Liang Ma, MD, PhD

PhD, Institute of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, P. R. China
MD, Department of Medicine, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, P. R. China

Dr. Ma received his MD and PhD from Chongqing Medical University in China. After completing a Guest Researcher fellowship at Gifu University School of Medicine in Japan, he came to the NIH Clinical Center as a Fogarty Visiting Fellow. Subsequently, he joined the faculty at Loyola University Chicago and then at Louisiana State University Health Science Center in New Orleans. In 2009, he returned to the NIH Clinical Center and currently serves as a Senior Associate Scientist in the Critical Care Medicine Department.

Dr. Ma has extensive experience in utilizing molecular biology to study various human pathogens, including bacteria, protozoa, helminths, and fungi. His current research interests focus on the biology and epidemiology of Pneumocystis. In collaboration with investigators worldwide, he is using genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic approaches to investigate various aspects of Pneumocystis infection, including epidemiology, host specificity, evolution, metabolism, host immune responses, and diagnosis.

• NIH Clinical Center Special Honorific Award as a Senior Associate Scientist, 2021
• NIH Clinical Center Director’s Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievements, 2013

Cisse OH, Ma L, Dekker JP, Khil PP, Youn JH, Brenchley JM, Blair R, Pahar B, Magali Chabé M, Van Rompay KKA, Keesler R, Sukura A, Hirsch V, Kutty G, Liu YQ, Li P, Chen J, Song J, Weissenbacher-Lang C, Xu J, Upham NS, Stajich JE, Cuomo CA, Cushion MT, Kovacs JA. Genomic insights into the host specific adaptation of the Pneumocystis genus. Communications Biology 2021; 4:305.

Ma L, Chen Z, Huang DW, Cissé OH, Rothenburger JL, Latinne A, Bishop L, Blair R, Brenchley JM, Chabé M, Deng X, Hirsch V, Keesler R, Kutty G, Liu Y, Margolis D, Morand S, Pahar B, Peng L, Van Rompay KKA, Song X, Song J, Sukura A, Thapar S, Wang H, Weissenbacher-Lang C, Xu J, Lee C-H, Jardine C, Lempicki RA, Cushion MT, Cuomo CA, Kovacs JA. 2020. Diversity and complexity of the large surface protein family in the compacted genomes of multiple Pneumocystis species. mBio 2020;11:e02878-19.

Ma L, Cisse O, Kovacs JA. A molecular window into the biology and epidemiology of Pneumocystis. Clinical Microbiology Review 2018; 31:e00009-18.

Ma L, Chen Z, Huang DW, Kutty G, Ishihara M, Wang H, Abouelleil A, Bishop L, Davey E, Deng R, Deng X, Fan L, Fantoni G, Fitzgerald M, Gogineni E, Goldberg JM, Handley G, Hu X, Huber C, Jiao X, Jones K, Levin JZ, Liu Y, Macdonald P, Melnikov A, Raley C, Sassi M, Sherman BT, Song X, Sykes S, Tran B, Walsh L, Xia Y, Yang J, Young S, Zeng Q, Zheng X, Stephens R, Nusbaum C, Birren BW, Azadi P, Lempicki RA, Cuomo CA, and Kovacs JA. Genome analysis of three Pneumocystis species reveals adaptation mechanisms to life exclusively in mammalian hosts. Nature Communications 2016; 7:10740.

Ma L, Borio L, Masur H, Kovacs JA. Pneumocystis carinii dihydropteroate synthase but not dihydrofolate reductase gene mutations correlate with prior trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole or dapsone use. Journal of Infectious Diseases 1999;180:1969-1978.

Visit PubMed.gov for a full list of Dr. Ma’s publications.