Yaqi Li

Yaqi Li is a DPhil candidate in Clinical Medicine at the University of Oxford, funded by the CSC–COI Scholarship Programme. She started working in the Knight Group at the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics since September 2024. Her research focuses on understanding how inflammatory signals reshape hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell fate decisions during severe infection using single-cell multi-omics approaches. Prior to joining Oxford, Yaqi received her M.D. degree from Peking Union Medical College and B.S. degree from Tsinghua University and gained experience in clinical genetics, including the molecular diagnosis of rare monogenic liver dysfunctions in pediatric patients.

I am particularly interested in the mechanisms of maladaptive myelopoiesis in sepsis, with a focus on how emergency and stress-induced hematopoiesis reprograms hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) toward dysfunctional myeloid outputs. My research explores the concept of trained innate immunity in sepsis, investigating how inflammatory and metabolic cues imprint long-lasting epigenetic and transcriptional memory in HSPCs and downstream myeloid cells. In parallel, I study the development of immune-suppressive host responses, particularly the emergence of functionally suppressive neutrophil and monocyte compartments, and how these processes contribute to disease heterogeneity, immune paralysis, and adverse clinical outcomes in sepsis patients.