Zhou Lab

Zhou Lab in front of our place of work.

Zhou Lab Research Statement

The goal of the Zhou laboratory is to determine the transcriptional regulation of intestinal immune responses. We have characterized the interactions between various transcription factors (e.g., RORγt and Foxp3) involved in specifying development of Th17 cells and the related iTreg lineage as well as how these interactions eventually determine whether the T cell adopts the Th17 or Treg cell fate. We have been focusing on the molecular regulation of innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) by the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (Ahr), a ligand-dependent transcription factor under steady-state physiological conditions, during inflammation or autoimmunity. Most recently, we have extended our studies to host-microbe interactions and metabolic regulation of mucosal immune responses. Our research has implications for understanding how to modulate intestinal immune responses in different disease settings, and it may ultimately lead to the identification of new therapeutic targets for human diseases such as IBD or colon cancer.

The Zhou lab was established in October, 2009 at Northwestern University, Chicago. The lab moved to UF, Gainesville in December, 2015.


Lab Personnel 

Dr. Zhou turning a page, sitting in front of a microscope

Liang Zhou, MD, PhD

Professor

Principal Investigator

Robert Merkel vortexing a sample.

Robert Merkel

Laboratory Manager

Lifeng Xiong using a multichannel pipette.

Lifeng Xiong

Postdoctoral Fellow

Eric Helm operating a centrifuge.

Eric Helm

Postdoctoral Fellow

Mingzhi Li

Postdoctoral fellow

Jennifer Kyu using a serological pipette.

Jennifer Kyu

Laboratory Technician

Na Sun using a pipette.

Na Sun

Graduate Student


Lab Alumni

group shot of Zhou lab
Zhou lab group shot 2016
Zhou lab group shot 2011
Zhou lab group shot 2012
Zhou lab group shot 2013
Zhou lab group shot 2014

Research Faculty:

Shiyang Li (2018 – 2019)

Postdoctoral Fellows:

Ju Qiu (2009 – 2014)
Olga Malykhina (2011)
Lei He (2011 – 2014)
Jianlei Hao (2012 – 2013)
Aki Ueda (2012 – 2014)
Yetao Wang (2013 – 2015)
Shiyang Li (2013 – 2018)
Jian Ye (2014 – 2018)
Zheng Fu (2015 – 2020)

Graduate Students:

Jennifer Heller (2010 – 2014)
Aki Ueda (2010 – 2012)
John Bostick (2014 – 2019) Joseph Dean (2018 – 2022)

Undergraduate Students:

Kyoo Seok Shim (UIC) (2010)
Ari Lederman (2011 – 2012)
Aileen Lee (2011 – 2014)
Jacob Weiderman (UF) (2016 – 2018)

Technicians/Lab Managers:

Priscilla Shamulailatpam (2014 – 2015)
Hui Li (2015 – 2018) Kristen Oliff (2018 – 2022)

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