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Dr. Jian Zhang Appointed to the Pathology Endowed Chair for Immunology Research

Dr. Jian Zhang and his lab members
Front row:  Hui Guo, Jian Zhang, Patrick Nuro-Gyina and Na Tang
Back row:  Ling Huang, Qiuming Zeng and Guoxin Lin

Dr. Jian Zhang was appointed to the Pathology Endowed Chair for Immunology Research by the University of Iowa Provost’s office. Dr. Zhang recently joined the Department as a tenured Professor and CCOM Scholar.

Dr. Zhang received his M.D. and Neurology training at Hunan Medical University in China. In 1994 he moved to Ontario, Canada to pursue a post-doctoral fellowship in immunology with Dr. Terry Delovitch, and has focused his career on basic research ever since. Jian has held faculty positions in Chicago (Rush University and University of Chicago) and most recently, at Ohio State University.

Dr. Zhang has a number of interests in both adaptive and innate immunity, with an emphasis on lymphocyte signaling, autoimmune disease, and more recently, infectious disease. Specifically, he studies molecular mechanisms of T cell activation and differentiation, and innate immune responses regulated by E3 ubiquitin ligases Cbl-b and Nedd4. His group has identified novel proteins regulated by Cbl-b in T cells and innate immune cells, and is investigating 1) how Cbl-b regulates T follicular helper cell development in systemic lupus erythematosus; and 2) how Cbl-b regulates the innate immune cells sensing Candida albicans infection. In addition, his group has also identified some novel substrates of Nedd4 in T cells, is studying Nedd4 in T helper cell development and autoimmunity. Further understanding of these E3 ubiquitin ligases in innate and adaptive immunity will lead to the development of therapeutic invention for human diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, allergic asthma, and infectious diseases. At present, his laboratory is funded by three recently awarded R01 grants and an American Heart Association award.