Lijuan Yuan
| Lijuan Yuan | |
|---|---|
| Native name | 袁丽娟 |
| Born | |
| 🏳️ Citizenship | Chinese-American |
| 🎓 Alma mater | Beijing University (Diploma) Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing (M.S.) The Ohio State University (Ph.D.) |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | Gnotobiotic pig models for rotavirus and norovirus research; mucosal immunology of enteric viruses; preclinical vaccine evaluation |
Lijuan Yuan (袁丽娟) is a Chinese-American virologist and academic researcher. She is a Professor of Virology in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology at the Virginia–Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech).[1] She also holds appointment as Professor of Virology with the Faculty of Health Sciences for the Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health (TBMH) Program at Virginia Tech. She is known for her contributions to mucosal immunology, human enteric viral disease research, and preclinical evaluation of human rotavirus and norovirus vaccines using gnotobiotic pig models.[2][3]
As of 2026, Yuan has received over 4,300 citations, with an h-index of approximately 44, according to her Scopus profile.[4][5]
Education
Yuan received her Ph.D. in immunology and virology in 2000 from Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University, under Linda J. Saif. She previously completed an M.S. in Beijing and diplomas from Peking University and a Beijing health school, and undertook postdoctoral training at National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health.[6]
Career
Yuan worked at The Ohio State University (2002–2007) before joining Virginia Tech in 2007, where she was promoted to Associate Professor (2013) and Professor of Virology (2019), with a concurrent appointment in its Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health program since 2014.[7]
Research
Yuan's research focuses on host–pathogen interactions in enteric viruses, examining viral infectivity, pathogenesis, and immune responses, and developing intervention strategies including vaccines, prophylactics, therapeutics, probiotics, and prebiotics.[8] Her laboratory has pioneered the use of gnotobiotic pig models to study human rotavirus and norovirus infections, evaluating vaccine immunogenicity, protective efficacy, and novel immunization routes. These models are considered translatable to humans owing to physiological and immunological similarities between pigs and humans.[9][10]
Yuan uses gnotobiotic pig models to study host–pathogen interactions and immune responses to Rotavirus and Norovirus, supporting the development of vaccines and therapies for diseases causing significant Morbidity and Mortality.[11][12]
Her laboratory has led studies on next-generation rotavirus and norovirus vaccines, engineered probiotics expressing nanobodies, and dietary interventions such as rice bran and probiotics to modulate gut microbiota, immunity, and protection against viral diarrhea.[13] Yuan's work has been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, RIGHT Foundation, PATH, totalling over $10 million across 53 research grants. She has authored 129 scientific publications and a monograph, Vaccine Efficacy Evaluation: The Gnotobiotic Pig Model (2023).[7]
Honors and awards
- Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award, Marquis Who's Who (2022)
- Grant Turnwald Innovation Award, Virginia–Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine (2020–2021)
- GADOR Foundation Award for research on nanobodies with neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2
- Elected Council Member, U.S. Association for Gnotobiotics (2019–2022)
- Pfizer Award for Research Excellence (2011)[7]
- Honorary Professor, Yunnan Agricultural University, China (2009)
- American Society for Microbiology International Professorship Award for Asia (2009)
- Elected membership in Phi Zeta National Honor Society of Veterinary Medicine (inducted 2000)
- Presidential Fellowship, The Ohio State University (1999–2000)
- Elected membership in Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society (inducted 1998)
Selected publications
Journal articles
- Yuan, L.; Saif, L. J. (2002). "Induction of mucosal immune responses and protection against enteric viruses: rotavirus infection of gnotobiotic pigs as a model". Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology. 87 (3–4): 147–160. doi:10.1016/S0165-2427(02)00046-6. PMC 7119626 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 12072229. - Lei, S.; Ryu, J.; Wen, K.; et al. (2016). "High protective efficacy of probiotics and rice bran against human norovirus infection and diarrhea in gnotobiotic pigs". Frontiers in Microbiology. 7: 1699. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2016.01699. PMC 5081363. PMID 27833604.
- Twitchell, EL; Tin, C.; Wen, K.; et al. (2016). "Modeling human enteric dysbiosis and rotavirus immunity in gnotobiotic pigs". Gut Pathogens. 8. doi:10.1186/s13099-016-0136-y. PMC 5075206. PMID 27795741. Unknown parameter
|article-number=ignored (help) - Ramesh, A.; Parreño, V.; Schmidt, PJ.; et al. (2020). "Evaluation of the 50% infectious dose of human norovirus Cin-2 in gnotobiotic pigs: A comparison of classical and contemporary methods for endpoint estimation". Viruses. 12 (9): 955. doi:10.3390/v12090955. PMC 7503930 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 32872367 Check|pmid=value (help). - Hensley, C.; Roier, S.; Zhou, P.; et al. (2024). "mRNA-based vaccines are highly immunogenic and confer protection in the gnotobiotic pig model of human rotavirus diarrhea". Vaccines. 12 (3): 260. doi:10.3390/vaccines12030260. PMC 10974625 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 38543894 Check|pmid=value (help). - Nyblade, C.; Zhou, P.; Frazier, M.; et al. (2023). "Human rotavirus replicates in salivary glands and primes immune responses in facial and intestinal lymphoid tissues of gnotobiotic pigs". Viruses. 15 (9): 1864. doi:10.3390/v15091864. PMC 10534682 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 37766270 Check|pmid=value (help).
Books and book chapters
- Yuan, L. (2023). Vaccine Efficacy Evaluation: The Gnotobiotic Pig Model. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-367-48634-1. Search this book on
- Yuan, L.; Jobst, P.; Weiss, M. (2017). "Gnotobiotic pigs: from establishing facility to modeling human infectious diseases". Gnotobiotics. ACLAM Series. pp. 349–368. Search this book on
- Lei, S.; Yuan, L. (2018). "Pathogenesis, immunity and the role of microbiome/probiotics in enteric virus infections in human and animal models". In Sun, J.; Dudeja, P.K. Mechanisms Underlying Host–Microbiome Interactions in Pathophysiology of Human Diseases. Springer. pp. 56–78. Search this book on
References
- ↑ "Yuan Laboratory". research.vetmed.vt.edu. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "Lijuan Yuan, PhD". vetmed.vt.edu. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "Virginia Tech researchers testing potential vaccine for norovirus". Food Safety News. 2022-08-07. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "VMCVM Faculty Spotlight: Lijuan Yuan". news.vt.edu. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "Lijuan Yuan - Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University". Open Access Government. 2023-10-02. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ "Gnotobiotic pig models: Illuminating the enigma of human norovirus infection and immunity". Open Access Government. 2026-04-02. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Lijuan Yuan honored with Pfizer award at veterinary college's 2011 Research Symposium". news.vt.edu. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ Yuan, Lijuan; Wen, Ke; Azevedo, Marli S. P.; Gonzalez, Ana M.; Zhang, Wei; Saif, Linda J. (2008-06-19). "Virus-specific intestinal IFN-gamma producing T cell responses induced by human rotavirus infection and vaccines are correlated with protection against rotavirus diarrhea in gnotobiotic pigs". Vaccine. 26 (26): 3322–3331. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2008.03.085. ISSN 0264-410X. PMC 2574896. PMID 18456375.
- ↑ "Animal Model Research for Veterinarians Ph.D. training program awarded NIH grant". news.vt.edu. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ Yuan, Lijuan (2008). "Next-generation vaccines - An IBC Conference. Harnessing innovative technologies and processes to speed up your research, development & production of novel vaccines part 2". IDrugs: The Investigational Drugs Journal. 11 (9): 633–635. ISSN 1369-7056. PMID 18763210.
- ↑ Wu, Keyi; Sun, Xiaochun; Xu, Jiawen; Guan, Zhihang; Yuan, Weijie; Bao, Lijuan; Zhao, Yihong; Shan, Ruping; Chen, Hui; Zhao, Caijun; Hu, Xiaoyu; Fu, Yunhe; Liu, Dacheng; Zhang, Naisheng (2025-06-26). "Yeast-fermented feed improves high-concentrate diet-induced mastitis in dairy goats by regulating rumen microbiota". Frontiers in Microbiology. 16. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2025.1582314. ISSN 1664-302X. PMC 12243029 Check
|pmc=value (help). PMID 40641870 Check|pmid=value (help). Unknown parameter|article-number=ignored (help) - ↑ researchfeatures (2021-12-29). "Human norovirus animal model essential for vaccine development". Research Features. Retrieved 2026-05-04.
- ↑ Yang, Xingdong; Twitchell, Erica; Li, Guohua; Wen, Ke; Weiss, Mariah; Kocher, Jacob; Lei, Shaohua; Ramesh, Ashwin; Ryan, Elizabeth P.; Yuan, Lijuan (2015-10-13). "High protective efficacy of rice bran against human rotavirus diarrhea via enhancing probiotic growth, gut barrier function and innate immunity". Scientific Reports. 5 (1): 15004. doi:10.1038/srep15004. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 4602212. PMID 26459937.
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