Xiaodong Zhu | Department Of Biological Sciences

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• Teaching Associate Professor

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xzhu@pitt.edu Office: (412) 648-2858A144A Langley Hall4249 Fifth AvenuePittsburgh, PA 15260

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I received my Ph.D. degree from the Department of Biological Sciences at Pitt. My dissertation research focused on the integration mechanism of Adeno-associated virus (AAV). As a well-trained virologist, I engaged in the design, construction, and functional analysis of AAV viral vectors. I was a research faculty member at the Pitt School of Medicine and later at the University of Iowa Medical School, using AAV as a vector for gene transfer in cardiovascular research and for gene therapy to deliver therapeutic genes to treat heart failure. After 23 years of research work, I am very excited to return to the Department and join the faculty as an instructor in authentic research lab courses. This is a great opportunity for me to share my research experiences with the most talented and highly motivated students by directing an inquiry-based lab course syllabus and working on scientific studies branching out from research lab projects in the Department. By investigating a biological question and interpreting the findings, for example, a mutational analysis on the assembly of the HK97 bacteriophage head, I aim for my students to leave my lab course with better ideas or the ability to find their own way in these areas: how to solve a biology problem experimentally, how to be a collaborative researcher, and how to communicate in scientific language. Last but not the least, by taking the challenge and doing active science research, we find that it can be rewarding and fun.    

Vladimir Shusterman, MD, PhD, Denice Zingman, MD, Daniel Thedens, PhD, Xiaodong Zhu, PhD, Stacy L. Hoffman, BA, Jessica Sieren, PhD, Anthony Faranesh, PhD, Rajiv Ramasawmy, PhD, Adrienne Campbell-Washburn, PhD and Barry London, MD, PhD. External Defibrillation during MRI: Feasibility and Safety, submitted Kim JJ, Yang L, Lin B, Zhu X, Sun B, Kaplan AD, Bett GC, Rasmusson RL, London B, Salama G. Mechanism of automaticity in cardiomyocytes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2015 Apr;81:81-93. Lewarchik, CM; Viswanathan PC; Madhusudanan M; Kerchner L; Shah P, MD1 ; Nilles K; Naqvi A; Zhu X ; Agrawal V; Mehdi H; Kim YR; Irani K; London B. GPD1-L Inhibits the Cardiac Sodium Channel Nav1.5 by Decreasing SIRTUIN1 Activity. Circulation. 2013; 128: A18586 Zhu X, McTiernan C, Rajagopalan N, Shah H, Fischer D, Toyoda Y, Letts D, Bortinger J, Gibson G, McCurry K, Mathier M, and London B. Immunosupression decreases inflammations and increases AAV6- hSERCA2a mediated SERCA2a expression. Human Gene Therapy, 2012 Jul;23(7):722-32. Kim J, Zhu X, Sun B, Lin B, Yang L, London B, and Salama G. Intracellular Calcium (Cai) dynamics underlie the spontaneous electrical activity of human myocytes derived from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells Heart Rhythm 2011, Vol. 8, S9 Zhu X, McTiernan C, Rajagopalan N, et al Immunosuppression reduces immune responses and enhances AAV-mediated SERCA2a expression in a canine model of cardiac gene transfer. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2010, 53(Suppl 1):A144 Kliment CR, Suliman HB, Tobolewski JM, Reynolds CM, Day BJ, Zhu X, McTiernan CF, McGaffin KR, Piantadosi CA, Oury TD. Extracellular superoxide dismutase regulates cardiac function and fibrosis Mol Cell Cardiol. 2009 Nov;47(5):730-42 Liu M, Sanyal S, Gao G, Gurung IS, Zhu X, Gaconnet G, Kerchner LJ, Shang LL, Huang CL, Grace A, London B, Dudley SC Jr. Cardiac Na+ current regulation by pyridine nucleotides. Circ Res. 2009 Oct 9;105(8):737-45. Xiaodong Zhu, Charles McTiernan, Jonathan Bortinger, Navin Rajagopalan, David Fischer, Hemal Shah, Yoshiya Toyota, Gregory Gibson, Dustin Letts, Kenneth McCurry, Michael Mathier, and Barry London. Intracardiac injection of AAV6-hSERVCA2a induces immune responses in a large scale preclinical canine study. 2008 Mol. Ther., vol. 16, s127 B Wang, J Li, F H Fu, C Chen, P Hu, X Zhu, L Zhou, X Jiang & X Xiao Construction and analysis of compact muscle-spefic promoters for AAV vectors. Gene Therapy, 2008 Nov;15(22):1489-99 Bing Wang, Juan Li, Chunping Qiao , Chunlian Chen , Peiqi Hu, Xiaodong Zhu, Liqiao Zhou, Janet Bogan, Joseph Kornegay & Xiao Xiao. A canine mini-dystrophin is functional and therapeutic in mdx mice. Gene Therapy, 2008 Aug;15(15):1099-106. Bing Wang, Juan Li, Chunping Qiao , Chunlian Chen , Peiqi Hu, Xiaodong Zhu, Liqiao Zhou, Janet Bogan, Joseph Kornegay & Xiao Xiao. A canine mini-dystrophin is functional and therapeutic in mdx mice. Gene Therapy, 2008 Aug;15(15):1099-106. Dr. Zhu received her Ph.D. in 1993 with Dr. Richard Jude Samulski at the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, did her postdoctoral studies with Dr. Chuck Ettensohn at Carnegie Mellon University and with Dr. Xiao Xiao at University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, and joined the Department in 2017.

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