Wei Luo, PhD

Bio

Dr. Wei Luo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Luo received his PhD in Biochemistry from SUNY Buffalo for his work that identified the pathways connecting transcription factor Ets1 to B cell mediated autoimmunity. He completed his first postdoctoral training at University of Pittsburgh focused on defining the important signaling pathways regulating germinal center B cell selection. His second postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University focused on B cell response to vaccination and developing better vaccines against influenza. In 2021, Dr. Luo started his lab at IU as an Assistant Professor to continue his studies on B cell biology. Dr. Luo’s research group is currently trying to connect the mechanisms regulating germinal center reaction to vaccine design. The ultimate goal is to develop vaccines that can induce broad and durable B cell memory against deadly infectious diseases. On the other hand, uncontrolled B cell response may lead to autoimmune diseases, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Dr. Wei Luo is also interested in understanding the pathogenesis of these autoimmune diseases to help develop new treatments.

Key Publications

Wei Luo*, William Hawse*, Laura Conter, Nikita Trivedi, Florian Weisel, Daniel Wikenheiser, Richard T. Cattley, and Mark Shlomchik. (2019) “The AKT signaling network is rewired by PTEN to control proximal BCR signaling in germinal center B cells”, Nature Immunology, 20(6),736-746.

Wei Luo, Florian Weisel, Mark J Shlomchik. (2018) “CD40 and BCR Signaling are Rewired for Synergistic c-Myc Induction in Germinal Center B cells”, Immunity, 48(2): 313-326.

Wei Luo, Jessica Mayeux, Maria Toni Gutierrez, Andy Getahun, Jennifer Müller, Thomas Tedder, Shu-Hsia Chen, Robert Rickert, Lars Nitschke, John Cambier, Anne B. Satterthwaite, and Lee Ann Garrett-Sinha. (2014) “A balance between BCR and inhibitory receptor signaling controls plasma cell differentiation by maintaining optimal Ets1 levels”, The Journal of Immunology, 193(2): 909-92.

Mark J Shlomchik, Wei Luo, and Florian Weisel. (2019) “Linking signaling and selection in the germinal center”, Immunological Reviews, 288(1), 49-63.

Florian Weisel, Steven Mullett, Rebecca Elsner, Ashley Menk, Nikita Trivedi, Wei Luo, Daniel Wilkenheiser, William Hawse, Maria Chikina, Shuchi Smita, Laura Conter, Stephen Joachim, Stacy Wendell, Thomas Winkler, Greg Delgoffe, Mark Shlomchik. (2020) “Germinal center B cells selectively oxidize fatty acids for energy while conducting minimal glycolysis”, Nature Immunology, 21, 331–342

Matthew Charles Woodruff, Eui Ho Kim, Wei Luo, and Bali Pulendran. (2018) “B cell competition for restricted T cell help suppresses rare-epitope responses”, Cell Reports, 25 (2), 321-327

Titles & Appointments

Assistant Professor of Microbiology & Immunology

Education

2014 PhD State University of New York at Buffalo

2009 MS China Pharmaceutical University

2007 BS China Pharmaceutical University
Research

Immunology: Germinal center B cell signaling, metabolism and differentiation.

Vaccinology: B cell response to vaccination;
Developing vaccines against mutable viruses such as HIV, influenza and SARS-CoV2

Cancer: Targeted therapy for germinal center B-cell lymphoma;

The role of B cells in cancer immunotherapy
Professional Organizations

American Association of Immunologists

Research Labs

Faculty research at IU School of Medicine is transforming health. Details about the medical research being conducted in faculty labs throughout IU School of Medicine are available in the Research section of this site.

Faculty Labs