Leqi Tang (ESR6)

Leqi was born and raised in Guangdong, China. He obtained his BSc degree in Life science and Technology in China before moving to University of Tübingen, Germany, where he further acquired his MSc degree in Biochemistry. Throughout his Master study, he found training in multidisciplinary topics and inclusive academic environments very rewarding. Leqi’s long-lasting enthusiasm for T cell biology initiated from his previous lab in Germany where he studied the synergistic effect on oncolytic virus therapy with adoptive cell transfer therapy. He was then awarded PROMOS scholarship in two consecutive years by German Institutes of Higher Education (DAAD), which further supported his training in Switzerland and England. At University of Zurich, Switzerland, Leqi extended his interests into plant immunity in Prof. Cyril Zipfel’s group, where his knowledge and skills in molecular biology and biochemistry were further consolidated by studying the pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and their downstream effectors. It is then throughout his master thesis in Rahul Roychoudhuri’s lab at University of Cambridge that Leqi narrowed down his interest to T cell biology, where he interrogated the role of conventional T cells in cancer immunology. Previous research experience cemented Leqi’s decision of pursuing PhD training in the field of immunology; and it is his goal to secure a position where he can fully engage in dynamic scientific community. The Prof. Klaus Okkenhaug’s lab interest in T cell exhaustion as well as the PIPgen network therefore definitely provide such a great opportunity.

Currently, Leqi has started his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Klaus Okkenhaug ( Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge) with the aim of exploring the effects of hyperactive p110δ in the function of CD4+ T cell subsets.