Andrew W Tai, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine
Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
Assistant Dean for Early Medical Education
[email protected]

Available to mentor

Andrew W Tai, MD, PhD
Assistant Dean
  • About
  • Qualifications
  • Research Overview
  • Recent Publications
  • About

    Andrew W. Tai, MD, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology and the Assistant Dean for Early Medical Education. Dr. Tai obtained his bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Harvard University, followed by a combined MD-PhD training program at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Following a residency in internal medicine at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, he completed a clinical and research fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

    Dr. Tai joined the faculty at the University of Michigan in 2009. His research work focuses on the molecular mechanisms by which cells support RNA virus infection, such as by hepatitis C virus, dengue and Zika viruses, and SARS-CoV-2. He has been awarded a Research Scholar Award by the American Gastroenterological Association and is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI). He has been recognized by several undergraduate and graduate medical education awards for his teaching. As Assistant Dean for Early Medical Education, he oversees the preclinical phase of the University of MIchigan Medical School curriculum.

    In his spare time, he enjoys running, cycling, soccer, and downhill skiing.

    Qualifications
    • Fellow
      Massachusetts General Hospital, Gastroenterology, 2009
    • Research Fellow
      Massachusetts General Hospital, Gastroenterology, 2009
    • Resident
      Brigham and Women's Hospital, Internal Medicine, 2005
    • Intern
      Brigham and Women's Hospital, Internal Medicine, 2003
    • MD
      Weill Medical College, Cornell University, 1300 York Avenue, 2002
    • PhD
      Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Cornell University, 1300 York Ave, 2001
    • AB
      Harvard University, Cambridge, 1994
    Research Overview

    Specialty
    Gastroenterology, Internal Medicine

    Area of practice
    Liver disease, including viral hepatitis B and hepatitis C, cirrhosis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; liver cancer including hepatocellular carcinoma

    All viruses are parasites in that they need to infect a cell in order to replicate and produce more viruses. During viral infection, viruses hijack many cellular proteins and cellular functions. My laboratory seeks to discover these cellular proteins and to understand how they are exploited during viral infection, as they may represent targets for antiviral therapies. We focus on a large class of viruses called “positive-strand RNA viruses” that includes many medically important viruses such as hepatitis C virus, dengue virus, Zika virus, and SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19).

    Recent Publications See All Publications
    • Journal Article
      SLC4A11 mediates ammonia import and promotes cancer stemness in hepatocellular carcinoma.
      Elaimy AL, El-Derany MO, James J, Wang Z, Pearson AN, Holcomb EA, Huber AK, Gijón MA, Bell HN, Sanghvi VR, Frankel TL, Su GL, Tapper EB, Tai AW, Ramnath N, Centonze CP, Dobrosotskaya I, Moeller JA, Bryant AK, Elliott DA, Choi E, Evans JR, Cuneo KC, FitzGerald TJ, Wahl DR, Morgan MA, Chang DT, Wicha MS, Lawrence TS, Shah YM, Green MD. JCI Insight, 2024 Sep 17; DOI:10.1172/jci.insight.184826
      PMID: 39287988
    • Preprint
      SLC4A11 mediates ammonia import and promotes cancer stemness in hepatocellular carcinoma
      Elaimy A, El-Derany M, James J, Wang Z, Pearson A, Holcomb E, Huber A, Gijón M, Bell H, Sanghvi V, Frankel T, Su G, Tapper E, Tai A, Ramnath N, Centonze C, Dobrosotskaya I, Moeller J, Bryant A, Elliott D, Choi E, Evans J, Cuneo K, Fitzgerald T, Wahl D, Morgan M, Chang D, Wicha M, Lawrence T, Shah Y, Green M. 2024 bioRxiv, DOI:10.1101/2024.08.06.606899
    • Journal Article
      Self-Assembled STING-Activating Coordination Nanoparticles for Cancer Immunotherapy and Vaccine Applications.
      Sun X, Huang X, Park KS, Zhou X, Kennedy AA, Pretto CD, Wu Q, Wan Z, Xu Y, Gong W, Sexton JZ, Tai AW, Lei YL, Moon JJ. ACS Nano, 2024 Apr 16; 18 (15): 10439 - 10453. DOI:10.1021/acsnano.3c11374
      PMID: 38567994
    • Preprint
      SARS-CoV-2 remodels the Golgi apparatus to facilitate viral assembly and secretion.
      Zhang J, Kennedy A, de Melo Jorge DM, Xing L, Reid W, Bui S, Joppich J, Rose M, Ercan S, Tang Q, Tai AW, Wang Y. 2024 Mar 15; DOI:10.1101/2022.03.04.483074
      PMID: 35291301
    • Journal Article
      Type I interferon signaling induces a delayed antiproliferative response in respiratory epithelial cells during SARS-CoV-2 infection.
      Bragazzi Cunha J, Leix K, Sherman EJ, Mirabelli C, Frum T, Zhang CJ, Kennedy AA, Lauring AS, Tai AW, Sexton JZ, Spence JR, Wobus CE, Emmer BT. J Virol, 2023 Dec 21; 97 (12): e0127623 DOI:10.1128/jvi.01276-23
      PMID: 37975674
    • Journal Article
      How to Effectively Engage With Preclinical Medical Learners.
      Tai AW, Sewell JL. Gastroenterology, 2023 Sep; 165 (3): 529 - 533. DOI:10.1053/j.gastro.2023.05.014
      PMID: 37209950
    • Journal Article
      Reticulons promote formation of ER-derived double-membrane vesicles that facilitate SARS-CoV-2 replication.
      Williams JM, Chen Y-J, Cho WJ, Tai AW, Tsai B. J Cell Biol, 2023 Jul 3; 222 (7): DOI:10.1083/jcb.202203060
      PMID: 37093123
    • Journal Article
      STING agonist-loaded mesoporous manganese-silica nanoparticles for vaccine applications.
      Xu C, Dobson HE, Yu M, Gong W, Sun X, Park KS, Kennedy A, Zhou X, Xu J, Xu Y, Tai AW, Lei YL, Moon JJ. J Control Release, 2023 May; 357: 84 - 93. DOI:10.1016/j.jconrel.2023.03.036
      PMID: 36948420
    Featured News & Stories
    Department News
    Andrew W. Tai, MD, PhD, appointed assistant dean for early medical education in the Medical School
    Andrew W. Tai, MD, PhD, has been appointed assistant dean for early medical education in the Medical School