主要从事蝙蝠、啮齿动物新病毒的发现与鉴定、重要野生动物源潜在新发病毒的遗传演化、跨种感染与致病风险评估及核酸、抗体等靶标诊断技术建立等方面的研究。前期研究发现了SARS病毒的天然基因库，在啮齿动物中发现了沙粒病毒科、多瘤病毒科的多个新病毒种，揭示了东非地区蝙蝠和啮齿动物病毒谱特征。为蝙蝠等野生动物源新发传染病的预警和防控提供了重要参考。
Li FL, Wang B, Han PY, Li B, Si HR, Zhu Y, Yin HM, Zong LD, Tang Y, Shi ZL, Hu B*, Yang XL*, Zhang YZ*. Identification of novel rodent and shrew orthohepeviruses sheds light on hepatitis E virus evolution. Zool Res, 2025, 46(1):103-121
Wang D#, Yang X#, Ren Z#, Hu B#, Zhao H#, Yang K, Shi P, Zhang Z, Feng Q, Nawenja CV, Obanda V, Robert K, Nalikka B, Waruhiu CN, Ochola GO, Onyuok SO, Ochieng H, Li B, Zhu Y, Si H, Yin J, Kristiansen K, Jin X, Xu X, Xiao M, Agwanda B, Ommeh S, Li J, Shi ZL. Substantial viral diversity in bats and rodents from East Africa: insights into evolution, recombination, and cocirculation. Microbiome, 2024, 12(1):72.
Ochola GO, Li B, Obanda V, Ommeh S, Ochieng H, Yang XL, Onyuok SO, Shi ZL, Agwanda B*, Hu B*. Discovery of novel DNA viruses in small mammals from Kenya. Virol Sin, 2022, 37(4):491-502.
Wang N*, Luo CM, Yang XL, Liu HZ, Zhang LB, Zhang W, Li B, Zhu Y, Peng C, Shi ZL, Hu B*. Genomic Characterization of Diverse Bat Coronavirus HKU10 in Hipposideros Bats. Viruses, 2021, 13(10):1962.
Zhang Y#, Hu B#, Agwanda B#, Fang Y, Wang J, Kuria S, Yang J, Masika M, Tang S, Lichoti J, Fan Z, Shi Z, Ommeh S, Wang H, Deng F, Shen S. Viromes and surveys of RNA viruses in camel-derived ticks revealing transmission patterns of novel tick-borne viral pathogens in Kenya. Emerg Microbes Infect, 2021, 10(1):1975-1987.
Hu B#, Guo H#, Zhou P, Shi ZL. Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19. Nat Rev Microbiol, 2021, 19(3):141-154.
Hu B#, Zeng LP#, Yang XL#, Ge XY, Zhang W, Li B, Xie JZ, Shen XR, Zhang YZ, Wang N, Luo DS, Zheng XS, Wang MN, Daszak P, Wang LF, Cui J, Shi ZL. Discovery of a rich gene pool of bat SARS-related coronaviruses provides new insights into the origin of SARS coronavirus. PLoS Pathog, 2017, 13(11):e1006698.
