Postdoc, Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School (Advisor: Dr. Marc Vidal)
Ph.D., Genetics, Wayne State University (Advisor: Dr. Miriam Greenberg)
B.S., Microbiology and Microbiological Engineering, Fudan University

Undergraduate Lecture course
•    BIO 2110  Principles of Molecular and Classical Genetics
•    BIO 4020  Current Literature in Network Biology
•    BIO 4020  Current Literature in Genetics and Genomics
•    BIO 4020  Current Literature in Cell Biology
•    BIO 4920  Senior seminar
Graduate Lecture course
•    BIO 6020  Current Literature in Network Biology
•    BIO 6020  Current Literature in Genetics and Genomics
•    BIO 4020  Current Literature in Cell Biology
•    BIO 6920  Graduate seminar
•    BIO 8000  Graduate Seminar

The Zhong Lab uses molecular, genetics, and cell biology approaches to gain a mechanistic understanding of how neurodegenerative disease-associated proteins disrupt conserved cellular processes leading to cell death. One funded project focuses on α-synuclein, a small lipid-binding protein enriched in the brain. Misfolded α-synuclein is the primary component of the Lewy body, a pathological hallmark of Parkinson's disease. α-synuclein pathology is also found in Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia. Consistent with a causal role in disease development, mutations in the SNCA gene encoding the α-synuclein protein are known causes of inherited Parkinson's disease. Although the dosage-dependent accumulation and toxicity of α-synuclein have been shown in different cell and animal models, the molecular mechanism remains obscure. Using genome-scale genetic screens, we identified a network of human genes that promote or reduce the toxicity of α-synuclein. Our lab aims to characterize the effects of these identified human-gene modifiers on α-synuclein accumulation, cell integrity, and survival. Our long-term goal is to understand, at the molecular level, how physiological and functional α-synuclein protein transitions into toxic and pathological forms causing neurons to die, and how genetic manipulation of cellular pathways may reverse such processes offering protection or therapeutic strategies (Funding support: NIH/NIA,1R21AG067446-01).

We welcome both undergraduate and graduate students to join our research team. We seek to recruit people with diverse background and experience. We believe that diversity helps us to grow, to create new ideas and to excel. We are committed to maintain a safe and supportive environment for everyone in the group. We value professionalism in science and continue to make every effort to be transparent in every aspect of our work. We strive to attain equity in research by promoting a respectful lab environment and by fostering open and honest communications. Please feel free to reach out to Dr. Zhong to talk about your career goals and research interest. We look forward to working with new people. Below are the past and current members of the Zhong lab.

Ph.D. students (Ph.D. program in Biomedical Sciences)
Ishita Haider (2016-2020)
Rajalakshmi Santhanakrishnan (2016-2019)

M.S. students (M.S. program in Biology)
Sono Yadav (2024-)
Christina Minassian (2024-)
Breonna Gillespie (2021-2023)
Angela Braunschweiger (2019-2021)
Annabel Almazan (2018-2020
Md Moydul Islam (2015-2018)

Undergraduate students from Wright State University
Brennon Mason (Biological Sciences 2024-)
Yuki Kawabe (Biological Sciences 2024-)
Isaac Gluck (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology 2023-)
Madalyn Carpenter (Medical Laboratory Sciences 2023-)   
Krisha Mehta (Biological Sciences 2023-)
Taylor Dommett (Neuroscience 2023-)   
Lauren Scott (Biological Sciences 2023-)   
Beth Fezatte (Biological Sciences 2023)     
Olivia Blake (Biochemistry 2023)  
Rhett Bailey (Neuroscience 2023)
Lindsey Roberts (Public Health 2023-2024)          
Eric Manishimwe (Biological Sciences 2022)    
Zoe Paxhia-Poppaw (Biological Sciences 2022)
Tayton Hess (Biological Sciences 2022)
Sean Gresham (Biological Sciences 2021)
Breonna Gillespie (Biological Sciences 2020) 
Catherine Thomas (Neuroscience 2022)
Ellie Fisk (Biological Sciences 2019, 2022)
Pooja Shirahatti (Honors, Biological Sciences 2018-2022)
Roselle Almazan (Honors, Biological Sciences 2018-2020)
Huijuanz Zhu (Medical Laboratory Science 2017-2018)
Haley Curry (Biological Sciences 2017-2018)
Annabel Almazan (Honors, Biological Sciences 2016-2018)
Cameron Moon (Biological Sciences 2016)
Daniel Smith (Biological Sciences 2016)       
Kyle Hazlett (Biological Sciences 2015)

Undergraduate students from other institutions
Isabelle Thompson (Liberty University in Virginia 2023)
Yun-Kyung Kim (Brandeis University 2017, 2018)
Amoni Tyler (Central State University 2016)
Alexis Barfield (Elizabeth City State University 2015)
Anna Heinrich (University of Connecticut 2015)

High-school students
Cameron Croake-Uleman (The Dayton Regional STEM School 2017)
Kim Hyemin (Centerville High School 2015)

Research Associate and Postdoctoral Scholars
Ishita Haider (Ph.D. 2024-)
Breonna Gillespie (M.S. 2023-)
Annabel V. Almazan (M.S. 2020-2022)
Yali Chi (Ph.D. 2018-2019)
Vaishnavi Ragavapuram (M.S. 2016-2017)
Shuzhen Chen (M.D. 2014-2017)

Kim JH, Seo Y, Jo M, Jeon H, Kim, YS, Kim EJ, Seo D, Lee WH, Kim SR, Yachie N, Zhong Q, Vidal M, Roth FP, Suk K. A genetic interaction screen in yeast identifies genes relevant to human PAK1 function in glioma. Journal of Biolgical Chemistry 2020, 295:16906-16919  

Hayden E*, Chen S*, Chumley A, Xia C, Zhong Q$, Ju S$. A genetic screen for human genes suppressing FUS induced toxicity in yeast. G3 Genes Genomes Genetics 2020, 10:1843. *Equal contributors $Co-corresponding  

Kim JH, Seo Y, Jo M, Jeon H, Lee WH, Yachie N, Zhong Q, Vidal M, Roth FP, Suk K. Yeast-based genetic interaction analysis of human kinome. Cells 2020, 9:1156.

Luck K, Kim DK, Lambourne L, Spirohn K, Begg BE, Bian W, Brignall R, Cafarelli T, Campos-Laborie FJ, Charloteaux B, Choi D, Coté AG, Daley M, Deimling S, Desbuleux A, Dricot A, Gebbia M, Hardy MF, Kishore N, Knapp JJ, Kovács IA, Lemmens I, Mee MW, Mellor JC, Pollis C, Pons C, Richardson AD, Schlabach S, Teeking B, Yadav A, Babor M, Balcha D, Basha O, Bowman-Colin C, Chin SF, Choi SG, Colabella C, Coppin G, D'Amata C, De Ridder D, De Rouck S, Duran-Frigola M, Ennajdaoui H, Goebels F, Goehring L, Gopal A, Haddad G, Hatchi E, Helmy M, Jacob Y, Kassa Y, Landini S, Li R, van Lieshout N, MacWilliams A, Markey D, Paulson JN, Rangarajan S, Rasla J, Rayhan A, Rolland T, San-Miguel A, Shen Y, Sheykhkarimli D, Sheynkman GM, Simonovsky E, Taşan M, Tejeda A, Tropepe V, Twizere JC, Wang Y, Weatheritt RJ, Weile J, Xia Y, Yang X, Yeger-Lotem E, Zhong Q, Aloy P, Bader GD, De Las Rivas J, Gaudet S, Hao T, Rak J, Tavernier J, Hill DE, Vidal M, Roth FP, Calderwood MA. A reference map of the human binary protein interactome. Nature 2020 580:402-408. doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2188-x.

Hayden E, Chen S, Chumley A, Zhong Q, Ju S. Mating-based overexpression library screening in yeast. Journal of Visualized Experiments 137 (2018) doi: 10.3791/57978.

Martínez-Noël G, Luck K, Kühnle S, Desbuleux A, Szajner P, Galligan JT, Rodriguez D, Zheng L, Boyland K, Leclere F, Zhong Q, Hill DE, Vidal M, Howley PM. Network analysis of UBE3A/E6AP-associated proteins provides connections to several distinct cellular processes. J Mol Biol. 2018 Mar 30;430(7):1024-1050. doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2018.01.021. 

Jo M, Chung AY, Yachie N, Seo M, Jeon H, Nam Y, Seo Y, Kim E, Zhong Q, Vidal M, Park HC, Roth F, Suk K. Yeast genetic interaction screen of human genes associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: identification of MAP2K5 kinase as a potential drug target. Genome Res. 27:1487 (2017) doi: 10.1101/gr.211649.116.

Khurana V*, Peng J*, Chung CY*, Auluck PK, Fanning S, Tardiff DF, Bartels T, Koeva M, Eichhorn SW, Benyamini H, Lou Y, Nutter-Upham A, Baru V, Freyzon Y, Tuncbag N, Costanzo M, SanLuis BJ, Schöndorf DC, Barrasa MI, Ehsani S, Sanjana N, Zhong Q, Gasser T, Bartel DP, Vidal M, Deleidi M, Boone C, Fraenkel E, Berger B, Lindquist S.   Genome-scale networks link neurodegenerative disease genes to alpha-synuclein through specific molecular pathways. Cell Systems 4:157 (2017) *Equal contributors

Zhong Q*^$, Pevzner SJ*, Hao T, Wang Y, Mosca R, Menche J, Taipale M, Taşan M, Fan C, Yang X, Haley P, Murray RR, Mer F, Gebreab F, Tam S, MacWilliams A, Dricot A, Reichert P, Santhanam B, Ghamsari L, Calderwood MA, Rolland T, Charloteaux B, Lindquist S, Barabási AL, Hill DE, Aloy P, Cusick ME, Xia Y^$, Roth FP^$, Vidal M^$. An inter-species protein-protein interaction network across vast evolutionary distance. Molecular Systems Biology 12:865 (2016) *Equal contributors ^$Co-corresponding

Yang X*, Coulombe-Huntington J*, Kang S*, Sheynkman GM*, Hao T*, Richardson A, Sun S, Yang F, Shen Y, Murray RR, Spirohn K, Begg BE, Duran-Frigola M, MacWilliams A, Pevzner SJ, Zhong Q, Trigg SA, Tam S, Ghamsari L, Sahni N, Yi S, Rodriguez MD, Balcha D, Tan G, Costanzo M, Andrews B, Boone C, Zhou XJ, Salehi-Ashtiani K, Charloteaux B, Chen AA, Calderwood MA, Aloy P, Roth FP, Hill DE, Iakoucheva LM, Xia Y, Vidal M. Widespread expansion of protein interaction capabilities by alternative splicing. Cell 164:805 (2016) *Equal contributors

Sahni N*, Yi S*, Taipale M*, Fuxman Bass JI*, Coulombe-Huntington J,* Yang F, Peng J, Weile J, Karras GI, Wang Y, Kovács IA, Kamburov A, Krykbaeva I, Lam MH, Tucker G, Khurana V, Sharma A, Liu YY, Yachie N, Zhong Q, Shen Y, Palagi A, San-Miguel A, Fan C, Balcha D, Dricot A, Jordan DM, Walsh JM, Shah AA, Yang X, Stoyanova AK, Leighton A, Calderwood MA, Jacob Y1, Cusick ME, Salehi-Ashtiani K8, Whitesell LJ, Sunyaev S, Berger B, Barabási AL, Charloteaux B, Hill DE, Hao T, Roth FP, Xia Y, Walhout AJ, Lindquist S, Vidal M. Widespread macromolecular interaction perturbations in human genetic disorders. Cell 161:647 (2015) *Equal contributors

Rolland T*, Taşan M*, Charloteaux B*, Pevzner SJ*, Zhong Q*, Sahni N*, Yi S*, Lemmens I, Fontanillo C, Mosca R, Kamburov A, Ghiassian SD, Yang X, Ghamsari L, Balcha D, Begg BE, Braun P, Brehme M, Broly MP, Carvunis AR, Convery-Zupan D, Corominas R, Coulombe-Huntington J, Dann E, Dreze M, Dricot A, Fan C, Franzosa E, Gebreab F, Gutierrez BJ, Hardy MF, Jin M, Kang S, Kiros R, Lin GN, Luck K, MacWilliams A, Menche J, Murray RR, Palagi A, Poulin MM, Rambout X, Rasla J, Reichert P, Romero V, Ruyssinck E, Sahalie JM, Scholz A, Shah AA, Sharma A, Shen Y, Spirohn K, Tam S, Tejeda AO, Trigg SA, Twizere JC, Vega K, Walsh J, Cusick ME, Xia Y, Barabási AL, Iakoucheva LM, Aloy P, De Las Rivas J, Tavernier J, Calderwood MA, Hill DE, Hao T, Roth FP, Vidal M. A proteome-scale map of the human interactome network. Cell 159:1212 (2014) *Equal contributors



Wang W, Zhong Q, Teng L, Bhatnagar N, Sharma B, Zhang X, Luther W 2nd, Haynes LP, Burgoyne RD, Vidal M, Volchenboum S, Hill DE, George RE. Mutations that disrupt PHOXB interaction with the neuronal calcium sensor HPCAL1 impede cellular differentiation in neuroblastoma. Oncogene 33:3316 (2014)

Sahni N, Yi S, Zhong Q, Jailkhani N, Charloteaux B, Cusick ME and Vidal M. Edgotype: a fundamental link between genotype and phenotype. Curr Opin Genet Dev. 23:649 (2013) 



Lambert JP, Ivosev G, Gouzens AL, Larsen B, Taipale M, Lin ZY, Zhong Q, Lindquist S, Vidal M, Aebersold R, Pawson T, Bonner R, Tate S, Gingras AC. Mapping differential interactomes by affinity purification coupled with data-independent mass spectrometry acquisition.  Nat Methods 10:1239 (2013)

Ju S, Tardiff DF, Han H, Divya K, Zhong Q, Maquat LE, Bosco DA, Hayward LJ, Brown RH Jr, Lindquist S, Ringe D, Petsko GA. A yeast model of FUS/TLS-dependent cytotoxicity. J  PLoS Biol 9:e1001052 (2011)



Charloteaux B*, Zhong Q*, Dreze M*, Cusick ME, Hill DE, Vidal M. Protein-protein interaction networks: Forward and reverse edgetics. Methods Mol Biol 759:197 (2011) *Equal contributors


Zhong Q*, Simonis N*, Li QR*, Charloteaux B*, Heuze F*, Klitgord N*, Tam S, Yu H, Venkatesan K, Mou D, Swearingen V, Yildirim MA, Yan H, Dricot A, Szeto D, Lin C, Hao T, Fan C, Milstein S, Dupuy D, Brasseur R, Hill DE, Cusick ME, Vidal M. Edgetic perturbation models of human inherited disorders. Mol Syst Biol 5:321. (2009) *Equal contributors
 [Highlighted in Mol Syst Biol 5:322 (2009)
; Nat Rev Genet 11:4-5 (2010)
; Nature 463:405 (2010)
]

Dreze M*, Charloteaux B*, Milstein S*, Vidalain PO*, Yildirim MA, Zhong Q, Svrzikapa N, Romero V, Laloux G, Brasseur R, Vandenhaute J, Boxem M, Cusick ME, Hill DE, Vidal M. ‘Edgetic’ perturbation of a C. elegans BCL2 ortholog.  Nat Methods 6:843-9. (2009) *Equal contributors
 [Highlighted in Nat Methods 6:797-8 (2009)

]

De Nicolo A, Parisini E*, Zhong Q*, Dalla Palma M, Stoeckert KA, Domchek SM, Nathanson KL, Caligo MA, Vidal M, Cusick ME, Garber JE. Multimodal assessment of protein functional deficiency supports pathogenicity of BRCA1. Cancer Res 69:7030 (2009) *Equal contributors


Zhou J*, Zhong Q*, Li G, Greenberg ML. Loss of cardiolipin leads to longevity defects that are alleviated by alterations in stress response signaling. Z  J Biol Chem 284:18106 (2009) *Equal contributors


Li QR*, Carvunis AR*, Yu H*, Han JD*, Zhong Q, Simonis N, Tam S, Hao T, Klitgord NJ, Dupuy D, Mou D, Wapinski I, Regev A, Hill DE, Cusick ME, Vidal M. Revisiting the Saccharomyces cerevisiae predicted ORFeome. Genome Res 18:1294. (2008) *Equal contributors

Zhong Q*, Li G*, Gvozdenovic-Jeremic J, Greenberg ML. Up-regulation of the cell integrity pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae suppresses temperature sensitivity of the pgs1Δ mutant.  J Biol Chem 282:15946. (2007) *Equal contributors

Zhong Q, Greenberg ML. Deficiency in mitochondrial anionic lipids synthesis impairs cell wall biogenesis. Biochem Soc Trans 33:1158. Review. (2005)



Zhong Q*, Gvozdenovic-Jeremic J*, Webster P, Zhou J, Greenberg ML. Loss of function of KRE5 suppresses temperature sensitivity of mutants lacking mitochondrial anionic lipids.   Mol Biol Cell 16:665-75. (2005) *Equal contributors

Zhong Q* Gohil VM* Ma L* Greenberg ML. Absence of cardiolipin results in temperature sensitivity, respiratory defects, and mitochondrial DNA instability independent of pet56 .J Biol Chem 279:32294. (2004) *Equal contributors

Zhong Q, Greenberg ML. Regulation of phosphatidylglycerophosphate synthase by inositol in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is not at the level of PGS1 mRNA abundance.   J Biol Chem 278:33978. (2003)

Gu Z*, Gohil V*, Zhong Q*, Schlame M and Greenberg ML. The biosynthesis and remodeling of cardiolipin in LIPIDS: Glycerolipid Metabolizing Enzymes. (Haldar, D. and Das, S.K., ed.) pp 67-84. Kerala: Research Signpost Press Review. (2002) *Equal contributors

Cui JP, Zhong Q, Li WZ, Yan J, Shen DL. Factors affecting population biology of Wolbachia in the small brown planthoppers, Laodelphax striatellus (Homoptera: Delphacidae).  J Fudan Univ: Nat Sci 37:542-546 (1998)