Overview
Background
Professor Di Yu is a Chair in Paediatric Immunotherapy, Professor of Immunology, Director of Ian Frazer Centre of Children's Immunotherapy Research, and Head of Systems and Translational T-cell Immunology Laboratory (STTIL) at the University of Queensland. He earned his PhD from the Australian National University in 2007 and postdoctoral training at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research from 2008-2010. Before joining the University of Queensland, he was a faculty member at Monash University from 2011-2016 and at the Australian National University ANU from 2017-2019. His research focuses on exploring T cell subsets and developing new therapies to regulate their functions in clinical settings, with the goal of treating autoimmune diseases and cancer. He also leads the development and application of "systems immunology" techniques to evaluate individuals' immune status.
Professor Yu has authored over 100 publications of basic and translational research in immunology, including Nature, Nature Immunology, Nature Medicine, Immunity and Science Immunology, and is a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher. In recognising his groundbreaking research, he has been elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (FAHMS) and honoured with accolades such as the 2023 Jacques Miller Medal from the Australian Academy of Science (AAS), the 2021 Jian Zhou Medal from the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (AAHMS), and the inaugural 2021 AbbVie New Horizon Research Award from the Australia and New Zealand Society for Immunology (ASI), among others.
Availability
- Professor Di Yu is:
- Available for supervision
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, Australian National University
Research impacts
Professor Yu is the pioneer who characterised a major CD4+ helper T cell subset – follicular helper (TFH) cells, which supports and regulates B cells for antibody production, and follicular cytotoxic T (TFC) cells (also known as stem cell-like precursor exhausted T (TPEX) cells), the major CD8+ T cell subset that controls follicular infection and responds to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade immunotherapy. By revealing their novel functions and regulation, his findings have profoundly impacted vaccination design and the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune diseases, infection and cancer.
Professor Yu has discovered critical molecular mechanisms in controlling the differentiation and function of TFH cells, which include the master transcription factor Bcl6 (Immunity) and Roquin-mediated posttranscriptional regulation (Nature). He led the research to develop a method to monitor the activity of TFH cells in humans (Immunity) and understand IL-21 as the essential TFH effector cytokine (Immunity; Journal of Experimental Medicine; Science Immunology). More recently, he identified the metabolic hormone leptin as the physiological regulator of TFH cells that influences vaccine response in healthy populations (Nature communications). Furthermore, he discovered the specific cell death pathway – ferroptosis in the regulation of TFH cell survival and demonstrated that the mitigation of TFH cell death could boost vaccine response (Nature Immunology). He also discovered TFC cells as a new subset of CD8+ T cells that controls HIV infection in TFH cells and EBV infection in B cells (Nature Immunology). TFC cells also represent the essential population in CD8+ T cells that respond to immune checkpoint therapy blocking PD-1/PD-L1.
Professor Yu has established a broad collaboration network with clinicians. He co-led the first open-label (Nature Medicine) and subsequently randomised controlled clinical trial (Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases) for low-dose IL-2 therapy in lupus, showing its mechanisms of action of regulating TFH, TH17, and TREG cells. In addition, he co-led the clinical study showing that allergen immunotherapy improves defective follicular regulatory T cells in patients with allergic rhinitis (Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology). He recently co-led a team to develop VEGF antibodies linked to exosomes derived from TREG cells to choroidal neovascularization (Nature Biomedical Engineering).
Works
Search Professor Di Yu’s works on UQ eSpace
2022
Journal Article
Integrative analysis of small RNA and mRNA expression profiles identifies signatures associated with chronic epididymitis
Gong, Jialei, Wang, Peng, Liu, Jin-Chuan, Li, Jianlin, Zeng, Qun-Xiong, Yang, Chen, Li, Yanfeng, Yu, Di, Cao, Dandan and Duan, Yong-Gang (2022). Integrative analysis of small RNA and mRNA expression profiles identifies signatures associated with chronic epididymitis. Frontiers in Immunology, 13 883803, 1-12. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.883803
2022
Journal Article
Iron-dependent epigenetic modulation promotes pathogenic T cell differentiation in lupus
Gao, Xiaofei, Song, Yang, Wu, Jiali, Lu, Shuang, Min, Xiaoli, Liu, Limin, Hu, Longyuan, Zheng, Meiling, Du, Pei, Yu, Yaqin, Long, Hai, Wu, Haijing, Jia, Sujie, Yu, Di, Lu, Qianjin and Zhao, Ming (2022). Iron-dependent epigenetic modulation promotes pathogenic T cell differentiation in lupus. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 132 (9) e152345. doi: 10.1172/JCI152345
2022
Journal Article
Context-dependent regulation of follicular helper T cell survival
Chen, Zhian, Wang, Naiqi, Yao, Yin and Yu, Di (2022). Context-dependent regulation of follicular helper T cell survival. Trends in Immunology, 43 (4), 309-321. doi: 10.1016/j.it.2022.02.002
2022
Journal Article
Extrafollicular PD-1highCXCR5–CD4+ T cells participate in local immunoglobulin production in nasal polyps
Wang, Zhi-Chao, Yao, Yin, Chen, Cai-Ling, Guo, Cui-Lian, Ding, Hong-Xia, Song, Jia, Wang, Zhe-Zheng, Wang, Nan, Li, Xue-Li, Liao, Bo, Yang, Yang, Yu, Di and Liu, Zheng (2022). Extrafollicular PD-1highCXCR5–CD4+ T cells participate in local immunoglobulin production in nasal polyps. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 149 (2), 610-623. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2021.06.023
2022
Book Chapter
Therapeutic modulation of T follicular helper cells by low-dose IL-2 treatment
Chen, Zhian, Liang, Kaili, Deng, Jun and Yu, Di (2022). Therapeutic modulation of T follicular helper cells by low-dose IL-2 treatment. T-follicular helper cells: methods and protocols. (pp. 255-265) New York, NY, United States: Humana Press. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1736-6_21
2022
Journal Article
TFH2 cells associate with enhanced humoral immunity to SARS-CoV-2 inactivated vaccine in patients with allergic rhinitis
Yao, Yin, Wang, Zhe-Zheng, Huang, Ao, Liu, Yan, Wang, Nan, Wang, Zhi-Chao, Yang, Lin, Li, Hui-Jun, Xie, Jun-Gang, Zhu, Rong-Fei, Cheng, Li-Ming, Yu, Di and Liu, Zheng (2022). TFH2 cells associate with enhanced humoral immunity to SARS-CoV-2 inactivated vaccine in patients with allergic rhinitis. Clinical and Translational Medicine, 12 (1) e717, e717. doi: 10.1002/ctm2.717
2022
Journal Article
Evolution of γ chain cytokines: mechanisms, methods and applications
Antczak, Magdalena, Cañete, Pablo F., Chen, Zhian, Belle, Clémence and Yu, Di (2022). Evolution of γ chain cytokines: mechanisms, methods and applications. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal, 20, 4746-4755. doi: 10.1016/j.csbj.2022.08.050
2022
Journal Article
Longevity of vaccine protection: immunological mechanism, assessment methods, and improving strategy
Chen, Zhian, Gao, Xin and Yu, Di (2022). Longevity of vaccine protection: immunological mechanism, assessment methods, and improving strategy. View, 3 (1) 20200103, 20200103. doi: 10.1002/viw.20200103
2021
Journal Article
Flow cytometric analysis of T lymphocytes and cytokines in aqueous humor of patients with varicella zoster virus-mediated acute retinal necrosis
Kang, Hao, Wei, Yunbo, Liu, Ming, Yu, Di and Tao, Yong (2021). Flow cytometric analysis of T lymphocytes and cytokines in aqueous humor of patients with varicella zoster virus-mediated acute retinal necrosis. BMC Ophthalmology, 21 (1) 193. doi: 10.1186/s12886-021-01951-1
2021
Journal Article
Macrophage-tumor chimeric exosomes accumulate in lymph node and tumor to activate the immune response and the tumor microenvironment
Wang, Shuang, Li, Feng, Ye, Tong, Wang, Jianghua, Lyu, Chengliang, Qing, Shuang, Ding, Zhaowen, Gao, Xiaoyong, Jia, Rongrong, Yu, Di, Ren, Jun, Wei, Wei and Ma, Guanghui (2021). Macrophage-tumor chimeric exosomes accumulate in lymph node and tumor to activate the immune response and the tumor microenvironment. Science Translational Medicine, 13 (615) eabb6981, eabb6981. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abb6981
2021
Journal Article
Understand SLE heterogeneity in the era of omics, big data, and artificial intelligence
Puri, Prianka, Jiang, Simon H., Yang, Yang, Mackay, Fabienne and Yu, Di (2021). Understand SLE heterogeneity in the era of omics, big data, and artificial intelligence. Rheumatology and Autoimmunity, 1 (1), 38-49. doi: 10.1002/rai2.12010
2021
Journal Article
Long-term outcomes in children undergoing vascular ring division: a multi-institution experience
Yu, Di, Guo, Zhangke, You, Xin, Peng, Wei, Qi, Jirong, Sun, Jian, Wu, Kaihong, Li, Xiaofeng and Mo, Xuming (2021). Long-term outcomes in children undergoing vascular ring division: a multi-institution experience. European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, 61 (3), 605-613. doi: 10.1093/ejcts/ezab432
2021
Journal Article
Low-dose IL-2 therapy invigorates CD8+ T cells for viral control in systemic lupus erythematosus with a potential risk of deteriorating immunopathology
Zhou, Pengcheng, Chen, Jiali, He, Jing, Zheng, Ting, Yunis, Joseph, Makota, Victor, Alexandre, Yannick O., Gong, Fang, Zhang, Xia, Xie, Wuxiang, Li, Yuhui, Shao, Miao, Zhu, Yanshan, Sinclair, Jane E., Miao, Miao, Chen, Yaping, Short, Kirsty R., Mueller, Scott N., Sun, Xiaolin, Yu, Di and Li, Zhanguo (2021). Low-dose IL-2 therapy invigorates CD8+ T cells for viral control in systemic lupus erythematosus with a potential risk of deteriorating immunopathology. PLoS Pathogens, 17 (10) e1009858, e1009858. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009858
2021
Journal Article
Author Correction: Selenium–GPX4 axis protects follicular helper T cells from ferroptosis
Yao, Yin, Chen, Zhian, Zhang, Hao, Chen, Cailing, Zeng, Ming, Yunis, Joseph, Wei, Yunbo, Wan, Yanmin, Wang, Naiqi, Zhou, Mingzhe, Qiu, Chao, Zeng, Qunxiong, Ong, Hong Sheng, Wang, Hao, Makota, Fadzai Victor, Yang, Yang, Yang, Zhaohui, Wang, Nan, Deng, Jun, Shen, Chao, Xia, Yan, Yuan, Lin, Lian, Zhaoqin, Deng, Yike, Guo, Cuilian, Huang, Ao, Zhou, Pengcheng, Shi, Haibo, Zhang, Weitian ... Yu, Di (2021). Author Correction: Selenium–GPX4 axis protects follicular helper T cells from ferroptosis. Nature Immunology, 22 (12), 1599-1599. doi: 10.1038/s41590-021-01063-4
2021
Journal Article
Supranutritional selenium suppresses ROS‐induced generation of RANKL‐expressing osteoclastogenic CD4 + T cells and ameliorates rheumatoid arthritis
Qin, Jiahuan, Huang, Xia, Wang, Naiqi, Zhou, Pengcheng, Zhang, Hao, Chen, Zhian, Liang, Kaili, Gong, Dongcheng, Zeng, Qunxiong, Niu, Peng, Chen, Anping, Yuan, Lin, Yang, Zhaohui, Su, Linchong, Shen, Nan, Deng, Jun and Yu, Di (2021). Supranutritional selenium suppresses ROS‐induced generation of RANKL‐expressing osteoclastogenic CD4 + T cells and ameliorates rheumatoid arthritis. Clinical & Translational Immunology, 10 (9) e1338, e1338. doi: 10.1002/cti2.1338
2021
Journal Article
Huangbai liniment ameliorates skin inflammation in atopic dermatitis
Zheng, Ting, Fan, Miao, Wei, Yunbo, Feng, Jinhong, Zhou, Pengcheng, Sun, Xin, Xue, Anqi, Qin, Cheng Xue and Yu, Di (2021). Huangbai liniment ameliorates skin inflammation in atopic dermatitis. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 12 726035, 726035. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2021.726035
2021
Journal Article
Selenium–GPX4 axis protects follicular helper T cells from ferroptosis
Yao, Yin, Chen, Zhian, Zhang, Hao, Chen, Cailing, Zeng, Ming, Yunis, Joseph, Wei, Yunbo, Wan, Yanmin, Wang, Naiqi, Zhou, Mingzhe, Qiu, Chao, Zeng, Qunxiong, Ong, Hong Sheng, Wang, Hao, Makota, Fadzai Victor, Yang, Yang, Yang, Zhaohui, Wang, Nan, Deng, Jun, Shen, Chao, Xia, Yan, Yuan, Lin, Lian, Zhaoqin, Deng, Yike, Guo, Cuilian, Huang, Ao, Zhou, Pengcheng, Shi, Haibo, Zhang, Weitian ... Yu, Di (2021). Selenium–GPX4 axis protects follicular helper T cells from ferroptosis. Nature Immunology, 22 (9), 1127-1139. doi: 10.1038/s41590-021-00996-0
2021
Journal Article
Dimensionality reduction by UMAP reinforces sample heterogeneity analysis in bulk transcriptomic data
Yang, Yang, Sun, Hongjian, Zhang, Yu, Zhang, Tiefu, Gong, Jialei, Wei, Yunbo, Duan, Yong-Gang, Shu, Minglei, Yang, Yuchen, Wu, Di and Yu, Di (2021). Dimensionality reduction by UMAP reinforces sample heterogeneity analysis in bulk transcriptomic data. Cell Reports, 36 (4) 109442, 109442. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109442
2021
Journal Article
Reduction of choroidal neovascularization via cleavable VEGF antibodies conjugated to exosomes derived from regulatory T cells
Tian, Ying, Zhang, Fan, Qiu, Yefeng, Wang, Shuang, Li, Feng, Zhao, Jiawei, Pan, Chao, Tao, Yong, Yu, Di and Wei, Wei (2021). Reduction of choroidal neovascularization via cleavable VEGF antibodies conjugated to exosomes derived from regulatory T cells. Nature Biomedical Engineering, 5 (9), 968-982. doi: 10.1038/s41551-021-00764-3
2021
Journal Article
CXCR5+CD8+ T cells shape antibody responses in vivo following protein immunisation and peripheral viral infection
Tyllis, Timona S., Fenix, Kevin A., Norton, Todd S., Kara, Ervin E., McKenzie, Duncan R., David, Shannon C., Alsharifi, Mohammed, Yu, Di, McColl, Shaun R. and Comerford, Iain (2021). CXCR5+CD8+ T cells shape antibody responses in vivo following protein immunisation and peripheral viral infection. Frontiers in Immunology, 12 626199, 626199. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.626199
Funding
Current funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Di Yu is:
- Available for supervision
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Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Investigate T cell specificity and function in immune responses by systems immunology
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Kelvin Tuong, Dr Yang Yang
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Doctor Philosophy
Temporal tracking of T cell functional differentiation by single-cell RNA-sequencing to inform immunotherapy
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Pablo Canete, Dr Yang Yang
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Doctor Philosophy
Ferroptosis-mediated regulation of lymphocyte homeostasis and function in the liver
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Darrell Crawford, Dr Xiaowen Liang
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Doctor Philosophy
Modelling T cell functional subsets
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Yang Yang
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Doctor Philosophy
Ferroptosis: a novel layer of regulation for T cell homeostasis and function
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Kim Bridle, Dr Joseph Yunis, Dr Zhian Chen
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Doctor Philosophy
An integration of multi-omics and machine learning to stratify patients with lupus nephritis for precision medicine
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Yang Yang
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Doctor Philosophy
Control of antibody selection by follicular helper T cells in vaccination and autoimmunity
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Zhian Chen
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Doctor Philosophy
Understanding and controlling the age-stage of somatic cells
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Christian Nefzger
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Doctor Philosophy
mRNA-based T cell guided cancer vaccine to treat solid cancers.
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Joseph Yunis
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Doctor Philosophy
Urinary stem cells for diagnosis and characterisation of primary bone disorders
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Craig Munns
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Doctor Philosophy
Next-generation IL-2 mimics for immunotherapy
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor David Craik, Dr Conan Wang
Media
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