Dr M. Zeeshan Chaudhry
Research Officer & Research Officer
Frazer Institute
Researcher biography
Zeeshan Chaudhry is an emerging expert in virus immunology. His research focuses on the transcriptional regulation of immune cells, particularly CD8⁺ T cells and innate lymphoid cells, including NK cells and ILCs. He aims to uncover the molecular mechanisms that guide the development of long-lived memory T cells, which are critical for durable protective immunity. A key interest of his work is how stem-like progenitors of these cells can be manipulated to combat chronic diseases.
Dr. Chaudhry received his doctoral training at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Germany, where he investigated viral immune evasion strategies. His research has been published in leading journals such as Nature Immunology, Immunity, PNAS, and PLOS Pathogens.
Book Chapter
Chaudhry, M. Zeeshan, Messerle, Martin and Čičin-Šain, Luka (2021). Construction of human cytomegalovirus mutants with markerless BAC mutagenesis. Human cytomegaloviruses: methods and protocols. (pp. 133-158) edited by Andrew D. Yurochko. New York, NY, United States: Springer/Humana Press. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1111-1_8
Journal Articles
van der Sluis, Renée M., García-Rodríguez, Juan L., Nielsen, Ian Helstrup, Gris-Oliver, Albert, Becker, Jennifer, Costa, Bibiana, Chaudhry, M. Zeeshan, Werner, Marvin, Laustsen, Anders, Pedersen, Jesper G., Gammelgaard, Kristine R., Mogensen, Trine H., Kalinke, Ulrich, Cicin-Sain, Luka, Bak, Rasmus O., Kristensen, Lasse S. and Jakobsen, Martin R. (2025). Distinctive CD8+ T cell activation by antigen-presenting plasmacytoid dendritic cells compared to conventional dendritic cells. Cell Reports, 44 (3) 115413, 115413-3. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2025.115413
Chaudhry, M. Zeeshan and Belz, Gabrielle T. (2024). Chameleon impersonation of NK cells and ILC1s. Nature Immunology, 25 (8), 1313-1315. doi: 10.1038/s41590-024-01886-x
Metzdorf, Kristin, Jacobsen, Henning, Kim, Yeonsu, Teixeira Alves, Luiz Gustavo, Kulkarni, Upasana, Brdovčak, Maja Cokarić, Materljan, Jelena, Eschke, Kathrin, Chaudhry, M. Zeeshan, Hoffmann, Markus, Bertoglio, Federico, Ruschig, Maximilian, Hust, Michael, Šustić, Marko, Krmpotić, Astrid, Jonjić, Stipan, Widera, Marek, Ciesek, Sandra, Pöhlmann, Stefan, Landthaler, Markus and Čičin-Šain, Luka (2024). A single-dose MCMV-based vaccine elicits long-lasting immune protection in mice against distinct SARS-CoV-2 variants. Frontiers in Immunology, 15 1383086, 1-18. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1383086
Huang, Qiutong, Cao, Wang H.J., Curio, Sophie, Yu, Huiyang, Denman, Renae, Chen, Evelyn, Schreuder, Jaring, Dight, James, Chaudhry, M., Jacquelot, Nicolas, Wimmer, Verena C., Seillet, Cyril, Möröy, Tarik and Belz, Gabrielle T. (2024). GFI1B specifies developmental potential of innate lymphoid cell progenitors in the lungs. Science Immunology, 9 (95) eadj2654, eadj2654. doi: 10.1126/sciimmunol.adj2654
Alfi, Or, Cohen, Mevaseret, Bar-On, Shikma, Hashimshony, Tamar, Levitt, Lorinne, Raz, Yael, Blecher, Yair, Chaudhry, M. Zeeshan, Cicin-Sain, Luka, Ben-El, Rina, Oiknine-Djian, Esther, Lahav, Tamar, Vorontsov, Olesya, Cohen, Adiel, Zakay-Rones, Zichria, Daniel, Leonor, Berger, Michael, Mandel-Gutfreund, Yael, Panet, Amos and Wolf, Dana G. (2024). Decidual-tissue-resident memory T cells protect against nonprimary human cytomegalovirus infection at the maternal-fetal interface. Cell Reports, 43 (2) 113698. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.113698
Chaudhry, M. Zeeshan, Borkner, Lisa, Kulkarni, Upasana, Berberich-Siebelt, Friederike and Cicin-Sain, Luka (2024). NFAT signaling is indispensable for persistent memory responses of MCMV-specific CD8+ T cells. PLoS Pathogens, 20 (2 February) e1012025. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1012025
Ballmann, Rico, Hotop, Sven-Kevin, Bertoglio, Federico, Steinke, Stephan, Heine, Philip Alexander, Chaudhry, M. Zeeshan, Jahn, Dieter, Pucker, Boas, Baldanti, Fausto, Piralla, Antonio, Schubert, Maren, Čičin-Šain, Luka, Brönstrup, Mark, Hust, Michael and Dübel, Stefan (2022). ORFeome phage display reveals a major immunogenic epitope on the S2 subdomain of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Viruses, 14 (6) 1326, 1-13. doi: 10.3390/v14061326
Chaudhry, M. Zeeshan, Eschke, Kathrin, Hoffmann, Markus, Grashoff, Martina, Abassi, Leila, Kim, Yeonsu, Brunotte, Linda, Ludwig, Stephan, Kröger, Andrea, Klawonn, Frank, Pöhlmann, Stefan H. and Cicin-Sain, Luka (2022). Rapid SARS-CoV-2 adaptation to available cellular proteases. Journal of Virology, 96 (5) e0218621, 1-17. doi: 10.1128/jvi.02186-21
Kim, Yeonsu, Zheng, Xiaoyan, Eschke, Kathrin, Chaudhry, M. Zeeshan, Bertoglio, Federico, Tomić, Adriana, Krmpotić, Astrid, Hoffmann, Markus, Bar-On, Yotam, Boehme, Julia, Bruder, Dunja, Ebensen, Thomas, Brunotte, Linda, Ludwig, Stephan, Messerle, Martin, Guzman, Carlos, Mandelboim, Ofer, Hust, Michael, Pöhlmann, Stefan, Jonjić, Stipan and Čičin-Šain, Luka (2022). MCMV-based vaccine vectors expressing full-length viral proteins provide long-term humoral immune protection upon a single-shot vaccination. Cellular and Molecular Immunology, 19 (2), 234-244. doi: 10.1038/s41423-021-00814-5
Flommersfeld, Sophie, Böttcher, Jan P., Ersching, Jonatan, Flossdorf, Michael, Meiser, Philippa, Pachmayr, Ludwig O., Leube, Justin, Hensel, Inge, Jarosch, Sebastian, Zhang, Qin, Chaudhry, M. Zeeshan, Andrae, Immanuel, Schiemann, Matthias, Busch, Dirk.H., Cicin-Sain, Luka, Sun, Joseph C., Gasteiger, Georg, Victora, Gabriel D., Höfer, Thomas, Buchholz, Veit R. and Grassmann, Simon (2021). Fate mapping of single NK cells identifies a type 1 innate lymphoid-like lineage that bridges innate and adaptive recognition of viral infection. Immunity, 54 (10), 2288-2304.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2021.08.002
Müller, Thomas R., Jarosch, Sebastian, Hammel, Monika, Leube, Justin, Grassmann, Simon, Bernard, Bettina, Effenberger, Manuel, Andrä, Immanuel, Chaudhry, M. Zeeshan, Käuferle, Theresa, Malo, Antje, Cicin-Sain, Luka, Steinberger, Peter, Feuchtinger, Tobias, Protzer, Ulrike, Schumann, Kathrin, Neuenhahn, Michael, Schober, Kilian and Busch, Dirk H. (2021). Targeted T cell receptor gene editing provides predictable T cell product function for immunotherapy. Cell Reports Medicine, 2 (8) 100374, 100374. doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2021.100374
Bertoglio, Federico, Fühner, Viola, Ruschig, Maximilian, Heine, Philip Alexander, Abassi, Leila, Klünemann, Thomas, Rand, Ulfert, Meier, Doris, Langreder, Nora, Steinke, Stephan, Ballmann, Rico, Schneider, Kai-Thomas, Roth, Kristian Daniel Ralph, Kuhn, Philipp, Riese, Peggy, Schäckermann, Dorina, Korn, Janin, Koch, Allan, Chaudhry, M Zeeshan, Eschke, Kathrin, Kim, Yeonsu, Zock-Emmenthal, Susanne, Becker, Marlies, Scholz, Margitta, Moreira, Gustavo Marçal Schmidt Garcia, Wenzel, Esther Veronika, Russo, Giulio, Garritsen, Hendrikus S P, Casu, Sebastian ... Hust, Michael (2021). A SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody selected from COVID-19 patients binds to the ACE2-RBD interface and is tolerant to most known RBD mutations. Cell Reports, 36 (4) 109433, 1-23. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109433
Grassmann, Simon, Mihatsch, Lorenz, Mir, Jonas, Kazeroonian, Atefeh, Rahimi, Roza, Flommersfeld, Sophie, Schober, Kilian, Hensel, Inge, Leube, Justin, Pachmayr, Ludwig O., Kretschmer, Lorenz, Zhang, Qin, Jolly, Adrien, Chaudhry, M. Zeeshan, Schiemann, Matthias, Cicin-Sain, Luka, Höfer, Thomas, Busch, Dirk H., Flossdorf, Michael and Buchholz, Veit R. (2020). Early emergence of T central memory precursors programs clonal dominance during chronic viral infection. Nature Immunology, 21 (12), 1563-1573. doi: 10.1038/s41590-020-00807-y
Zeeshan Chaudhry, M., Casalegno-Garduno, Rosaely, Sitnik, Katarzyna M., Kasmapour, Bahram, Pulm, Ann-Kathrin, Brizic, Ilija, Eiz-Vesper, Britta, Moosmann, Andreas, Jonjic, Stipan, Mocarski, Edward S. and Cicin-Sain, Luka (2020). Cytomegalovirus inhibition of extrinsic apoptosis determines fitness and resistance to cytotoxic CD8 T cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117 (23), 12961-12968. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1914667117
Chaudhry, M. Zeeshan, Kasmapour, Bahram, Plaza-Sirvent, Carlos, Bajagic, Milica, Garduño, Rosaely Casalegno, Borkner, Lisa, Roviš, Tihana Lenac, Scrima, Andrea, Jonjic, Stipan, Schmitz, Ingo and Cicin-Sain, Luka (2017). UL36 rescues apoptosis inhibition and in vivo replication of a chimeric MCMV lacking the M36 gene. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 7 (JUL) 312, 1-12. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2017.00312
Chaudhry, Muhammad Zeeshan, Naz, Asad Ullah, Nawaz, Ahmed, Nawaz, Ali, Mukhtar, Hamid and Irfan-Ul-Haq, Muhammad (2016). Colonization of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) on two different root systems. Pakistan Journal of Botany, 48 (4), 1691-1696.