Biography

Weiqi He is a Professor and a Cyrus Tang Young Investigator at Soochow University. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Physiology from Nanjing University in 2005 and his Ph.D. degree in Biology from Nanjing University in 2010. Following his doctoral studies, he conducted postdoctoral research at the Department of Basic Medicine, Nanjing University Medical School (2010-2012) and the Department of Pathology, University of Chicago Medical Center (2012-2015). In 2015, Dr. He joined the Cambridge-Suda Genomic Resource Center as a Professor. He serves as a committee member of the Circadian Rhythm Branch of the Chinese Society for Cell Biology, and a standing committee member of the Integrative Oncology Professional Committee of the Jiangsu Anti-Cancer Association. He is also an Associate Editor for Frontiers in Microbiology. His research focuses on the regulatory mechanisms of intestinal epithelial homeostasis and their roles in disease. His findings have been published in prestigious journals such as Nature Medicine and Gastroenterology. Dr. He's contributions have been recognized with the First Prize for Excellent Academic Paper in Natural Sciences of Suzhou (2020), and the Zhou's Education and Scientific Research Award of Soochow University (2020).

Research Interests

1.Mechanisms of Intestinal Mucosal Barrier Dysfunction in the Pathogenesis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

2.Interaction Mechanisms Between Intestinal Physiology and Circadian Rhythms

3.Molecular Mechanisms by which Inflammatory Factors Regulate Intestinal Stem Cell Proliferation and Differentiation

Selected Publications

1. Liu J, Jiang ZH, Zha JM, Lin Q, He WQ, Crosstalk between the Circadian Clock and Intestinal Stem Cell Niche and Epithelial Cell Fate Decision. Genes & Diseases. 2025;101650

2. Ban QY, Li HS, Jiang XX, Liu M, Ge XY, Lu MJ, Guo SY, Chen Y, Lin Q, Xu H, He WQ, Ding N, Zha JM. Current Applications of Colorectal Cancer Organoids: A Review. J Gastrointestin Liver Dis. 2024;33(2):269-277.

3. Chanez-Paredes SD, Abtahi S, Zha J, Li E, Marsischky G, Zuo L, Grey MJ, He WQ, Turner JR. Mechanisms underlying distinct subcellular localization and regulation of epithelial long myosin light-chain kinase splice variants. J Biol Chem. 2024;300(2):105643.

4. Ban QY, Liu M, Ding N, Chen Y, Lin Q, Zha JM, He WQ. Nutraceuticals for the Treatment of IBD: Current Progress and Future Directions. Front Nutr. 2022;9:794169.

5. Graham WV, He WQ, Marchiando AM, Zha JM, Gurminder S, Li HS, Biswas A, Jiang ZH, Choi W, Zuccola H, Wang YT, Griffith J, Wu J, Rosenberg H, Wang Y, Snapper SB, Ostrov D, Meredith SC, Miller LW, Turner JR. Intracellular diversion blocks specific MLCK functions to restore mucosal barriers. Nat Med. 2019; 25:690-700.

6. Zha JM, Li HS, Lin Q, Kuo WT, Jiang ZH, Tsai PY, Ding N, Wu J, Xu SF, Wang YT, Pan J, Zhou XM, Chen K, Tao M, Odenwald MA, Tamura A, Tsukita S, Turner JR, He WQ. Interleukin 22 Expands Transit-Amplifying Cells While Depleting Lgr5+ Stem Cells via Inhibition of Wnt and Notch Signaling. Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2019;7:255-274

7. Li BR, Wu J, Li HS, Jiang ZH, Zhou XM, Xu CH, Ding N, Zha JM, He WQ. In Vitro and In Vivo Approaches to Determine Intestinal Epithelial Cell Permeability. J Vis Exp. 2018;140:e57032.

8. He WQ, Qiao YN, Peng YJ, Zha JM, Zhang CH, Chen C, Chen CP, Wang P, Yang X, Li CJ, Kamm KE, Stull JT, and Zhu MS, Altered contractile phenotypes of intestinal smooth muscle in mice deficient in myosin phosphatase target subunit 1. Gastroenterology, 2013;144: 1456-65.

9. He WQ, Peng YJ, Zhang WC, Lv N, Tang J, Chen C, Zhang CH, Gao S, Chen HQ, Zhi G, Feil R, Kamm KE, Stull JT, Gao X, and Zhu MS, Myosin light chain kinase is central to smooth muscle contraction and required for gastrointestinal motility in mice. Gastroenterology, 2008;135:610-20.