Research

Hai Ning Shi, DVM, PhD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics

Phone: 617-726-4173
Fax: 617-726-4172
Email: shiha@helix.mgh.harvard.edu

Curriculum Vita


Research team
Chienwen Su, PhD - Instructor
Mei Zhang, MD - Fellow
Libo Su, DVM, PhD - Student
Guilian Yang, DVM, PhD - Fellow
Yujuan Qi, MD, PhD - Fellow

My research interests are focused regulation of mucosal immunity in the gastrointestinal tract.  We use both in vivo and in vitro approaches to elucidate the mechanisms by which an intestinal helminth infection modulates intestinal inflammation induced by pathogenic and non-pathogenic enteric bacteria. Using our recently established helminth-bacterial co-infection mouse model, we demonstrated that infection with the intestinal helminth parasite, Heligmosomoides polygyrus, results in the development of exacerbated intestinal inflammation in mice infected with the Gram-negative bacterial enteropathogen Citrobacter rodentium, a mouse pathogen similar to human EPEC. We are currently addressing the idea that the exacerbating effect on intestinal inflammation is the consequence of helminth induced (1) modulation of T cell function to a phenotype that promotes proinflammatory responses, in part by impairing intestinal epithelial barrier function, and (2) alterations in macrophage phenotype and function that compromise the ability to eliminate translocated bacteria.  Another area of our research focuses on how intestinal colonization of probiotics and/or treatment with prebiotics early in life influences the development and regulation of host innate and adaptive immune responses. This research will provide greater insight into how intestinal microorganisms may alter the regulatory mechanisms of mucosal immunity, which may be instrumental in the establishment of more effective and safer preventive and therapeutic approaches for the treatment of immune mediated disorders and for the design of effective mucosal vaccines.  The third area of my research is directed at clarifying the role of maternal factors during gestation in the development of immunity and the induction of allergic diseases in the early life of the offsprings.  We ultimately seek to elicit information that may help protect children from developing food allergy and enhance their immune capacity to react to antigenic challenges.