Yaqi Li
DPhil Student
Brief personal statement
I am a DPhil candidate in Clinical Medicine at the University of Oxford, funded by the CSC–COI Scholarship Programme. I started my DPhil in 2024 and am based in the Julian Knight Group at the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics. My research focuses on immune dysregulation and hematopoietic reprogramming in sepsis.
Research Interest
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.