Liwen Deng, PhD – Center for Immunity & Inflammation; Department of Anesthesiology

Dr. Deng obtained her BS and PhD from the University of California San Diego. Her doctoral studies in the laboratory of Professor Kelly Doran inspired her interest in host defense against infection. Dr. Deng performed her postdoctoral training under the mentorship of Professor Isaac Chiu at Harvard Medical School, where she leveraged her expertise in bacterial pathogenesis to study neuroimmune interactions with Staphylococcus aureus. She was awarded a K99/R00 grant from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) for her research into how microbes trigger itch, inflammation, and skin barrier damage. Her work was the first to discover a causative role for bacteria in driving itch and scratching-induced dermatitis. This research also identified an itch signaling mechanism that could be targeted to alleviate itch and skin damage. In May 2026, Dr. Deng joined the Center for Immunity and Inflammation at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School as an Assistant Professor and Chancellor Scholar in the Department of Anesthesiology. Using multidisciplinary approaches spanning microbiology, neuroscience, and immunology, her research program investigates how neuronal signaling shapes host-microbe interactions in both health and disease. This work will uncover novel mechanisms of host defense and has the potential to reveal therapeutic pathways for modulating neuroimmune signaling to treat infection and other diseases.

PubMed