflamed synovial tissue, employing a three-step research strategy that includes discovery of novel biology in the synovial tissue, in vitro modeling with primary human cells, and CRISPR-based screening to identify therapeutic targets. One significant finding was the identification of CD4+ tissue-resident memory Th17 cells as a major source of IL-17A in SpA synovium, highlighted as a paradigm shift in the understanding of immune responses in inflammation.

Research Interests

Experience