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Jenny Huanjiao Zhou, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Pathology
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About

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Assistant Professor of Pathology

Biography

Jenny Huanjiao Zhou got both M.D. and Ph.D. degree from Sun Yat-sen University in China. Specifically, Dr. Zhou got her doctoral degree in Ophthalmic specialty from Zhongshan Ophthalmic center (the best ophthalmic hospital and research center in China) at Sun Yat-sen University and was joint-trained as China’s Scholarship Council sponsored postgraduate at Yale. She has finished post-doctoral training in vascular biology at the Department of Pathology, Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Zhou has strong interests in cardiovascular and retinal disease, including endothelial signaling and biology, vascular malformation and remodeling. Her goal is to dissect the molecular mechanisms for angiogenesis and vasculogenesis and facilitate new therapeutic strategies for vascular diseases. For example, she has established inducible endothelial-specific CCM3 mouse model for human cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM) disease and have intriguingly found that blockade of exocytosis or inhibition of Angiopoietin2-Tie2 signaling completely blunts CCM lesion formation in the mouse model (Zhou HJ, et al, Nat Med, 2016; Nat Commun, 2021). This work has greatly encouraged CCM patients with the hope of saving life. Dr. Zhou is a member of NAVBO, AHA, ARVO, and Yale Stem Cell Center. She has been the recipient of many awards, including the Asia-ARVO meeting’s Full Travel Fellowship Grant Award (Singapore, 2011), Angioma Alliance’s Full Trainee Travel Award (Award Lecture in 2014 and 2016), Best Poster Award for Postdoctoral Category at 16th Annual Retreat of Vascular Biology & Therapeutics Center at Yale (2016), American Heart Association (AHA) Postdotoral Fellowship Award (2017), AHA Career Development Award (2019), NIH Grant Awards.

Appointments

Other Departments & Organizations

Education & Training

Postdoctoral Associate/Fellow
Yale University (2017)
PhD
Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Ophthalmology
Postgraduate Fellow
Yale University (2013)
MS
Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Ophthalmology
MD
Zhongshan Medical School, Sun Yat-sen University, Clinical Medicine

Research

Overview

Lab Ongoing Projects:

1. Cerebral cavernous malformations:Cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs) are common vascular malformations with a prevalence of 0.4-0.8% that affect the vasculature of central nervous system in the human population where they result in increased risk for stroke, seizures and focal neurological deficits. My research aims to address the following fundamental questions: Why are CCM lesions primarily confined to brain vasculature despite CCM proteins are ubiquitously expressed in all tissues? Which is the major cell type in which CCM loss initiates CCM lesion formation? And what is the critical signaling in endothelial cells and pericytes that contributes to CCM disease? I expand my current study of CCM3 to explore the hypothesis that loss of CCM3 in endothelial cells (EC) and pericytes (PC) alters signaling critical for EC-PC interactions, contributing to vascular disassembly and capillary dilation within the neurovascular unit, leading to CCM (Nat Med, 2016; Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol, 2020; Nat Commun, 2021). Furthermore, CCM3 deletion augments the VEGFR3-ERK1/2 signaling in lymphatic endothelial cells that drives lymphatic hyperplasia and malformation and warrant further investigation on the potential clinical relevance of lymphatic dysfunction in patients with CCM (Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol, 2021). We will use the complementary approaches of genetic, cell biological and imaging analyses to define augmented membrane protein targeting in a specialized cell type within neurovascular unit as the causes of CCM pathology, and define new and more effective therapies for this potentially debilitating neurological disorder.

2. Elucidate critical function of mitochondrial protein in retinopathy: Mitochondrial dysfunction is involved in the pathogenesis of the major blinding retinal diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration, but study on mitochondria in retinal vasculature is limited. We will employ genetic, biochemical, cell biology, microscopy imaging and single cell transcriptome analyses to define the angiogenic and metabolic pathways regulated by mitochondrial proteins with distinct functions, which will facilitate our understanding of the molecular mechanisms and pathogenesis involved in vascular diseases in the eye, and help in defining more effective therapies.

Positions available (for Students, Postdocs and Visiting Scholars): We are open to highly motivated postgraduate students and postgraduates including visiting scholars who has MD degree, PhD degree/candidate, both MD and PhD degree/candidate, to work on exciting on-going directions, especially vascular biology and malformations, vascular diseases (CCM, AVM, Eye diseases and Lymphatic diseases) and translational perspectives. We prefer someone who is experienced in both in vivo and in vitro study. Please contact me directly (jenny.zhou@yale.edu) with your updated CV if you are interested.


Medical Research Interests

Arteriovenous Malformations; Blood Vessels; Blood-Brain Barrier; Cardiovascular Diseases; Endothelium

Public Health Interests

Cardiovascular Diseases

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of Jenny Huanjiao Zhou's published research.

Publications

Featured Publications

2024

Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

  • honor

    Career Development Award

  • honor

    Postdoctoral Fellowship Award

  • honor

    Angioma Alliance’s Trainee Travel Award

  • honor

    Best Poster Award for Postdoctoral Category

  • honor

    Angioma Alliance’s Full Trainee Travel Award

Get In Touch

Contacts

Academic Office Number
Office Fax Number
Mailing Address

Yale School of Medicine

10 Amistad Street, Room 401B

New Haven, CT 06519

United States

Administrative Support

Locations