On November 26, the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Fund Committee announced the preliminary results for the 2026 Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Fund projects. The Faculty of Medicine secured a total of 46 projects, including one Outstanding Youth Project, three Key Projects, five Exploration Projects, 12 Youth Fund Projects, and 25 Joint Fund Projects. Among them, Associate Chief Physician Chen Xia's project, "Mechanism of Gut Microbiota Regulating Immune Homeostasis at the Maternal-Fetal Interface," was awarded the Provincial Outstanding Youth Project. Three projects received Key Project funding: Associate Professor Ding Lijian's "Intelligent-Driven Efficient Mining of Marine Rare Medicinal Actinomycetes Resources and Novel Anti-Infective Active Lead Compounds," Chief Physician He Wenming's "Study on the Role and Mechanism of the LECT2-SREBF Axis in Regulating Lipid Metabolic Reprogramming and Inflammatory Response to Inhibit Atherosclerosis," and Associate Researcher Yang Fan's "Mechanism and Targeted Intervention Strategy of YB-1 Protein SUMOylation-Driven AR-GR Signal Switching in Prostate Cancer Treatment Resistance."
Chen Xia, Deputy Director of the Gynecology Department at Ningbo University Affiliated First Hospital and Director of the Zhihe Innovation Center, focuses on the mechanisms, clinical translation, and precision diagnosis and treatment of complex gynecological and obstetric diseases related to human microbiota. As the first or corresponding author, she has published over 20 papers in renowned international journals such as Gut, Immunity, Nature Communications, and Cell Reports Medicine, including four ESI highly cited papers. She has been selected for national-level youth talent programs and serves as Deputy Chair of the Gynecological Urology and Pelvic Floor Reconstruction Committee of the China Maternal and Child Health Association and as a member of the General Gynecology Group of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association's Obstetrics and Gynecology Branch.
Dysbiosis of the gut microbiota is involved in adverse pregnancy outcomes. This project aims to establish a prospective large-sample clinical research cohort to analyze the gut microbiota profile and functional metabolic characteristics throughout pregnancy, develop efficient risk prediction methods, and propose novel prevention and treatment strategies for adverse pregnancy outcomes, providing a theoretical foundation for new interventions.
Ding Lijian, Director of the Experimental Teaching Center at the College of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, and Master's Supervisor, has long been dedicated to the research and development of marine innovative drugs. He has led five provincial or ministerial-level research projects, including those from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Fund Key Projects. He has published over 20 high-level academic papers in SCI Zone 2 or higher journals, obtained more than 10 authorized invention patents, and received the Second Prize of the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Award (awarded project: Discovery of Natural Product Chemistry Lead Compounds and Their Efficient Preparation Methods).
Globally, multidrug-resistant bacterial infections have become a major public health challenge, necessitating the development of new antimicrobial drugs. This project focuses on the exploitation and utilization of marine rare actinomycetes resources. Addressing the technical bottlenecks of traditional isolation and screening methods, it innovatively constructs an intelligent technology system to systematically discover novel compounds with anti-infective activity, aiming to provide new ideas and strategies for overcoming current challenges in antibiotic development.
He Wenming, Deputy Director of the Cardiovascular Medicine Department at Ningbo University Affiliated First Hospital and Doctoral Supervisor, has long been engaged in research on the mechanisms, diagnosis, and treatment of atherosclerotic diseases. He has participated in one national key research and development program and led three provincial or ministerial-level major research and development projects. He has published multiple research papers in internationally renowned journals such as Bioactive Materials, Acta Biomaterialia, European Radiology, and Zoological Research.
Atherosclerosis (AS) poses a severe threat to human health, driven by the interaction between lipid metabolic reprogramming and inflammatory responses. Single lipid-lowering or anti-inflammatory treatments are insufficient to effectively control residual risks, highlighting the urgent need to explore new dual-intervention targets. Preliminary studies by the research group found that leukocyte cell-derived chemotaxin 2 (LECT2) has dual roles in regulating lipid metabolism and inflammation, but its mechanisms remain unclear. This project plans to use AS models with LECT2 knockout mice and strategies such as Co-IP/MS, surface plasmon resonance, phosphorylated protein activity detection, signal blocking, bioinformatics, and ChIP-qPCR experiments to systematically elucidate the role and molecular mechanisms of the LECT2-SREBF axis in hepatocyte lipid metabolic reprogramming and macrophage inflammatory responses. It will also evaluate its effectiveness and feasibility as a new therapeutic target for AS, providing theoretical insights and intervention strategies for exploring AS treatment options.
Yang Fan, Special Researcher at the Zhihe Innovation Center of Ningbo University Affiliated First Hospital and the Zhejiang Provincial Engineering Center for Innovative Technology and Diagnostic Instruments in Urological Diseases, has long been engaged in research on the molecular mechanisms of malignant tumor metastasis, drug resistance, and stemness. Over the past five years, he has led five provincial or ministerial-level projects, including the National Natural Science Foundation General/Youth Projects and the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Fund Key Projects. As the first or corresponding author, he has published seven SCI papers in journals such as Cancer Research and Theranostics and participated as a deputy editor in the compilation of two academic works.
Drug resistance following androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is a primary challenge in the clinical treatment of prostate cancer, making it imperative to uncover the molecular mechanisms of ADT resistance and identify new therapeutic targets. Preliminary findings of this project revealed that the nuclear-cytoplasmic shuttling of the YB-1 protein drives AR-GR signal switching, a key molecular event in prostate cancer drug resistance, suggesting that YB-1 is a critical target for overcoming resistance. By constructing multiple preclinical models, this project aims to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of targeting YB-1 to reverse prostate cancer treatment resistance, providing a basis for the clinical treatment of prostate cancer.
The approval of multiple high-level projects marks a significant breakthrough for the Faculty of Medicine at Ningbo University under the support of Ningbo City's "Medical Excellence" plan. Looking ahead, the Faculty of Medicine will continue to deepen organized scientific research, vigorously promote the integration of basic research and clinical practice, and systematically build an efficient scientific research innovation system and talent development mechanism by strengthening the recruitment and cultivation of high-level talents and consolidating the support of scientific research instrument platforms. These efforts will comprehensively enhance disciplinary depth and innovation capabilities, injecting strong momentum into the high-quality development of medical education and the construction of a high-level medical discipline system.
