Molecular Biology of Hand-Foot-Mouth Diseases

This book aims to compile the latest scientific information on hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD), including its epidemiology, etiology, pathology, immune response and vaccine development. Interestingly, the authors shared their own research experience and offered distinctive insights into the pathogenesis of HFMD and vaccine development. The intended audience, including university researchers, graduate students, and vaccine engineers, is well defined. The book is positioned as a resource that not only presents current knowledge but also has the potential to inspire further research in understanding immune pathogenesis and advancing vaccine development for HFMD.

Xingli Xu graduated with a PhD from the Peking Union Medical College in China. She has worked at the Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and has been engaged in research on viruses and immunity about 10 years. She has participated in the development of the inactivated EV-A71 vaccine, F genotype mumps live attenuated vaccine, inactivated COVID-19 vaccine, and inactivated EV-A71/CV-A16 bivalent vaccine. In addition, Xu received support from a number of state-level foundation projects on the interactions between herpes simplex virus 1 and hosts and their mechanisms, as well as for the development of a live attenuated HSV1 vaccine. Her studies have been published in many journals, such as PLoS Pathogens, Clinical and Translational Medicine, and Frontiers in Microbiology.

Yanchun Che received her education in epidemiology and health service management from the Kunming Medical College and earned her master degree in 2006. She has been working at the Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences for over 30 years. She was involved in the implementation of the China Vaccine Project loaned by the World Bank for innovating the poliomyelitis vaccine production line according to the European GMP during the period from 1992 to 1996. Following this, she became the head of the General Office and Research and Development Department, being responsible for the management of government-funded research projects and international collaborations between the Institute and foreign universities and academic institutions. She joined in the research team on the regulatory affairs and clinical trials of new vaccines like the inactivated EV-A71 vaccine, F genotype mumps live attenuated vaccine, etc. in 2013. She is the head of the Vaccine Clinical Trial Center, being responsible for conducting the clinical trials of the new vaccines developed, and post-marketing surveillance of the safety and effectiveness of the new vaccines licensed by the Institute. She published over 20 papers in the academic journals in the name of the first author.

Qihan Li is a famous virologist, immunologist, and vaccinologist in China. He has worked at the Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences for over 30 years. And he served as director of Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, for more than 20 years. As chief scientist, he led the team to explored and developed several novel vaccines, including inactivated EV-A71 vaccine, F genotype mumps live attenuated vaccine, inactivated EV-A71/CV-A16 bivalent vaccine, and inactivated COVID-19 vaccine. Among that, inactivated EV-A71 vaccine, as the first vaccine for the prevention of hand, foot, and mouth disease in children, has been used in China for 8 years. Both phase III clinical and real-world vaccination data showed that the protective efficacy of the vaccine was over 90% and the vaccine is safe for children. The results have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine. His main research focuses on virus vaccines, virus molecular biology, virus immunology, and host-virus interactions. He has been committed to the analysis of the molecular biological functions of important virus-encoded molecules and the study of host cell-specific biological responses to viral infections, including the research on the interaction of poliovirus and HSV1 with human host. He has published over 260 papers in the academic journals in the name of the first author or corresponding author.