Biomedical Pioneering Innovation Center

Contact

E-mail:yunlongcao@pku.edu.cn
Add:Rm. 102, Biomedical Pioneering Innovation Center, Integrated Science Research Center No.2,Peking University

Lab Web：http://yunlongcaolab.com/

Yunlong Cao

Resume

2024-Present Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Principal Investigator
2023-Present Peking University, Assistant Professor/Principal Investigator
2020-Present Beijing Changping Laboratory, Research Scientist

2019-2023 Biomedical Pioneering Innovation Center (BIOPIC), Peking University, Research Associate
2014-2019 Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Ph.D. in Chemistry (Advisor: Xiaoliang Sunney Xie)
2010-2014 Chu Kochen Honors College, Zhejiang University, B.S. in Physics

Research Interests

Cao Lab investigates humoral immunity and antibodies at single-cell and molecular level. Our research interests include the following aspects:

Antibody response, immune escape and immune imprinting in infectious diseases;
Development of broad-spectrum antibody therapeutics and vaccines;
Deciphering the relationship between targeting epitopes and functions of antibodies for various antigens;
Computational and machine learning methods for modeling antibody-antigen interaction.

Awards and Honors

2025 HE Science Foundation Research Fellow
2025 Beijing Science and Technology Award in Natural Science First Prize
2024 Fok Ying Tung Education Foundation Awards for Outstanding Young Investigators
2024 DAMO Academy Young Fellow
2024 Xplorer Prize
2024 Emerging Microbes & Infections Associate Editor
2024 China CDC Weekly Youth Editorial Board

2023 Beijing Outstanding Yound Talent Award (ZhongGuanCun Award)
2023 WHO Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 Vaccine Composition (TAG-CO-VAC 2023)
2023 The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) Scientific Advisory Committee
2023 China's top 10 scientific advances in 2022
2023 China's top 10 advances in life sciences in 2022
2022 Nature’s “Ten people who helped shape science in 2022” (Nature’s 10)
2022 MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 China (TR35 China)

Selected Publication

(*indicates corresponding or co-corresponding authors, # indicates first or equal contributed first authors)

F. Jian^#, J. Wang^#, A. Yisimayi^#, W. Song^#, Y. Xu^#, X. Chen, X. Niu, S. Yang, Y. Yu, P. Wang, H. Sun, L. Yu, J. Wang, Y. Wang, R. An, W. Wang, M. Ma, T. Xiao, Q. Gu, F. Shao, Y. Wang, Z. Shen, R. Jin & Y. Cao*, Evolving antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 antigenic shift from XBB to JN.1. Nature 637: 921-929 (2025).
A. Yisimayi^#, W. Song^#, J. Wang^#, F. Jian^#, Y. Yu^#, X. Chen^#, Y. Xu^#, S. Yang, X. Niu, T. Xiao, J. Wang, L. Zhao, H. Sun, R. An, N. Zhang, Y. Wang, P. Wang, L. Yu, Z. Lv, Q. Gu, F. Shao, R. Jin, Z. Shen, X. S. Xie, Y. Wang & Y. Cao*, Repeated Omicron exposures override ancestral SARS-CoV-2 immune imprinting. Nature 625: 148-156. (2024).
Y. Cao*^#, F. Jian^#, J. Wang^#, Y. Yu^#, W. Song^#, A. Yisimayi, J. Wang, R. An, X.Chen, N. Zhang, Y. Wang, P. Wang, L. Zhao, H. Sun, L. Yu, S. Yang, X. Niu, T. Xiao, Q. Gu, F. Shao, X. Xiao, Y. Xu, R. Jin, Z. Shen, Y. Wang* & X. S. Xie*, Imprinted SARS-CoV-2 humoral immunity induces convergent Omicron RBD evolution. Nature 614: 21-529. (2023).
Y. Cao*^#, A. Yisimayi^#, F. Jian^#, W. Song^#, T. Xiao^#, L. Wang^#, S. Du^#, J. Wang^#, Q. Li^#, X. Chen^#, Y. Yu^#, P. Wang, Z. Zhang, P. Liu, R. An, X. Hao, Y. Wang, J. Wang, R. Feng, H. Sun, L. Zhao, W. Zhang, D. Zhao, J. Zheng, L. Y, C. Li, N. Zhang, R. Wang, X. Niu, S. Yang, X. Song, Y. Chai, Y. Hu, Y. Shi, L. Zheng, Z. Li, Q. Gu, F. Shao, W. Huang, R. Jin, Z. Shen*, Y. Wang*, X. Wang*, J. Xiao* & X. S. Xie*, BA.2.12.1, BA.4 and BA.5 escape antibodies elicited by Omicron infection. Nature 608: 593-602. (2022).
Y. Cao*^#, J. Wang^#, F. Jian^#, T. Xiao^#, W. Song^#, A. Yisimayi^#, W. Huang^#, Q. Li, P. Wang, R. An, J. Wang, Y. Wang, X. Niu, S. Yang, H. Liang, H. Sun, T. Li, Y. Yu, Q. Cui, S. Liu, X. Yang, S. Du, Z. Zhang, X. Hao, F. Shao, R. Jin, X. Wang*, J. Xiao*, Y. Wang* & X. S. Xie*, Omicron escapes the majority of existing SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies. Nature 602: 657-663. (2022).
Y. Cao^#, B. Su^#, X. Guo^#, W. Sun^#, Y. Deng^#, L. Bao^#, Q. Zhu, X. Zhang, Y. Zheng, C. Geng, X. Chai, R. He, X. Li, Q. Lv, H. Zhu, W. Deng, Y. Xu, Y. Wang, L. Qiao, Y. Tan, L. Song, G. Wang, X. Du, N. Gao, J. Liu, J. Xiao, X. Su, Z. Du, Y. Feng, C. Qin*, C. Qin*, R. Jin*, X. S. Xie*, Potent Neutralizing Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 Identified by High-Throughput Single-Cell Sequencing of Convalescent Patients’ B Cells. Cell 182: 73-84.e16 (2020).
F. Jian^#, A. Z. Wec^#, L. Feng^#, Y. Yu, L. Wang, P. Wang, L. Yu, J. Wang, J. Hou, D. M. Berrueta, D. Lee, T. Speidel, L. Ma, T. Kim, A. Yisimayi, W. Song, J. Wang, L. Liu, S. Yang, X. Niu, T. Xiao, R. An, Y. Wang, F. Shao, Y. Wang, S. Pecetta, X. Wang*, L. M. Walker*, Y. Cao*. Viral evolution prediction identifies broadly neutralizing antibodies to existing and prospective SARS-CoV-2 variants. Nature Microbiology 10: 2003-2017 (2025).
S. Yang^#, X. Luo^#, J. Luo, F. Jian*, Y. Cao*. A deep mutational scanning-informed protein language model predicts SARS-CoV-2 evolution dynamics with spatiotemporal resolution Nature Microbiology https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-026-02377-5 (2026).
S. Yang^#, Y. Yu^#, Y. Xu, F. Jian, W. Song, A. Yisimayi, P. Wang, J. Wang, J. Liu, L. Yu, X. Niu, J. Wang, Y. Wang, F. Shao, R. Jin, Y. Wang, Y. Cao*, Fast evolution of SARS-CoV-2 BA.2.86 to JN.1 under heavy immune pressure. The Lancet Infectious Diseases 24(2): e70-e72 (2024).
C. Yue, W. Song, L. Wang, F. Jian, X. Chen, F. Gao, Z. Shen, Y. Wang, X. Wang*, Y. Cao*, ACE2 binding and antibody evasion in enhanced transmissibility of XBB.1.5. The Lancet Infectious Diseases 23(3):278-280 (2023).