Dr. Jie Xu
Assistant Professor, Biomedical Sciences
Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Immunology & Neuroscience
Education
PhD, Neuroscience, McGill University (Canada), 2016
Past Experience
After earning his PhD, Dr. Xu completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Michigan and was on Michigan’s faculty before joining the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Iowa State University.
Research
Dr. Xu’s lab studies how inflammation and the innate immune system are regulated at the molecular level. Xu says “inflammation protects us from infection and injury, but when it goes out of control, it can lead to many diseases.” Dr. Xu focuses on the NLRP3 inflammasome, a key player in inflammation and a potential therapeutic target.
Interesting Fact
Dr. Xu’s work looks to understand how the NLRP3 inflammasome is activated and explore its role in Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr. Xu says…
“Inflammation is something we all experience, yet the molecular details behind it are still not fully understood. I’m fascinated by how these processes work and motivated by the potential to uncover new ways to treat inflammation-related diseases.”
October 2025