Fengfeng Bei, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Neurosurgery
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
RESEARCH FOCUS
We are interested in gene therapy of the central nervous system (CNS). We are studying adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) as a gene therapy vector for treating diseases of the brain, spinal cord and the eye. One major focus of our research is on engineering safe and effective AAV vectors for overcoming gene delivery barriers.
Using such AAVs as a tool, we are currently trying to regenerate and repair damaged nerve fibers in the CNS, and to develop treatments for malignant brain tumors as well as rare genetic diseases that affect the CNS.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
- Sangster ML, Bishop MM, Yao Y, Feitor JF, Shahriar S, Miller ME, Chekuri AK, Budnik B, Bei F†, Grishchuk Y† (2024). A blood-brain barrier-penetrant AAV gene therapy improves neurological function in symptomatic mucolipidosis IV mice. Mol Ther Methods Clin Dev. 32(2):101269. († co-corresponding author)
- Yao Y, Wang J, Liu Y, Qu Y, Wang, K, Zhang Y, Chang Y, Yang Z, Wan J, Liu J, Nakashima H, Lawler SE, Chiocca EA, Cho C, Bei F (2022). Variants of the adeno-associated virus serotype 9 with enhanced penetration of the blood–brain barrier in rodents and primates. Nature Biomedical Engineering. 6(11):1257-1271.
- Norsworthy M*, Bei F*†, Kawaguchi R, Wang C, Wang Q, Li Y, Tran N, Brommer B, Zhang Y, Sanes JR, Coppola G†, He Z† (2017). Sox11 expression promotes regeneration of some retinal ganglion cell types but kills others. Neuron 94(6) 1112-1120. (* co-first author, † co-corresponding author)
- Bei F, Lee HH, Liu X, Gunner G, Jin H, Ma L, Wang C, Hou L, Hensch TK, Frank E, Sanes JR, Chen C, Fagiolini M, He Z (2016). Restoration of visual function by enhancing conduction in regenerated axons. Cell 164(1-2):219-232.