Dr. Lishan Su grew up in Qingdao (aka Tsingtao), China. He received his Ph.D. degree in Virology from Harvard University (Herpes Simplex Virus-1) and did his post-doctoral training in Immunology and Stem Cell Biology at Stanford University (T cells and blood stem cells). He then worked as a senior scientist in a biotech company SyStemix/Sandoz (Novartis), focusing on blood stem cell-based HIV-1 gene therapy in humanized mice and in patients.
From 1996 to 2020, Dr. Su was a faculty member in the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and a Professor in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. After joining The Institute of Human Virology at UMSOM in Oct. 2020, Dr. Lishan Su continues his research program to use HIV and HBV viruses as probes to dissect human immunity and inflammatory diseases and to develop antibody and cell-based drugs targeting novel immune cells and signaling pathways.