Xiang-Jin Meng

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Xiang-Jin Meng, also known as X.J. Meng, [1] is a Chinese-born American virologist. He is a university distinguished professor at Virginia Tech. [2] [3] He studies emerging, re-emerging and zoonotic viruses of veterinary and human public health significance. [4] He was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2016, [4] a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2014, [4] a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology in 2012, [4] and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. [5]

Contents

Xiang-Jin Meng
Born
Shandong Province, China
Alma materBinzhou Medical College

Wuhan University College of Medicine (Hubei Medical College)

Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
Occupation(s)University Distinguished Professor, Virginia Tech
AwardsFellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2022)

Member, National Academy of Sciences (2016)

Fellow, National Academy of Inventors (2014)

Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology (2012)
Website http://www.vetmed.vt.edu/research/labs/meng/

Early life and education

Meng grew up in Gaomi, Shandong Province, China. [6] He originally planned to pursue a career in chemical engineering, [6] but instead he enrolled in Binzhou Medical College in 1980 as a medical student. [6]

Receiving his medical degree in 1985, Meng studied at the Wuhan University College of Medicine (formerly Hubei Medical College) and earned a Master's degree in Microbiology and Immunology. [6] There, he discovered his passion and curiosity for virology, under the supervision of his graduate advisor, Yu Sun, who was an experimental virologist and pathologist. [6] Earning his Master's in 1988, Meng worked as a research fellow for three years at the Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences in Jinan.

In 1991, he was admitted to the interdepartmental Immunobiology graduate program at the Iowa State University. [6] His PhD dissertation focused on an emerging virus, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus, in the laboratory of Prem S. Paul. [7] After receiving his PhD in Immunobiology, he joined the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases as a John E. Fogarty Visiting Scientist and later as a Senior Staff Fellow [2] [4] in the labs of Suzanne U. Emerson and Robert H. Purcell at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH in Bethesda, Maryland.

Career and research

Meng joined the faculty at Virginia Tech in 1999 as an Assistant Professor of Molecular Virology, and rose to the rank of full professor in 2007. [2] [8] He was named a university distinguished professor in 2013. [2] In July 2020, Meng was appointed as the founding director of the Virginia Tech Center for Emerging, Zoonotic and Arthropod-borne Pathogens (CeZAP). [9] From November 2021 to November 2022, Meng served as Interim Executive Director of the Fralin Life Sciences Institute at Virginia Tech. [10]

His research mainly focuses on understanding the mechanism of virus replication and pathogenesis, defining the mechanisms of cross-species virus infection, and developing effective vaccines against emerging and zoonotic viruses. [4] Meng's group discovered the swine hepatitis E virus from pigs and avian hepatitis E virus from chickens, which eventually lead to the recognition of human hepatitis E as a zoonotic disease. [4] Meng's research also led to the invention of the first U.S. Department of Agriculture fully-license commercial vaccine, currently on the global market, against porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) and its associated diseases. [6] [11] Additionally, Meng works on a number of other important viruses including Hepatitis E virus, Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus, Torque Teno Sus Virus, and Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus. [12] [13]

Meng has authored and co-authored more than 359 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, [12] which have been cited for more than 36,183 times with a h-index of 99. [1] He is ranked in the top 1% highly cited scientists in the field of microbiology (1997–2007) by Thomson Scientific's Essential Science Indicators. [14] Meng is an inventor of more than 20 U.S. patent awards on viral vaccines and diagnostics. [15]

Awards and honors

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coronavirus</span> Subfamily of viruses in the family Coronaviridae

Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the common cold, while more lethal varieties can cause SARS, MERS and COVID-19. In cows and pigs they cause diarrhea, while in mice they cause hepatitis and encephalomyelitis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hepatitis E</span> Human disease caused by Orthohepevirus A

Hepatitis E is inflammation of the liver caused by infection with the hepatitis E virus (HEV); it is a type of viral hepatitis. Hepatitis E has mainly a fecal-oral transmission route that is similar to hepatitis A, although the viruses are unrelated. HEV is a positive-sense, single-stranded, nonenveloped, RNA icosahedral virus and one of five known human hepatitis viruses: A, B, C, D, and E.

<i>Adenoviridae</i> Family of viruses

Adenoviruses are medium-sized, nonenveloped viruses with an icosahedral nucleocapsid containing a double-stranded DNA genome. Their name derives from their initial isolation from human adenoids in 1953.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swine influenza</span> Infection caused by influenza viruses endemic to pigs

Swine influenza is an infection caused by any of several types of swine influenza viruses. Swine influenza virus (SIV) or swine-origin influenza virus (S-OIV) refers to any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is endemic in pigs. As of 2009, identified SIV strains include influenza C and the subtypes of influenza A known as H1N1, H1N2, H2N1, H3N1, H3N2, and H2N3.

Porcine circoviral disease (PCVD), also known as porcine circovirus associated disease (PCVAD), is a disease seen in domestic pigs. This disease causes illness in piglets, with clinical signs including progressive loss of body condition, visibly enlarged lymph nodes, difficulty in breathing, and sometimes diarrhea, pale skin, and jaundice. PCVD is very damaging to the pig-producing industry and has been reported worldwide. PCVD is caused by Porcine circovirus 2 (PCV-2).

Betaarterivirus suid 1, commonly Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), is a virus that causes a disease of pigs, called porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), also known as blue-ear pig disease. This economically important, panzootic disease causes reproductive failure in breeding stock and respiratory tract illness in young pigs.

<i>Murine coronavirus</i> Species of virus

Murine coronavirus (M-CoV) is a virus in the genus Betacoronavirus that infects mice. Belonging to the subgenus Embecovirus, murine coronavirus strains are enterotropic or polytropic. Enterotropic strains include mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) strains D, Y, RI, and DVIM, whereas polytropic strains, such as JHM and A59, primarily cause hepatitis, enteritis, and encephalitis. Murine coronavirus is an important pathogen in the laboratory mouse and the laboratory rat. It is the most studied coronavirus in animals other than humans, and has been used as an animal disease model for many virological and clinical studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vincent Racaniello</span> American biologist

Vincent R. Racaniello is a Higgins Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is a co-author of a textbook on virology, Principles of Virology.

Anthony (Tony) Charles Minson, PhD, FMedSci is a British virologist known for his work on the biology of herpesviruses, and a university administrator. He was the Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 2003 to 2009. He is an emeritus professor of virology at the university's Department of Pathology and an emeritus fellow of Wolfson College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia Hinshaw</span> American microbiologist

Virginia S. Hinshaw is a scientist with expertise in microbiology, virology and influenza resulting in numerous publications. She served as Vice-Chancellor at U of Wisconsin Madison and Chancellor at University of Hawai'i Manoa campus.

Bovine coronavirus is a coronavirus which is a member of the species Betacoronavirus 1. The infecting virus is an enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus which enters its host cell by binding to the N-acetyl-9-O-acetylneuraminic acid recepter. Infection causes calf enteritis and contributes to the enzootic pneumonia complex in calves. It can also cause winter dysentery in adult cattle. It can infect both domestic and wild ruminants and has a worldwide distribution. Transmission is horizontal, via oro-fecal or respiratory routes. Like other coronaviruses from genus Betacoronavirus, subgenus Embecovirus, it has a surface protein called hemagglutinin esterase (HE) in addition to the four structural proteins shared by all coronaviruses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human coronavirus OC43</span> Species of virus

Human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43) is a member of the species Betacoronavirus 1, which infects humans and cattle. The infecting coronavirus is an enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus that enters its host cell by binding to the N-acetyl-9-O-acetylneuraminic acid receptor. OC43 is one of seven coronaviruses known to infect humans. It is one of the viruses responsible for the common cold and may have been responsible for the 1889–1890 pandemic. It has, like other coronaviruses from genus Betacoronavirus, subgenus Embecovirus, an additional shorter spike protein called hemagglutinin-esterase (HE).

David Mahan Knipe is the Higgins Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics in the Department of Microbiology at the Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts and co-chief editor of the reference book Fields Virology. He returned to the Chair of the Program in Virology at Harvard Medical School in 2019, having previously held the position from 2004 through 2016 and served as interim Co-Chair of the Microbiology and Immunobiology Department from 2016 through 2018.

Janet S Butel is the Chairman and Distinguished Service Professor in the molecular virology and microbiology department at Baylor College of Medicine. Her area of expertise is on polyomavirus pathogenesis of infections and disease. She has more than 120 publications on PubMed. She also has 6 publications in Nature, which is considered one of the most prestigious science journals. She is a member of 9 different organizations and has 13 honors and awards.

Torque teno sus virus, belonging to the family Anelloviridae, is a group of virus strains that are non-enveloped, with a single-stranded circular DNA genome ranging from 2.6 to 2.8 kb in size. These swine infecting anelloviruses are divided into two genera: Iotatorquevirus and Kappatorquevirus. Torque teno sus virus has been found in pigs worldwide. TTSuVs are mainly transmitted by fecal-oral route. The prevalence of these viruses is relatively high. For now, there is not known disease caused exclusively by TTSuV. There is the possibility that TTSuV may worsen the progression of other diseases and therefore increase the economic losses for pig industry.

Patricia Gail Spear is an American virologist. She is a professor emeritus of microbiology and immunology at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She is best known for her pioneering work studying the herpes simplex virus. Spear is a past president of the American Society for Virology and an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coronavirus diseases</span> List of Coronavirus diseases

Coronavirus diseases are caused by viruses in the coronavirus subfamily, a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, the group of viruses cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the common cold, while more lethal varieties can cause SARS, MERS and COVID-19. As of 2021, 45 species are registered as coronaviruses, whilst 11 diseases have been identified, as listed below.

Francis "Frank" Vincent Chisari is a physician, experimental pathologist, and viral immunologist, known for his research on virus-host interactions and disease pathogenesis during hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus infections.

Vaccine resistance is the evolutionary adaptation of pathogens to infect and spread through vaccinated individuals, analogous to antimicrobial resistance. It concerns both human and animal vaccines. Although the emergence of a number of vaccine resistant pathogens has been well documented, this phenomenon is nevertheless much more rare and less of a concern than antimicrobial resistance.

William Paul Duprex is a British scientist and advocate for vaccines and global health. He serves as Director of the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Vaccine Research and Regional Biocontainment Laboratory. Duprex holds the Jonas Salk Chair in Vaccine Research. He is also a professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of General Virology, which is published by the Microbiology Society, and a senior editor of mSphere, published by the American Society for Microbiology. Duprex is an expert in measles and mumps viruses and studies viral spillover from animals to humans, including the SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic. Duprex is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.

References

  1. 1 2 "X.J. Meng - Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology". Virginia Tech College of Veterinary Medicine (www.vetmed.vt.edu). Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  3. ↑ "University Distinguished Professors". Virginia Tech Office of the President. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Xiang-Jin Meng". National Academy of Sciences (www.nasonline.org). Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  5. 1 2 "American Association for the Advancement of Science honors X.J. Meng as Lifetime Fellow". news.vt.edu. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Viegas, Jennifer (2017-07-03). "Profile of Xiang-Jin Meng". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 114 (28): 7188–7190. Bibcode:2017PNAS..114.7188V. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1710342114 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   5514775 . PMID   28673980.
  7. ↑ "University Distinguished Professor of Molecular Virology X.J. Meng recognized by Iowa State University". Virginia Tech News. February 19, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Tech professor searches for hepatitis vaccine". Roanoke Times. Mar 12, 2008. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  9. ↑ "Center for Emerging, Zoonotic, and Arthropod-borne Pathogens to tackle infectious diseases". news.vt.edu. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  10. ↑ "X.J. Meng named interim executive director of the Fralin Life Sciences Institute". news.vt.edu. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  11. ↑ "Professor develops vaccine for pigs". USA Today. 2006-07-18. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  12. 1 2 "Meng Laboratory". Virginia Tech College of Veterinary Medicine (www.vetmed.vt.edu). Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  13. ↑ "TWiV 285: Hokies go viral". This Week in Virology Podcast. December 2015. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  14. ↑ "X.J. Meng". ScienceWatch - Tracking Trends & Performance in Basic Research. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  15. 1 2 "Veterinary college's X.J. Meng elected to the National Academy of Inventors". Virginia Tech. December 17, 2014. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  16. ↑ "Innovating around complex problems". news.vt.edu. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  17. ↑ "Virginia Tech Daily". Virginia Tech News. February 19, 2020. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  18. ↑ "Virginia Tech's X.J. Meng earns SCHEV Outstanding Faculty Award". Virginia Tech News. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  19. ↑ "State Council of Higher Education for Virginia". Dec 16, 2016. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  20. ↑ "Virginia Tech's X.J. Meng elected to the National Academy of Sciences". Virginia Tech. May 4, 2016. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  21. ↑ "National Academy of Inventors Names 170 New Fellows". National Academy of Inventors. Dec 16, 2014. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  22. ↑ "Veterinary college's X.J. Meng honored as University Distinguished Professor". Virginia Tech. June 4, 2013. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  23. ↑ "X.J. Meng elected to the American Academy of Microbiology". Virginia Tech. March 20, 2012. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
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