Isaac Chiu

Isaac Chiu is a neuroimmunologist known for his research uncovering how sensory neurons crosstalk with immune cells in pain, itch, and host defence.  

His work has found that nociceptors can directly detect bacterial pathogens to produce pain during infection. These neurons, in turn, signal to innate and adaptive immune cells via CGRP-RAMP1 signalling to modulate host defence in the skin, gut, lungs, and meninges. Bacteria hijack pain to promote invasive skin infections and brain invasion. His lab discovered that nociceptors signal to goblet cells to regulate mucus production and regulatory T cells in the gut. He is also uncovering the role of Gasdermin proteins in neurodegenerative diseases. His recent work has shown that the vagus nerve modulates myeloid cell recruitment in the lungs during bacterial and influenza virus infection.

Chiu is a Professor in Harvard Medical School in the Department of Immunology. He is a member of the Gene Lay Institute of Immunology and Inflammation and associate member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. Isaac has received the NIH Directors New Innovator Award, CZI Ben Barres Early Career Award, Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigators in the Pathogenesis of infectious Disease Award, Kenneth Rainin Foundation Innovator Award.