A diverse, collaborative group of scientists dedicated to advancing our understanding of genetic lung disease and developing new treatments.
Dr. Zhou is the Cato E. Drash Professor of Medicine and the Director of the Center for Translational Genomics at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Her research program employs cross-disciplinary and integrative approaches to translate discoveries in Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) to better understanding of lung biology, with a particular focus on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and asthma.
During the development of chronic lung disease, repetitive environmental insults such as cigarette smoke, respiratory virus infection, and allergy lead to ineffective repair in genetically susceptible subjects. Dr. Zhou's lab aims to address the missing knowledge gap between human genetic discoveries in GWAS and a better understanding of lung biology, using integrative and multidisciplinary approaches including CRISPRi followed by single-cell RNA screening, lineage-tracing mouse models, ex vivo organoid models, and single live-cell imaging.
Her research has pioneered the identification of functional variants and novel mechanisms of genes implicated in various GWAS loci for COPD and pulmonary fibrosis. Prior to her transition to UVA, she established and led the Functional Genomics program for respiratory diseases at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School as an Associate Professor.
Dr. Zhou has served as a Principal Investigator for multiple NIH-funded projects and as a grant reviewer for NIH/NHLBI, NIH/NIDDK, NIH/NIAID, and international science foundations from the UK, Canada, and Poland. She has also established and served in leadership in non-profit organizations to promote career development of scientists in pulmonary research and beyond.
Dr. Zhou earned her B.S. and Pharm.D. in Clinical Pharmacy from Sichuan University, her Ph.D. in Cell Biology from Peking Union Medical College (Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences), and completed postdoctoral training in Virology at Harvard Medical School. In December 2025, she was invited to join the membership of UVA's Beirne B. Carter Center for Immunology Research (CIC).
Over the past decade, Dr. Zhou has mentored many graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior researchers who have gone on to become independent scientists in universities or pharmaceutical companies.
Alumni have joined faculty positions at universities, leading their own independent research labs in lung genetics and genomics.
Several alumni now work at leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, applying their skills to drug development.
Alumni have spread across countries, extending the impact of Zhou Lab's training mission internationally.
We are always looking for talented, motivated scientists excited about genomics, lung biology, and the challenge of turning genetic discoveries into new treatments.
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