Dr. Zhou received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the College of Chemistry, Nankai University, China. Following a postdoctoral fellowship in Organic Chemistry at the University of Virginia, Dr. Zhou also completed a fellowship in Medicinal Chemistry at Georgetown University and a Residency in Chemistry and Biology in Drug Discovery from the Residential School on Medicinal Chemistry at Drew University. Dr. Zhou received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the College of Chemistry, Nankai University, China. Following a postdoctoral fellowship in Organic Chemistry at the University of Virginia, Dr. Zhou also completed a fellowship in Medicinal Chemistry at Georgetown University and a Residency in Chemistry and Biology in Drug Discovery from the Residential School on Medicinal Chemistry at Drew University.
His research interests are broadly based on the interface of synthetic organic chemistry and medicinal chemistry, and in particular on the drug discovery of bioactive molecules to probe biological systems or act as potential therapeutic agents in neuroscience, cancer/inflammation, infectious diseases, and other human conditions. With this general idea in mind, and in active collaboration with other biologists and pharmacologists, his group is dedicated to establish a strong and creative research program that applies state-of-the-art chemical approaches to biological problems impacting diagnosis, prevention and treatment of human diseases. One of the Zhou laboratory’s current efforts is focused on design and synthesis of small molecules for probing function and development of pharmacological tools for understanding the workings of the brain and that of novel therapies for central nervous system (CNS) disorders such as drug abuse and addiction, depression, schizophrenia, pain, and neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Zhou is appointed as a full professor in the Department of Pharmacology of the University of Texas Medical Branch.