Qing Yi

Qing Yi, MD, PhD

Ralph O’Connor Centennial Chair, Dr. Mary and Ron Neal Cancer Center
Professor of Cancer Biology in Medicine, Academic Institute
Full Member, Research Institute
Director, Center for Translational Research in Hematological Malignancies
Associate Director, Cancer Center Basic Research Programs, Dr. Mary and Ron Neal Cancer Center
Houston Methodist
Weill Cornell Medical College


Qing Yi Lab


Biography

Dr. Qing Yi is a trained medical immunologist with over 25 years of experience as a well-funded and published researcher. He is one of the leading investigators in the fields of tumor immunology and immunotherapy in multiple myeloma and other cancers.

Since arriving in the US in 1998, Dr. Yi has been awarded, as the PI, 9 R01s from NCI, 1 project and 1 core grant in the MDACC Myeloma SPORE (P50), 4 R01-type translational grants from the LLS, 4 Senior Researcher Awards from the MMRF, 2 K99/R00 grants (as the mentor), and numerous intramural and industry grants. Dr. Yi and colleagues have published more than 160 peer-reviewed research articles, with 45 being in top-tier journals with an impact factor of greater than 10.

Prior to his current appointment as Associate Director of the Houston Methodist Cancer Center, Dr. Yi had faculty appointments at Lerner Research Institute at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and Karolinska Hospital and Institute, Sweden.

Description of Research

For the past two decades, Dr. Yi's laboratory has been working on the following research:

(1) characterizing myeloma- and tumor-specific T cells and their subsets and examining their functions in relationship to myeloma tumor cells using both in vitro and in vivo approaches

(2) identifying novel myeloma-associated antigens and better methods for immunotherapy

(3) investigating the cross-talk between the tumor microenvironment and the immune system in malignancy

(4) clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy of immunizing patients with idiotype or dendritic cell-based vaccines

(5) exploring immunotherapies using novel myeloma antigens such as DKK1 in multiple myeloma. Our recent research focuses on (a) developing novel therapeutic monoclonal antibodies for myeloma and other cancers, (b) identifying T-cell subsets that have potent anti-tumor effects after adoptive transfer, and (c) identifying tumor microenvironment components that induce tumor drug resistance.

A commentary written by Dr. Edgar Schmitt and Dr. Tobias Bopp in J Clin Invest (122:3857-3859) comments that “During the last two decades the laboratory of Qing Yi has significantly contributed to our current understanding of potential immunotherapies in human malignancies by describing the role of DCs – and particular T cells – in multiple myeloma.”

 

Areas Of Expertise

Cancer immunotherapy Hematological malignancies Myeloma Cancer biology
Education & Training

MB MMed, Sun Yat-sen Univ. of Med. Sciences
MD, Jiangxi Medical College, Jiangxi, P.R. China
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Karolinska Institute
PhD, Karolinska Institute
Publications

Isolation of adoptively transferred CD8+ T cells in mouse tumor tissues for lipid peroxidation detection
Xiao, L & Yi, Q 2023, , STAR Protocols, vol. 4, no. 1, 101945. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xpro.2022.101945

A novel role of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) in human myeloma resistance to proteasome inhibitors
Su, P, Xiao, L, Ye, L, Wang, Z, Xiong, W, Wang, Q, Ma, X, Xian, M, Yang, M, Zu, Y, Pingali, SR, Qian, J & Yi, Q 2022, , Journal of Hematology and Oncology, vol. 15, no. 1, 55, pp. 55. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13045-022-01269-5

IL-9/STAT3/fatty acid oxidation-mediated lipid peroxidation contributes to Tc9 cell longevity and enhanced antitumor activity
Xiao, L, Ma, X, Ye, L, Su, P, Xiong, W, Bi, E, Wang, Q, Xian, M, Yang, M, Qian, J & Yi, Q 2022, , Journal of Clinical Investigation, vol. 132, no. 7, e153247. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI153247

Correction: Enhanced Lipid Accumulation and Metabolism Are Required for the Differentiation and Activation of Tumor-Associated Macrophages
Su, P, Wang, Q, Bi, E, Ma, X, Liu, L, Yang, M, Qian, J & Yi, Q 2022, , Cancer research, vol. 82, no. 5, pp. 945. https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-21-4296

ORP4L is a prerequisite for the induction of T-cell leukemogenesis associated with human T-cell leukemia virus 1
Zhong, W, Cao, X, Pan, G, Niu, Q, Feng, X, Xu, M, Li, M, Huang, Y, Yi, Q & Yan, D 2022, , Blood, vol. 139, no. 7, pp. 1052-1065. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood.2021013579

ALCAM regulates multiple myeloma chemoresistant side population
Wang, F, Dan, Z, Luo, H, Huang, J, Cui, Y, Ding, H, Xu, J, Lin, Z, Gao, Y, Zhai, X, Yang, Y, Qu, Y, Zhang, L, Chen, F, Wang, Q, Wang, X, Feng, Y, Liu, T, Yi, Q, Niu, T & Zheng, Y 2022, , Cell Death and Disease, vol. 13, no. 2, 136, pp. 136. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-022-04556-8

Consensus guidelines and recommendations for infection prevention in multiple myeloma: a report from the International Myeloma Working Group
Raje, NS, Anaissie, E, Kumar, SK, Lonial, S, Martin, T, Gertz, MA, Krishnan, A, Hari, P, Ludwig, H, ODonnell, E, Yee, A, Kaufman, JL, Cohen, AD, Garderet, L, Wechalekar, AF, Terpos, E, Khatry, N, Niesvizky, R, Yi, Q, Joshua, DE, Saikia, T, Leung, N, Engelhardt, M, Mothy, M, Branagan, A, Chari, A, Reiman, AJ, Lipe, B, Richter, J, Rajkumar, SV, Miguel, JS, Anderson, KC, Stadtmauer, EA, Prabhala, RH, McCarthy, PL & Munshi, NC 2022, , The Lancet Haematology, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. e143-e161. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-3026(21)00283-0

Loss of miR-31-5p drives hematopoietic stem cell malignant transformation and restoration eliminates leukemia stem cells in mice
Zhu, B, Zhong, W, Cao, X, Pan, G, Xu, M, Zheng, J, Chen, H, Feng, X, Luo, C, Lu, C, Xiao, J, Lin, W, Lai, C, Li, M, Du, X, Yi, Q & Yan, D 2022, , Science translational medicine, vol. 14, no. 629, eabh2548, pp. eabh2548. https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.abh2548

RAR? activation sensitizes human myeloma cells to carfilzomib treatment through the OAS-RNase L innate immune pathway
Wang, Q, Lin, Z, Wang, Z, Ye, L, Xian, M, Xiao, L, Su, P, Bi, E, Huang, YH, Qian, J, Liu, L, Ma, X, Yang, M, Xiong, W, Zu, Y, Pingali, SR, Xu, B & Yi, Q 2022, , Blood, vol. 139, no. 1, pp. 59-72. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood.2020009856

ALCAM-EGFR interaction regulates myelomagenesis
Luo, H, Zhang, D, Wang, F, Wang, Q, Wu, Y, Gou, M, Hu, Y, Zhang, W, Huang, J, Gong, Y, Pan, L, Li, T, Zhao, P, Zhang, D, Qu, Y, Liu, Z, Jiang, T, Dai, Y, Guo, T, Zhu, J, Ye, L, Zhang, L, Liu, W, Yi, Q & Zheng, Y 2021, , Blood Advances, vol. 5, no. 23, pp. 5269-5282. https://doi.org/10.1182/bloodadvances.2021004695

ALCAM-EGFR interaction regulates myelomagenesis
Luo, H, Zhang, D, Wang, F, Wang, Q, Wu, Y, Gou, M, Hu, Y, Zhang, W, Huang, J, Gong, Y, Pan, L, Li, T, Zhao, P, Zhang, D, Qu, Y, Liu, Z, Jiang, T, Dai, Y, Guo, T, Zhu, J, Ye, L, Zhang, L, Liu, W, Yi, Q & Zheng, Y 2021, , Blood Advances, vol. 5, no. 23, pp. 5269-5282. https://doi.org/10.1182/bloodadvances.2021004695

Adoptive cell therapy with tumor-specific Th9 cells induces viral mimicry to eliminate antigen-loss-variant tumor cells
Xue, G, Zheng, N, Fang, J, Jin, G, Li, X, Dotti, G, Yi, Q & Lu, Y 2021, , Cancer Cell, vol. 39, no. 12, pp. 1610-1622.e9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2021.09.011

Adoptive cell therapy with tumor-specific Th9 cells induces viral mimicry to eliminate antigen-loss-variant tumor cells
Xue, G, Zheng, N, Fang, J, Jin, G, Li, X, Dotti, G, Yi, Q & Lu, Y 2021, , Cancer Cell, vol. 39, no. 12, pp. 1610-1622.e9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2021.09.011

ORP4L is a prerequisite for the induction of T-cell leukemogenesis associated with human T-cell leukemia virus 1
Zhong, W, Cao, X, Pan, G, Niu, Q, Feng, X, Xu, M, Li, M, Huang, Y, Yi, Q & Yan, D 2021, , Blood. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood.2021013579

RAR? activation sensitizes human myeloma cells to carfilzomib treatment through the OAS-RNase L innate immune pathway
Wang, Q, Lin, Z, Wang, Z, Ye, L, Xian, M, Xiao, L, Su, P, Bi, E, Huang, YH, Qian, J, Liu, L, Ma, X, Yang, M, Xiong, W, Zu, Y, Pingali, SR, Xu, B & Yi, Q 2022, , Blood, vol. 139, no. 1, pp. 59-72. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood.2020009856, https://doi.org/10.1182/blood.2020009856

CD36-mediated ferroptosis dampens intratumoral CD8+ T cell effector function and impairs their antitumor ability
Ma, X, Xiao, L, Liu, L, Ye, L, Su, P, Bi, E, Wang, Q, Yang, M, Qian, J & Yi, Q 2021, , Cell Metabolism, vol. 33, no. 5, pp. 1001-1012.e5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2021.02.015

BMI1 regulates multiple myeloma-associated macrophage’s pro-myeloma functions
Zhang, D, Huang, J, Wang, F, Ding, H, Cui, Y, Yang, Y, Xu, J, Luo, H, Gao, Y, Pan, L, Wu, Y, Gong, Y, Xie, L, Liu, Z, Qu, Y, Zhang, L, Liu, W, Zhang, W, Zhao, S, Yi, Q, Niu, T & Zheng, Y 2021, , Cell Death and Disease, vol. 12, no. 5, 495. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-021-03748-y

Identification of an immunogenic DKK1 long peptide for immunotherapy of human multiple myeloma
Li, R, Zheng, C, Wang, Q, Bi, E, Yang, M, Hou, J, Fu, W, Yi, Q & Qian, J 2021, , Haematologica, vol. 106, no. 3, pp. 838-846. https://doi.org/10.3324/haematol.2019.236836

Acetyl-CoA Synthetase 2: A Critical Linkage in Obesity-Induced Tumorigenesis in Myeloma
Li, Z, Liu, H, He, J, Wang, Z, Yin, Z, You, G, Wang, Z, Davis, RE, Lin, P, Bergsagel, PL, Manasanch, EE, Wong, STC, Esnaola, NF, Chang, JC, Orlowski, RZ, Yi, Q & Yang, J 2021, , Cell Metabolism, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 78-93.e7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2020.12.011

Autologous stem cell transplantation for untreated transformed indolent B-cell lymphoma in first remission: an international, multi-centre propensity-score-matched study
Chin, CK, Lim, KJ, Lewis, K, Jain, P, Qing, Y, Feng, L, Cheah, CY, Seymour, JF, Ritchie, D, Burbury, K, Tam, CS, Fowler, NH, Fayad, LE, Westin, JR, Neelapu, SS, Hagemeister, FB, Samaniego, F, Flowers, CR, Nastoupil, LJ & Dickinson, MJ 2020, , British Journal of Haematology, vol. 191, no. 5, pp. 806-815. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjh.17072