Stephen Yeung is Assistant Professor of Immunology in Medicine, whose research examines how immune cells regulate inflammation and defend the body against viral infection. He completed both his graduate training and earlier coursework at New York University, earning an M.S. in Pathology in 2018 and a Ph.D. in Immunology and Inflammation in 2020.

My independent research program focused on understanding how the immune and nervous systems, including galectin-mediated pathways, contribute to inflammatory diseases and infections. My research aims to define how immune and/or microbial factors regulate inflammatory disease progression and how peripheral immune modulation and/or infections impact central nervous system (CNS) health and function.

My multidisciplinary training has provided expertise in spectral flow cytometry, confocal and multiphoton microscopy, multiplex immunofluorescence, multiplex biomarker assays, behavioral neuroscience, murine transgenic models, and in vivo infection, inflammation, neurodegenerative diseases (NDD), and aging models.

A major component of my research focused on NDD and brain repair. Using multiple in vivo Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and NDD models, I have investigated mechanisms regulating neurogenesis, defined immune cells contribution to AD pathogenesis, and evaluated endogenous and exogenous neural stem cells therapeutic potentials. In parallel, I have contributed to clinical studies evaluating pain management outcomes in patients with chronic pain, providing additional translational perspective to my research program.

My second major area of expertise centers on tissue resident macrophages (TRMs) biology in lymphoid and non-lymphoid organs in regulating pathogen clearance (Influenza virus, Zika virus, SARS-CoV-2, L.monocytogenes, S.aureus, M.tuberculosis, S.pneumoniae, C.rodentium, N.brasiliensis), inflammation, and tumor immunity. My work demonstrated that CD169+ splenic TRMs orchestrate innate immune response by controlling pathogen localization and regulating an anti-inflammatory response during LPS induced septic shock. In addition, I identified and characterized a previously unknown lung TRM population (NAMs: Nerve and Airway associated Macrophages) and defined their ontogeny, maintenance, and function during respiratory infection and inflammation. These studies have uncovered key mechanisms governing immune cell activation, migration, trafficking, and tissue specific responses during infections in vivo.