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Education
- Fellowship: Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO (2022)
- Residency: University of California San Francisco, CA (2019)
- MD: Columbia University, New York, NY (2016)
- PhD: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (2013)
Biography
Dr. Cao joined the faculty of Division of Gastroenterology at Washington University in July in 2022. Dr. Cao was born in Chengdu in Southwestern China. After college at Zhejiang University, China, Dr. Cao entered the PhD program in Biochemistry at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He then moved to New York where he obtained MD at Columbia University. Afterwards, he completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of California San Francisco and gastroenterology fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Cao’s main research interests are in the mucosal immunity and biomarker discovery in inflammatory bowel disease. His clinical interests include colon cancer screening, gastrointestinal bleeding, dysphagia and gastroesophageal reflux disease. He serves as an Associate Editor for Inflammation and is on the Editorial Board of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. He is on external committees including National Scientific Advisory Committee of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and Executive Committee of the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation.
Research Interests
I am broadly interested in disease-related cellular and molecular pathways in inflammation of the digestive tract, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis), IBD-associated tumorigenesis, and eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). I am fascinated by the inter-connection of these pathologically distinctive diseases. We strive to uncover the pathogenic mechanisms and identify biomarkers and therapeutic targets using molecular and cell biology, multi-omics technologies (e.g., single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, proteomics, whole-genome/exome sequencing, metagenomics), preclinical models, and human tissues. Our current projects include: 1) Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) in murine IBD; 2) Innate immune mechanisms in perianal and stricturing Crohn’s disease; 3) Multi-omics of IBD-related complications; 4) Biomarker discovery for IBD therapies (e.g., anti-IL-23s); 5) ILCs and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in IBD-associated colorectal cancer; 6) ILC2s in murine and human EoE. My laboratory is currently supported by the NIH, Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, American Gastroenterological Association, American College of Gastroenterology, and Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences.
Research Publications
Selected Publications
- Siyan Cao#, Khai M Nguyen, Kaiming Ma, Xin Yao, Ta-Chiang Liu, Malek Ayoub, Jalpa Devi, Sami Samaan, Yizhou Liu, Radhika Smith, Matthew Silviera, Steven R Hunt, Paul E Wise, Matthew G Mutch, Sean C Glasgow, William C Chapman Jr., Michelle Cowan, Mathew A Ciorba, Marco Colonna#, Parakkal Deepak#. Hyperactivated Interferon-gamma Pathways in Perianal Fistulizing Crohn’s Disease by Single-Cell and Spatial Multi-omics. Journal of Clinical Investigation. Accepted. #Senior author.
- Siyan Cao#, Khai Nguyen, Kaiming Ma, Xiaotang Du, Xiuli Liu, Alina Ulezko Antonova, Richard P. Rood, Anas Gremida, Chien-Huan Chen, Alexandra Gutierrez, Deborah C. Rubin, Martin H. Gregory, Mate Gergely, Rodney D. Newberry, Guadalupe Oliva Escudero, Katherine Huang, Natalia Jaeger, Marina Cella, Nicholas O. Davidson, Matthew A. Ciorba, Parakkal Deepak, Marco Colonna#. Mucosal Single-Cell Profiling of Crohn’s-Like Disease of the Pouch Reveals Unique Pathogenesis and Therapeutic Targets. Gastroenterology. 2024;167:1399–1414. #Senior author.
- Siyan Cao, Jose L. Fachi, Alina Ulezko Antonova, Qianli Wang, Zhangying Cai, Randal J. Kaufman, Matthew A. Ciorba, Parakkal Deepak, Marco Colonna. IRE1a-XBP1 sustains cytokine responses of group 3 innate lymphoid cells in inflammatory bowel disease. Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2024 May 9:e174198.
- Vincent Peng, Siyan Cao*, Tihana Trsan, Jennifer K Bando, Julian Avila-Pacheco, John L Cleveland, Clary Clish, Ramnik J Xavier, Marco Colonna. Ornithine decarboxylase supports ILC3 responses in infectious and autoimmune colitis through positive regulation of IL-22 transcription. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. 2022: 119 (45), e2214900119. *First author.
- Siyan Cao, Miao Wang, Jane C Harrington, Brandy-Mengchieh Chuang, Lars Eckmann, Randal J Kaufman. Phosphorylation of eIF2α is dispensable for differentiation but required at a posttranscriptional level for Paneth cell function and intestinal homeostasis in mice. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. 2014: 20 (4), 712-722.
- Siyan Cao, Ellen M Zimmermann, Brandy-Mengchieh Chuang, Benbo Song, Anosike Nwokoye, J Erby Wilkinson, Kathryn A Eaton, Randal J Kaufman. The unfolded protein response and chemical chaperones reduce protein misfolding and colitis in mice. Gastroenterology. 2013: 144 (5), 989-1000. e6.
- Siyan Cao, Benbo Song, Randal J Kaufman. PKR protects colonic epithelium against colitis through the unfolded protein response and prosurvival signaling. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. 2012: 18 (9), 1735-1742.
Please click here for my NIH Bibliography.