Egil Lien

Egil Lien is a tenured Professor of Medicine and Microbiology at UMass Chan Medical School, affiliated with the T.H. Chan School of Medicine and the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. He holds academic positions in the Departments of Medicine (Division of Infectious Diseases), Microbiology, and Immunology/MD-PhD programs.

Education: M.Sc. (Biochemistry) and Ph.D. (Cell Biology) from Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Postdoctoral training at Boston University, NTNU, and UMass Medical School. Academic career includes roles at NTNU as Associate/Professor II and tenured positions at UMass since 2002.

Research Interests

Focuses on innate immune responses to pathogens, particularly mechanisms of pathogen evasion and activation of TLRs, inflammasomes, and cell death pathways. Key areas include:

• TLR4 signaling and LPS recognition
• Inflammasome activation (NLRP3, NLRP12)
• Pyroptosis and caspase-8 pathways
• Host-pathogen interactions in Yersinia pestis, Salmonella, and SARS-CoV-2
• Adjuvant mechanisms in vaccine development

Research Contributions

Recent work highlights roles of caspase-8 in inflammation, gasdermin-mediated cell death, and inflammasome activation in diseases like atherosclerosis and diabetes. Over 150 peer-reviewed publications, including seminal studies in Science, Nature, and Cell journals.

Labs/Teams

Leads a laboratory studying microbial pathogenesis and innate immunity, collaborating extensively with global research groups. Active in translational projects targeting vaccine development and anti-inflammatory therapies.