Section Chair, Infection and Immunity
Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
PhD, Cell Biology & Biophysics, University of Missouri, Kansas City, MO
MS, Microbiology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, CAS, Wuhan, Hubei, China
BS, Biology, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China
Dr. Pinghui Feng is Chair of the Section of Infection and Immunity, Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology. His previous faculty positions include Instructor at Harvard Medical School and Assistant Professor at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Feng’s group investigates the roles of innate immune signaling pathways in infection and pathogenesis of human herpesviruses, Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) and herpes simplex viruses (HSV). Recently, his group has uncovered pivotal roles of protein deamidation in fundamental biological processes, such as immune response. Protein deamidation is the simplest post-translational modification and interestingly is catalyzed by a group of key metabolic enzymes known as glutamine amidotransferases. Currently, research in Dr. Feng’s laboratory is directed to probe the biological function of deamidation in coupling fundamental biological processes to metabolic status. Dr. Feng’s research is supported by grants from NIDCR, NCI, and NIAID.