Dr. Xingbin Ai joins the Department of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine as an Associate Professor as of August 2026.
Dr. Ai is a basic scientist and Associate Professor of Medicine. Dr. Ai’s long-term research interest is pathogenesis of lung diseases that affect infants and young children.
The three major areas of interest of Dr. Ai’s laboratory include:
- understanding neural communication with CD4+ T cells as a critical regulatory mechanism in the development of asthma;
- determining molecular mechanisms of age-related susceptibility to respiratory syncytial virus infection in infants; and
- investigating pathogenesis of lung defects in newborns with congenital diaphragmatic hernia.
Dr. Ai’s research employs a combination of patients’ lung samples, human primary cell lines, and animal models. Dr. Ai has over 70 peer-reviewed papers published by high-profile journals, including Immunity, AJRCCM, JCI. Dr. Ai is devoted to mentoring and training. Dr. Ai has been an active member of institutional training grants and training committees for trainees and served as the Director of Basic Research in the Division of Newborn Medicine at MGH between 2021-2025. In these roles, Dr. Ai has mentored a number of undergraduate students, PhD students, postdocs, and medical fellows, many of whom have gone on to continue postgraduate training in medical schools and to pursue outstanding careers in academic and industry.