Department of Pathogen Biology and Immunology

Department of Pathogen Biology and Immunology

The Department of Pathogenic Biology and Immunology was established in October 2001 through the merger of the former Teaching and Research Sections of Microbiology, Immunology, and Parasitology. The Department currently offers doctoral programs in Immunology and Pathogenic Biology. Over the past decade, it has trained more than 200 postgraduate students, including over 60 doctoral students and more than 10 government-sponsored overseas students. Twenty postgraduate students have been awarded provincial graduate innovation research projects.

The Department currently has 7 professors, 6 associate professors, 2 lecturers, and 1 senior technologist. All faculty members hold doctoral degrees and have overseas study or work experience. The Department has 8 doctoral supervisors and 14 master’s supervisors, including 2 second-level professors. Among the faculty are one recipient of the National High-Level Talent Special Support Program for Young Top-notch Talents, one recipient of the Young Thousand Talents Program, and one recipient of the Excellent Young Scientists Fund Program (Overseas). Several faculty members have also been selected for provincial and ministerial talent programs, including the Jiangsu Qinglan Project, the Jiangsu “333” High-level Talent Training Project, and the Jiangsu Distinguished Professor Program. The Department also serves as the chairing institution of the Jiangsu Society for Immunology.

Over the past decade, the Department has led and completed more than 40 national research projects, as well as over 10 National Key R&D Program projects and Jiangsu Provincial Natural Science Foundation projects. Its average annual research funding is nearly RMB 2 million. Each year, the Department publishes approximately 20 SCI papers with impact factors above 5 and files around 10 national patent applications. Its research focuses on basic immunology, tumor immunology, and major infectious diseases. The specific research areas and priority tasks are shown in the figure below.

The Department currently offers 12 undergraduate courses, 5 postgraduate courses, including one fully English-taught course, and 2 fully English-taught courses for international students. These courses include Medical Immunology, Medical Microbiology, Principles and Techniques of Immunology, Experimental Techniques in Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Human Parasitology, Laboratory Safety, Clinical Microbiological Testing, Advances in Pathogenic Biology, Advances in Clinical Immunology, and Fundamentals and Applications of Immunology.

In recent years, faculty members have received several teaching honors, including the Teaching Excellence Award of the 2nd Southeast University Outstanding Teaching Awards, the Second Prize in the 29th Southeast University Young Faculty Teaching Competition, and the Second Prize in the 1st Ideological and Political Education Teaching Competition of the School of Medicine, Southeast University. Faculty members have also supervised undergraduates who won the Grand Prize in the 18th “Challenge Cup” National Undergraduate Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Works Competition and the Gold Award in the national finals of the 9th National Undergraduate Basic Medical Innovation Research and Experimental Design Forum.

All members of the Department uphold Southeast University’s motto, “Strive for Perfection.” Guided by the goal of “Double First-Class” development and seizing the opportunities brought by the advancement of comprehensive medical sciences, the Department, under the leadership and support of the School of Medicine, is committed to strengthening its core capabilities, building on past achievements, and striving for greater success.。