Jim Hu

Research

Dr. Hu is a Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto and is a Senior Scientist in the Translational Medicine research program at SickKids Research Institute. He is well trained in the area of gene regulation at both the levels of gene transcription and RNA splicing and has a long-standing interest in developing therapeutic strategies for cystic fibrosis.

He made major contributions to CF lung gene therapy through designing and producing novel helper-dependent adenoviral vectors for airway CFTR expression as well as developing efficient delivery methods for lung gene delivery in large animal models. The viral vectors developed by his group have major advantages for CF gene replacement therapy as well as gene editing, such as high efficiency in airway transduction, large DNA carrying capacity and low toxicity.

Dr. Hu also has extensive experience in obtaining and managing research grants as well as in training post doctoral fellows and graduate students and collaborates locally, nationally and internationally with scientists around the world. He has been a highly productive investigator in the CF gene therapy field. Dr. Hu's major research goal is to develop novel gene therapy approaches to permanently correct genetic airway diseases through gene editing or gene integration in airway stem cells.

Education

• 1978–1982: B.Sc., Microbiology, Beijing Agricultural University, Beijing, China. 
• 1982–1984: PhD, Microbiology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA.
• 1984–1990: PhD, Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. 
• 1990–1995: Postdoctoral Fellow, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.  

Achievements

• 1991: MRC Postdoctoral Fellow of Canada
• 1998–2000: Power of Dreams Research Award, Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
• 2000–2005: Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Scholarship
• 2004–2007: Premier’s Research Excellence Award of Ontario
• 2005–2006: Zellers Senior Scientist Award of the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

1. Gong F, Xu Y, Chen J, Zhang S, Dong S, Healy L, Seto B, Zhou M, Lu RXZ, Li G, Thomson T, Tang Y, Chen Z, Antonio K, Varley A, Chen DXW, Hodges CA, Wong AP, Hu J, Hubbard BP, Engelhardt JF, Yan Z, Li B. Amino acid-derived ionizable lipids enable inhaled base editing for therapeutic gene correction in the lung. Nat Mater. 2026 Apr 1. doi: 10.1038/s41563-026-02555-0. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41922838.
2.  Zhou ZP, Chen ZR, Bandara RA, Duan R, Cao H, Liu J, Hu J, DNA-Based
   Vaccines: Advances, Applications, and Future Prospects, Genes & Diseases. 2025 Nov 15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gendis.2025.102025.
3. Bandara RA, Zhou ZP, Chen ZR, Duan R, Davidson AR, Wong AP, Hu J. A novel method for the detection of Cas9 gRNAs using a fluorophore-labeled DNA oligo. Genes Dis. 2025 Apr 14;12(6):101636. doi: 10.1016/j.gendis.2025.101636. PMID: 40687608; PMCID: PMC12270778.
4. Zhou P, Watt J, Mai J, Cao H, Li Z, Chen Z, Duan R, Quan Y, Gingras AC, Rini JM, Hu J, Liu J. Intranasal HD-Ad-FS vaccine induces systemic and airway mucosal immunities against SARS-CoV-2 and systemic immunity against SARS-CoV-2 variants in mice and hamsters. Front Immunol. 2024 Aug 30;15:1430928. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1430928. PMID: 39281669; PMCID: PMC11392758.
5. Cao H, Ouyang H, Laselva O, Bartlett C, Zhou ZP, Duan C, Gunawardena T, Avolio J, Bear CE, Gonska T, Hu J, Moraes TJ. A helper-dependent adenoviral vector rescues CFTR to wild-type functional levels in cystic fibrosis epithelial cells harbouring class I mutations. Eur Respir J. 2020 Nov 12;56(5):2000205. doi: 10.1183/13993003.00205-2020. PMID: 32457197.