Dr Pengxiang Chang

Dr Pengxiang Chang obtained his bachelor’s degree in Veterinary medicine from the Northwest A&F University, China. He then earned his PhD in the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science at the University of Nottingham in 2015. His PhD project focused on the host innate immune response to avian and mammalian influenza virus infections, and in particular focussed on the contributions of alveolar macrophages to the immune resistance of pig to avian influenza virus infection. He has gained extensive experiences on gene expression analysis and human and swine primary cell isolation and culture, such as human blood-derived macrophages, swine alveolar macrophages, and human and swine tracheal epithelial cells. Later on, he joined Prof Amir Ghaemmaghami‘s group at the University of Nottingham to work as a research assistant on the European project Immodgel. In the Ghaemmaghami group he worked on human macrophage M1/M2 identification and 3D immune-competent lung tissue models. In 2015, he took up the position of Avian Influenza Molecular Virologist in the Pirbright Institute and started to work on the antigenic characterization of avian influenza viruses and viral vectored vaccines development. His current ongoing projects include:

1. Characterization of the antigenic properties of H7N9 and H5Nx avian influenza viruses using monoclonal antibodies and antisera. 

2. The multivalent viral vectored influenza vaccines using the CRISPR/Cas9 technology. These viral vectors include duck enteritis virus (DEV), herpesvirus of Turkeys (HVT) and fowl adenovirus (FAdV).