Dr LI Peng    
李鹏

Associate Professor
BSc (Tsinghua), PhD (Cantab)

Research/Laboratory
pliadd this for spam@add this for spamsurgery.cuhk.edu.hk
AER-7520-2022
0000-0003-4530-2400

Biography

Dr Peng Li is an Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Dr Li leads translational research initiatives aimed at developing innovative immune-cellular therapies for cancer treatment. Prior to joining CUHK, he served as Principal Investigator (Grade 2), Vice Director of the China-New Zealand Joint Laboratory on Biomedicine and Health at the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Dr Li obtained his BSc from Tsinghua University in 2006 and earned his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 2010 under the supervision of Prof. Pengtao Liu. He subsequently completed postdoctoral research training at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.

Dr Li is an immunologist and cellular therapy researcher whose work bridges fundamental epigenetic regulation with translational cellular therapeutics for solid tumors and hematological malignancies. Dr Li demonstrated that deletion of the transcription factor Bcl11b reprograms T cells into induced natural killer-like (ITNK) cells, pioneering a new paradigm in cell fate conversions and cancer immunotherapy. His laboratory has established key insights into the transcriptional networks and chromatin modification complexes that guard T-cell fate. Building on these discoveries, Dr Li's team pioneered novel human ITNK cell platforms with potent anti-tumor cytotoxicity and persistence. In collaboration with scientists and clinicians in New Zealand, he also developed a their-generation CAR T design, which has already shown promise against B-cell lymphoma in a New Zealand clinical trial, now in Phase II. Furthermore, his research has advanced next-generation CAR cell platforms, including anti-TGF-beta CAR T cells that convert immunosuppressive microenvironmental immunosuppressive signaling into activating signals to synergize with conventional CAR T cells, as well as novel CAR architectures targeting solid tumor antigens and switchable chimeric receptor systems.

Dr Li has secured extensive competitive research funding as Principal Investigator, including grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC Excellent Youth and Key Projects) and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Strategic Collaboration Research and State Key Research Projects). He has published over 80 articles in journals, including Science, Science Immunology, Cell Reports Medicine, EMBO Journal, Nature Communications, and Journal of Hematology & Oncology, with an H-index of 35. Dr Li serves as the Vice President of the Guangdong Immunology Society. He is also serving as an Associate Editor for the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. He has been recognized with the NSFC Excellent Youth Award (2016), Catalyst New Zealand International Leading Talent Award (2017), the Chinese Academy of Sciences International Partnership Award for Young Scientists (2023), the Guangdong Province Science and Technology Progress Award (2020).

Research Interests

• Lineage reprogramming and ITNK cell biology
• Epigenetic regulations in T cell fate fidelity
• Translational CAR-T and CAR-ITNK therapeutics for solid tumors
• Tumor microenvironment modulation and anti-TGFbeta signal reprogramming

Selected Publications

1. Li Y, Wang J, Zhou L, Gu W, Qin L, Peng D, Li S, Zheng D, Wu Q, Long Y, Yao Y, Lin S, Sun M, Zhang X, Wang J, Liu P, Kong X*, Li P*. DNMT1 inhibition reprograms T cells to NK-like cells with potent antitumor activity. Sci Immunol. 2025 Mar 21;10(105):eadm8251.
2. Zheng D, Qin L, Lv J, Che M, He B, Zheng Y, Lin S, Qi Y, Li M, Tang Z, Wang BC, Wu YL, Weinkove R, Carson G, Yao Y, Wong N, Lau J, Thiery JP, Qin D, Pan B, Xu K, Zhang Z, Li P*. CD4+ anti-TGF-β CAR T cells and CD8+ conventional CAR T cells exhibit synergistic antitumor effects. Cell Rep Med. 2025 Mar 18;6(3):102020.
3. Wu Z, Wang Z, Zheng D, Zheng Y, Jiang Z, Lv J, Zhu Y, Jia H, Duan Z, Yuan T, Wu Q, Long Y, Lin S, Yao Y, Carson G, Thiery JP, Man K*, Li P*. RELA Ablation Contributes to Progression of Hepatocellular Carcinoma with TP53R249S Mutation and is a Potential Therapeutic Target. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2025 Dec;12(48):e00335.
4. Zhou L, Li Y, Zheng D, Zheng Y, Cui Y, Qin L, Tang Z, Peng D, Wu Q, Long Y, Yao Y, Wong N, Lau J, Li P. Bispecific CAR-T cells targeting FAP and GPC3 have the potential to treat hepatocellular carcinoma. Mol Ther Oncol. 2024 May 23;32(2):200817.
5. Liao R, Wu Y, Qin L, Jiang Z, Gou S, Zhou L, Hong Q, Li Y, Shi J, Yao Y, Lai L, Li Y, Liu P, Thiery JP, Qin D, Graf T, Liu X*, Li P*. BCL11B and the NuRD complex cooperatively guard T-cell fate and inhibit OPA1-mediated mitochondrial fusion in T cells. EMBO J. 2023 Sep 22:e113448.
6. Cui Y, Yuan T, Wang Y, Zheng D, Qin L, Li S, Jiang Z, Lin S, Guo W, Liang Z, Li Y, Yao Y, Liu X, Tang Q, Tu H, Zhang X, Tang Z, Tang Y, Huang L, Luo X, Wong N, Zhang Z, Qin D, Thiery J*, Xu K*, Li P*. T lymphocytes expressing the switchable chimeric Fc receptor CD64 exhibit augmented persistence and antitumor activity. Cell Reports. 2023 Jul 25;42(7):112797.
7. Jiang Z, Qin L, Tang Y, Liao R, Shi J, He B, Li S, Zheng D, Cui Y, Wu Q, Long Y, Yao Y, Wei Z, Hong Q, Wu Y, Mai Y, Gou S, Li X, Weinkove R, Norton S, Luo W, Feng W, Zhou H, Liu Q, Chen J, Lai L, Chen X, Pei D, Graf T, Liu X, Li Y, Liu P*, Zhang Z*, Li P*. Human induced-T-to-natural killer cells have potent anti-tumour activities. Biomark Res. 2022 Mar 24;10(1):13.
8. Qin L, Cui Y, Yuan T, Chen D, Zhao R, Li S, Jiang Z, Wu Q, Long Y, Wang S, Tang Z, Pan H, Li X, Wei W, Yang J, Luo X, Zhang Z, Tang Q, Liu P, Weinkove R, Yao Y, Qin D, Thiery JP*, Li P*. Co-expression of a PD-L1-specific chimeric switch receptor augments the efficacy and persistence of CAR T cells via the CD70-CD27 axis. Nat Commun. 2022 Oct 13;13(1):6051.
9. Lai Y, Weng J, Wei X, Qin L, Lai P, Zhao R, Jiang Z, Li B, Lin S, Wang S, Wu Q, Tang C, liu P, Pei D, Yao Y, Du *, and Li P*. Toll-like Receptor 2 Costimulation Potentiates the Antitumor Efficacy of CAR T Cells. Leukemia. 2017 Aug 3.
10. Li P, Burke S, Wang J, Chen X, Ortiz M, Lee SC, Lu D, Campos L, Goulding D, Ng BL, Dougan G, Huntly B, Gottgens B, Jenkins NA, Copeland NG, Colucci F, Liu P. Reprogramming of T Cells to Natural Killer-Like Cells upon Bcl11b Deletion. Science. 2010 Jul 2;329(5987):85-9.