Lingli Dong

Dr. Lingli Dong serves as Director, Professor, and Chief Physician in the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology at Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China, where she also supervises PhD candidates. Her leadership spans clinical care, academic instruction, and research direction within this major medical institution.

Her research program centers on autoimmune pathologies including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, Sjögren's syndrome, and IgG4-related disease, with particular emphasis on pandemic response mechanisms and molecular disease pathways. Through clinical investigations and multi-omics approaches, she examines viral interactions with autoimmune conditions, cellular immunology in connective tissue disorders, and therapeutic safety profiles—translating laboratory findings into improved patient management strategies for complex rheumatic diseases.

Analysis of Dr. Dong's 2020-2021 publications reveals dominant themes in pandemic-era rheumatology, featuring eight high-impact studies originating from Hubei province. Her work demonstrates methodological diversity spanning multicenter observational cohorts, molecular pathway analyses, and digital health innovations, with recurring focus on SARS-CoV-2 interactions with autoimmune conditions, NK cell dysregulation in Sjögren's syndrome, and IL-33-mediated psoriasis mechanisms—all contributing to evidence-based clinical guidelines during global health crises.

As an academic leader, Dr. Dong mentors graduate researchers while serving the scholarly community through editorial roles including Review Editor for B Cell Biology in Frontiers in Immunology and Rheumatology section editor at Frontiers in Medicine, facilitating critical discourse in immunological and rheumatological research.

Within Tongji Hospital's infrastructure, she integrates clinical practice with research innovation through the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, directing patient-centered investigations that address urgent questions in autoimmune disease management during public health emergencies while advancing fundamental understanding of disease pathogenesis.