• Cardiovascular Immunology
• Cardiovascular Repair and Regeneration
• Molecular mechanisms driving cardiovascular disease progression

According to the World Health Organization, nearly 20 million people die from cardiovascular disease each year. Data from the China’s Center for Disease Control indicate that cardiovascular disease accounts for nearly 50% of deaths in mainland China, and in Hong Kong about one in six deaths (including stroke) is cardiovascular-related. Kathy Lui’s laboratory focuses on regenerating the damaged cardiovascular system by dissecting disease mechanisms and the crosstalk between cardiovascular and immune cells, especially T cells. Most recently, they uncovered epigenetic pathways of cardiac regeneration mediated by CD4⁺ regulatory T cells. They employ human pluripotent stem cells as an in vitro platform and use modified RNA and monoclonal antibodies as therapeutic modalities for disease modeling, target validation, and drug screening.

Kathy Lui obtained her Bachelor of Science and Master of Philosophy degrees from the Department of Biochemistry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Supported by the full scholarship Dorothy Hodgkin Postgraduate Award, Kathy completed her Ph.D. at Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, U.K. focusing on stem cell immunology under the supervision of Professor Herman Waldmann. She was honoured with the Senior Scholarship at Lincoln College, Oxford, and the Peter Beaconsfield Prize in Physiological Sciences. Thereafter, Kathy was awarded the Croucher Foundation Fellowship and pursued her postdoctoral training at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she investigated cardiovascular regeneration in Professor Kenneth Chien’s lab, and at the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University, U.S., focusing on stem cell and regeneration in Professor Douglas Melton’s laboratory.

In August 2014, Kathy has established her own research group, studying disease mechanisms and therapeutic strategies targeting cardiovascular repair using stem cells as a primary modelling tool. More recently, she focused to study the contributions of immune cells particularly different T cell subsets to cardiovascular disease and repair. Her contributions have been recognized with the Croucher Innovation Award in 2017. She was among the first recipients of China’s NSFC Excellent Young Scientists Fund in 2019, and was honoured with the title of RGC Research Fellow in 2022. Kathy is also a founding member of the Young Academy of Sciences of Hong Kong in 2018, and continues to play an active role in the Academy for promoting science education in Hong Kong. In 2025, she established the CAS-CUHK Joint Laboratory for Cardiovascular Sciences, funded by the Croucher Foundation, in partnership with Professor Bin Zhou at CAS, Shanghai.

1. RGC Research Fellowship, Research Grants Council, Hong Kong (2022)
2. Extraordinary Reviewer of Circulation Research, American Heart Association, USA (2021)
3. Young Researcher Award, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (2020)
4. Excellent Young Scientists Fund, National Natural Science Foundation of China (2019)
5. Founding Member, The Hong Kong Young Academy of Sciences (2018)
6. Croucher Innovation Awards, Croucher Foundation, Hong Kong (2017)
7. Faculty Innovation Awards, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (2016)

1. Qu H, Ho CK, Liu J, Cui L, Hou Y, Liang C, Ye W, Wong RHL, Hori S, Zhou B, Lui KO. CD4+ tregs drive post-ischemic sprouting angiogenesis via endothelial YY1/MAML1 reactivation. Advanced Science. Published online 2026. doi:10.1002/advs.202518564.
2. Cui L, Ho CK, Liang P, Gao W, Liu J, Tian XY, Wong R, Zhou B, Lui KO. METTL14 inhibits atherogenesis by epigenetically activating PPAR-α/γ transcription and fatty acid oxidation in VSMCs. Cardiovascular Research. 2026;122(8):1001-1021. doi:10.1093/cvr/cvag069.
3. Hou Y, Ho CK, Lai B, Liu J, Li L, Lin J, Qu H, Wong RHL, Nie Y, Ding Q, Zhou B, Lui KO. CD4+ tregs regulate heart growth and regeneration through MRG15/TIP60-mediated epigenomic remodeling in proliferating cardiomyocytes. 2025;152:1634-1656. doi:10.1161/circulationaha.125.073890.
4. Ye W, Gao W, Ho CK, Cui L, Lau JYW, Tian XY, Zhou B, Lui KO. YY1 regulates vascular resistance and blood pressure dynamics through epigenetic control of m6A RNA modifications in vascular smooth muscle cells. Cardiovascular Research. 2025;121(12):1898-1916. doi:10.1093/cvr/cvaf136.
5. Han M, Liu Z, Liu L, Huang X, Wang H, Pu W, Wang E, Liu X, Li Y, He L, Li X, Wu J, Qiu L, Shen R, Wang QD, Ji Y, Ardehali R, Shu Q, Lui KO, Wang L, Zhou B. Dual genetic tracing reveals a unique fibroblast subpopulation modulating cardiac fibrosis. Nature Genetics. 2023;55(4):665-678. doi:10.1038/s41588-023-01337-7.
6. Han M, Liu Z, He L, Li X, Liu L, Huang X, Zhang M, Yan Y, Lui KO, Zhou B. Dual genetic lineage tracing reveals capillary to artery formation in the adult heart. 2022;145(15):1179-1181. doi:10.1161/circulationaha.121.056249. (Letter)
7. Liu D, Yang KY, Chan VW, Ye W, Chong CCN, Wang CC, Wang H, Zhou B, Cheng KKY, Lui KO. YY1 regulates glucose homeostasis through controlling insulin transcription in pancreatic b-cells. 2022;71(5):961-977. doi:10.2337/db21-0695.
8. Ma Z, Li X, Fan RLY, Yang KY, Ng CSH, Lau RWH, Wong RHL, Ng KK, Wang CC, Ye P, Fu Z, Chin AWH, Lai MYA, Huang Y, Tian XY, Poon LLM, Lui KO. A human pluripotent stem cell-based model of SARS-CoV-2 infection reveals an ACE2-independent inflammatory activation of vascular endothelial cells through TLR4. Stem Cell Reports. 2022;17(3):538-555. doi:10.1016/j.stemcr.2022.01.015.
9. Zhang S, Li Y, Huang X, Liu K, Wang QD, Chen AF, Sun K, Lui KO, Zhou B. Seamless genetic recording of transiently activated mesenchymal gene expression in endothelial cells during cardiac fibrosis. 2021;144(25):2004-2020. doi:10.1161/circulationaha.121.055417.
10. Li J, Liang C, Yang KY, Huang X, Han MY, Li X, Chan VW, Chan KS, Liu D, Huang ZP, Zhou B, Lui KO. Specific ablation of CD4+ T-cells promotes heart regeneration in juvenile mice. 2020;10(18):8018-8035. doi:10.7150/thno.42943.
11. Liang C, Yang KY, Chan VW, Li X, Fung THW, Wu Y, Tian XY, Huang Y, Qin L, Lau JYW, Lui KO. CD8+ T-cell plasticity regulates vascular regeneration in type-2 diabetes. 2020;10(9):4217-4232. doi:10.7150/thno.40663.
12. Li J, Li X, Liang C, Ling L, Chen Z, Wong CK, Waldmann H, Lui KO. Coreceptor blockade targeting CD4 and CD8 allows acceptance of allogeneic human pluripotent stem cell grafts in humanized mice. 2020;248:120013. doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2020.120013.
13. Li X, Yang KY, Chan VW, Leung KT, Zhang XB, Wong AS, Chong CCN, Wang CC, Ku M, Lui KO. Single-cell RNA-Seq reveals that CD9 is a negative marker of glucose-responsive pancreatic β-like cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells. Stem Cell Reports. 2020;15(5):1111-1126. doi:10.1016/j.stemcr.2020.09.009.
14. Li J, Yang KY, Tam RCY, Chan VW, Lan HY, Hori S, Zhou B, Lui KO. Regulatory T-cells regulate neonatal heart regeneration by potentiating cardiomyocyte proliferation in a paracrine manner. 2019;9(15):4324-4341. doi:10.7150/thno.32734.
15. Leung CS, Li J, Xu F, Wong ASL, Lui KO. Ectopic expression of recipient CD47 inhibits mouse macrophage-mediated immune rejection against human stem cell transplants. FASEB Journal. 2019;33(1):484-493. doi:10.1096/fj.201800449r.
16. Leung CS, Yang KY, Li X, Chan VW, Ku M, Waldmann H, Hori S, Tsang JCH, Lo YMD, Lui KO. Single-cell transcriptomics reveal that PD-1 mediates immune tolerance by regulating proliferation of regulatory T cells. Genome Medicine. 2018;10(1):71-. doi:10.1186/s13073-018-0581-y.
17. Leung OM, Li J, Li X, Chan VW, Yang KY, Ku M, Ji L, Sun H, Waldmann H, Tian XY, Huang Y, Lau J, Zhou B, Lui KO. Regulatory T cells promote apelin-mediated sprouting angiogenesis in type 2 diabetes. Cell Reports. 2018;24(6):1610-1626. doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2018.07.019.
18. Lui KO, Howie D, Ng SW, Liu S, Chien KR, Waldmann H. Tolerance induction to human stem cell transplants with extension to their differentiated progeny. Nature Communications. 2014;5(1):5629-. doi:10.1038/ncomms6629.
19. Zangi L, Lui KO, Von Gise A, Ma Q, Ebina W, Ptaszek LM, Später D, Xu H, Tabebordbar M, Gorbatov R, Sena B, Nahrendorf M, Briscoe DM, Li RA, Wagers AJ, Rossi DJ, Pu WT, Chien KR. Modified mRNA directs the fate of heart progenitor cells and induces vascular regeneration after myocardial infarction. Nature Biotechnology. 2013;31(10):898-907. doi:10.1038/nbt.2682.
20. Lui KO, Zangi L, Silva EA, Bu L, Sahara M, Li RA, Mooney DJ, Chien KR. Driving vascular endothelial cell fate of human multipotent Isl1+ heart progenitors with VEGF modified mRNA. Cell Research. 2013;23(10):1172-1186. doi:10.1038/cr.2013.112.