Xiping Zhan
Xiping Zhan earned the Toffler Scholar Award in 2023 at Howard University
Biography
Xiping Zhan was born in Central China near the longest river in China, Chang Jiang (Yangtze River). One of three children, he has two sisters who remain in China today. Growing up near a large expanse of wetlands gave Dr. Zhan the chance to fish in local ponds and enjoy animals native to the area, including a pet bunny. At the time, the area near his small village was mostly agrarian. He fondly remembers taking trips with his sisters and his mom to the farm where she worked growing rice and cotton.
Dr. Zhan was a curious child. In primary school and lower and upper secondary school, he studied biology through textbooks. At the time, his schools had neither labs nor microscopes. In fact, the countryside where Dr. Zhan was raised was not highly developed. His house had no electricity, so he would finish his homework by the light of an oil lamp. Despite these challenges, Dr. Zhan earned a high score in a national postsecondary exam. Had he not done well, his future likely would have been in farming. Instead, he earned a spot in a local college where he majored in biology. This achievement, combined with the encouragement of his parents, laid the foundation for Dr. Zhan to pursue biomedical research.
After graduating from college, Dr. Zhan took a national test to get into graduate school, where he majored in physiology and minored in neuroscience. He then spent six years pursuing his Master’s and doctoral studies, receiving his Ph.D. from East China Normal University. He conducted his postdoctoral fellowship at Fudan University, when Dr. Zhan also went on to study at IBRO (International Brain Research Organization) School for Brain Sciences in Hong Kong.
To further his education, Dr. Zhan decided to attend school abroad. He applied to schools in Europe and in the U.S., eventually accepting an offer from Johns Hopkins University and then moving on to complete his studies at Georgetown University. Dr. Zhan’s advisor at Georgetown was collaborating with Howard University and encouraged him to apply for a role there.
At that point, Dr. Zhan had many years of postdoctoral training under his belt and was ready to find a new professional home. He landed at Howard University, where he’s been for more than ten years.
Dr. Zhan’s favorite aspect of biology is physiology, which he taught for four years in China before attending graduate school. When he learned about the types of research taking place in the physiological field, including research in brain anatomy and function, he was intrigued. The chance to study how the brain works excited him.
Today, Dr. Zhan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology & Biophysics at Howard University. His lab studies the basic components of the brain involved in multisensory integration in the auditory system, neurotoxicity, and neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Zhan is passionate about research and employs various approaches in his investigations. One such approach uses neurons derived from Induced pluripotent stem cell technology (iPSC). iPSC is used in disease modeling, drug innovation, and cell therapy advancement. Dr. Zhan is currently launching research to explore the various and intricate aspects of neurological disorders in mouse models and human patients.
“I'm very interested in the fundamentals of science. Right now, I'm focused on health, particularly homeostasis, which is one of the body’s basic rules. If our temperature gets too high, we'll get a fever. We become sick.”
- Dr. Xiping Zhan
BIOGRAPHY
Xiping Zhan was born in Central China near the longest river in China, Chang Jiang (Yangtze River). One of three children, he has two sisters who remain in China today. Growing up near a large expanse of wetlands gave Dr. Zhan the chance to fish in local ponds and enjoy animals native to the area, including a pet bunny. At the time, the area near his small village was mostly agrarian. He fondly remembers taking trips with his sisters and his mom to the farm where she worked growing rice and cotton.
Dr. Zhan was a curious child. In primary school and lower and upper secondary school, he studied biology through textbooks. At the time, his schools had neither labs nor microscopes. In fact, the countryside where Dr. Zhan was raised was not highly developed. His house had no electricity, so he would finish his homework by the light of an oil lamp. Despite these challenges, Dr. Zhan earned a high score in a national postsecondary exam. Had he not done well, his future likely would have been in farming. Instead, he earned a spot in a local college where he majored in biology. This achievement, combined with the encouragement of his parents, laid the foundation for Dr. Zhan to pursue biomedical research.
After graduating from college, Dr. Zhan took a national test to get into graduate school, where he majored in physiology and minored in neuroscience. He then spent six years pursuing his Master’s and doctoral studies, receiving his Ph.D. from East China Normal University. He conducted his postdoctoral fellowship at Fudan University, when Dr. Zhan also went on to study at IBRO (International Brain Research Organization) School for Brain Sciences in Hong Kong.
To further his education, Dr. Zhan decided to attend school abroad. He applied to schools in Europe and in the U.S., eventually accepting an offer from Johns Hopkins University and then moving on to complete his studies at Georgetown University. Dr. Zhan’s advisor at Georgetown was collaborating with Howard University and encouraged him to apply for a role there. At that point, Dr. Zhan had many years of postdoctoral training under his belt and was ready to find a new professional home. He landed at Howard University, where he’s been for more than ten years.
Dr. Zhan’s favorite aspect of biology is physiology, which he taught for four years in China before attending graduate school. When he learned about the types of research taking place in the physiological field, including research in brain anatomy and function, he was intrigued. The chance to study how the brain works excited him.
Today, Dr. Zhan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology & Biophysics at Howard University. His lab studies the basic components of the brain involved in multisensory integration in the auditory system, neurotoxicity, and neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Zhan is passionate about research and employs various approaches in his investigations. One such approach uses neurons derived from Induced pluripotent stem cell technology (iPSC). iPSC is used in disease modeling, drug innovation, and cell therapy advancement. Dr. Zhan is currently launching research to explore the various and intricate aspects of neurological disorders in mouse models and human patients.
“I'm very interested in the fundamentals of science. Right now, I'm focused on health, particularly homeostasis, which is one of the body’s basic rules. If our temperature gets too high, we'll get a fever. We become sick.”
- Dr. Xiping Zhan
Research Focus
Challenges
Mentally and physically debilitating brain-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s Parkinson’s, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) are significant human and clinical burdens. These conditions are also associated with calcium dysregulation, which causes life-threatening spikes or drops in calcium that impede the function of neurons. Little is known about the mechanisms that lead to calcium imbalances. Through their research, Dr. Zhan and his team are hoping to better understand how these neurodegenerative diseases interfere with the brain’s ability to regulate calcium levels.
Focus and Priorities
In a quest to understand the way the brain’s machinery works, Dr. Zhan’s lab is focused on understanding how chemical toxicity disrupts the brain’s balance of calcium leading to neurodegenerative diseases. He and his team want to know whether toxicity takes away calcium, makes it spike, or both.
They’re also exploring the role of proteins Junctophilin-3 & 4, which are expressed in the brain and are related to neurodegeneration. JPH-3 resides inside neurons and provides the instructions to maintain calcium homeostasis. Without proteins such as these, neurons cannot properly function.
Potential Future Benefits
Once the scientific and medical community has a better understanding of the mechanics that cause the brain’s calcium levels to fall out of homeostasis, they can start exploring therapies to help relieve or stave off the effects of neurodegeneration. The ultimate goal: prevent the development of disease due to calcium imbalances.
Karen Toffler Charitable Trust Investment
Funding from the Karen Toffler Charitable Trust will support the work and intensive training required of Dr. Zhan’s student assistants, equipping them to take an interdisciplinary approach to exploring and understanding the brain-calcium problem. The investment will also enable Dr. Zhan’s lab to acquire and process cell cultures, conduct calcium imaging, and manage chemicals.
Without this gift, Dr. Zhan’s research would not be able to progress as quickly as it is. Before the lab can productively move forward, they need to complete a large amount of “bench work” to lay a strong foundation for their research. Now, as his team focuses on that effort, Dr. Zhan is free to begin exploring proteins related to JHP-3 to learn about other machinery to keep calcium homeostasis working.
Thanks to the Toffler Charitable Trust Investment, Zhan and scientists like him can evaluate their big ideas and make steady progress toward new discoveries that will one day save lives or make us a better, healthy life with quality.
Karen Toffler Charitable Trust Investment
Funding from the Karen Toffler Charitable Trust will support the work and intensive training required of Dr. Zhan’s student assistants, equipping them to take an interdisciplinary approach to exploring and understanding the brain-calcium problem. The investment will also enable Dr. Zhan’s lab to acquire and process cell cultures, conduct calcium imaging, and manage chemicals.
Without this gift, Dr. Zhan’s research would not be able to progress as quickly as it is. Before the lab can productively move forward, they need to complete a large amount of “bench work” to lay a strong foundation for their research. Now, as his team focuses on that effort, Dr. Zhan is free to begin exploring proteins related to JHP-3 to learn about other machinery to keep calcium homeostasis working.
Thanks to the Toffler Charitable Trust Investment, Zhan and scientists like him can evaluate their big ideas and make steady progress toward new discoveries that will one day save lives or make us a better, healthy life with quality.
“Brain health is very important. Lifestyle goes a long way in keeping our brain healthy. Our calcium homeostasis can be well maintained if we take care of ourselves.”
- Dr. Xiping Zhan