Jing Zhou, M.D., Ph.D.

Principal Investigator, Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School

Jing Zhou graduated from Shanghai Medical University in China and Oulu University in Finland. She joined the Harvard faculty in 1993, after her postdoctoral training at Yale. Dr. Zhou directs research on inherited kidney disease and polycystin biology in the renal division at the Brigham and Women's Hospital. She is an Associate Professor at the Harvard Medical School and a member of the Harvard Genetics Department. Dr. Zhou was the first female recipient of the Young Investigator Award from the American Society of Nephrology and American Heart Association in 2001. She also serves on a study section at the NIDDK and the Scientific Advisory Board of the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation.

Shixuan Wang, M.D., Ph.D.

Instructor

My interests are wide, from reading Chinese and English newspapers and magzines, watching games such as basketball, to benchwork like pipetting. Oh, my research is focusing on the KIDNEY. It is just everything about the kidney: anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, development, molecular biology, cell biology, pathology, pathophysiology, podocytes, basement membrane, proximal tubules, distal tubules, collecting ducts, vessels& .

This should not be all about me. Therefore,

If you want to know more about me, drop me a line.

Talk to you there.

Ayumi Takakura, Ph.D.

Instructor

Upon completion of my undergraduate training in pharmacy, I completed seven years of postgraduate training and received my PhD degree in Medical Science from Osaka University in Japan in 2002. During my PhD training, I worked on the generation and analysis of mice with a targeted deletion of a small G protein regulator, Smg GDS and RhoGDI. The second project of my PhD training focused on the isolation and characterization of transcription factors expressed in spermatogonia.

In October of 2002, I joined the laboratory of Dr. Jing Zhou. First, I worked on interaction between different heterotrimeric G protein a subunits and polycystins. Since then, I have been working on the role of G-protein signaling in polycystic kidney disease (PKD).

Finally, during my years of staying in US I have experienced tremendous personal growth. I like Boston!!

JingJing Zhang, M.D., Ph.D.

Post-Doctoral Fellow

I grew up in Beijing , China . The Beijing culture played a large role in shaping who I am: a happy, direct, diligent and warmhearted woman. After graduating from Beijing Medical University and several years of continuous hard work later, I matured into a pediatric nephrologist. It is sad if a child develops a kidney disease; it is a disaster if they suffer from a hereditary renal disorder. I cherish the human life. Therefore, after two years of research on congenital nephrotic syndrome at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, I went back to China for two more years of clinical work. Then I joined Jing Zhou's lab, mainly to work on Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease, which destroys children's lives. I hope we can elucidate the pathological mechanism and develop an effective treatment for PKD patients through our hard work. If you want to discuss kidney diseases, write me an e-mail.

Xuefeng Su, Ph.D.

Post-Doctoral Fellow

I'm originally from China where I got my B.S. and M.S. degrees. After getting my master degree from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, I went to the University of Texas Houston Health Science Center to pursue a Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In 2006, I decided to join Dr. Zhou's lab for my postdoctoral training, so I moved to Boston. It is quite a change for me, both in climate and in the research field. In general, I am interested in the role of PKD genes in polycystic kidney disease and how mutations or inactivation of them can disrupt or alter various signaling cascades, which eventually leads to the disease.

I have many other hobbies other than research. I like reading, surfing net, playing chess and bridge, traveling, home entertaining, etc. If you'd like to contact me, feel free to drop me a line.

Gang "Tony" Yao, M.D., Ph.D.

Post-Doctoral Fellow

Hi! I am Gang (Tony) Yao . I am from Beijing , China . I got my MD degree from the Capital University of Medical Sciences. After I finished my Residency Training, I decided to come to USA to satisfy my curiosity in life science. After four years hard work, I got my Ph.D. degree from the University of New Hampshire in 2006. My dissertation research is mainly focus on the mRNA degradation process in eukaryotes. Then I joined Jing Zhou lab to study the physiology and pathophysiology of polycystins and polycystic kidney disease (PKD). I hope our hard work could bring PDK patient more effective treatments and a better life.

Annouck Luyten, Ph.D.

Post-Doctoral Fellow

I grew up in Belgium where I did a Master in Biochemistry at the Catholic University of Leuven. After that I obtained a PhD in the Medical Sciences at the department of Human Genetics at the same university. During my PhD I investigated the role of the PDZ protein syntenin in Wnt signaling, since I found that it interacted with the Frizzled Wnt receptor. I characterized the binding and studied the role of syntenin in the Xenopus laevis frog model.

I am particularly interested in signal transduction cascades and recently I moved to Boston to join the laboratory of Prof. Jing Zhou. Here I want to study Wnt signaling in polycystic kidney disease.

Next to research I like to travel, go to the movies, go out with friends, do some sports like skiing and volleyball and explore Boston, which I start to like very much.

El Jouni, Wassim,Ph.D.

Post-Doctoral Fellow

I had a lifelong interest in science since I was kid, my first experiments were done on the toys I had and the equipments at home ?. My practical scientific research life started after I got my Diplome De Maitrise Es Sciences in Animal Biology from the Lebanese University in 2001. After that I graduated my M.Sc. from the American University of Beirut (AUB) where I used different cell culture and animal models to show that water extracts from certain medicinal plants contain bio-active compounds and exhibit anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities.

After graduation I moved to UAMS (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences) to pursue my Ph.D. degree in Physiology and Biophysics. During my Ph.D. work I studied the differentiation of calcium signaling during Xenopus oocyte maturation and the effect of membrane trafficking on meiotic maturation. During my five years of Ph.D. studies I acquired knowledge of different new research techniques in molecular biology; electrophysiology and confocal imaging as well as I developed a critical scientific way of thinking, both of which help me to be productive in my field of study. After I met Dr. Jing Zhou at the ASCB (American Society of Cell Biology) meeting I found myself very interested to devote time and effort to investigate the molecular basis of the polycystic kidney disease under her mentorship.

My other interests: Movies, comedy shows, discussions (arguments cause me headaches), shopping for electronic stuff, cooking my favorite dishes (each now and then), poetry writing (not in English) and some other things …

Leah Contrino, B.S.

Lab Manager, Technician

Hi, my name is Leah Contrino and I joined the Zhou lab in June 2006. I graduated from Boston College with a degree in Biochemistry and a minor in Classical Studies. As an undergraduate, I had the opportunity to participate in internship programs at both Genzyme Corp. and Pfizer Inc. where I contributed to research involving protein purification and transfection studies. Acclimating to the environment of working in a lab, contributing data to critical research in the renal field, and obtaining practical research experience in molecular genetics all have made me appreciate my time here and the work I am able to do.

In my spare time, I enjoy finishing crossword puzzles, exploring Boston, pretending I can cook, bumbling about at the gym, and relaxing with friends.

Here at the lab, I am responsible for maintaining and genotyping the transgenic animal colonies, as well as other data collection and basic maintenance duties for the laboratory.