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Dr Lan Zhu

Job: Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience

Faculty: Health and Life Sciences

School/department: School of Allied Health Sciences

Research group(s): Pharmacology and Neuroscience Research Group

Address: СʪÃÃÊÓƵ, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH

T: +44 (0)116 2577375

E: lan.zhu@dmu.ac.uk

W: /hls

Social Media:

 

Personal profile

Lan Zhu studied medicine in Tongji Medical University, Wuhan, China. After receiving her BM, she went on to teach Physiology at the same medical school for a couple of years. Later, she pursued her PhD in Neuroscience in Turin, Italy. After her PhD, she worked at University of Turin, University of Leicester, and King’s College London as a postdoctoral researcher.

She joined СʪÃÃÊÓƵ in February 2015 as a Lecturer in Biomedical and Medical Science. Her main research interests are the neuronal mechanisms in physiological and pathological processes. She has been studying the brain cellular and molecular mechanisms for the learning and memory e.g. neuronal/synaptic plasticity for many years, and then ion channels particularly potassium channel mechanisms in peripheral neuropathic pain.

She also has a passion in the translational research which led her to co-lead and complete a project with a group of neuroscientists, neurologists, urologists and engineers.

She is currently interested in combining neurophysiology with neuropsychiatry and trying to understand the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders. Her current research is looking at the regulation of some neuronal functional key players such as potassium channels in the cerebellum and how the dysregulation contributes to the neuronal and cerebellar dysfunction in a pharmacological animal model of schizophrenia. This may help to identify more effective drug targets for this brain disorder and lead to the new drug development strategy. She is collaborating with neuroscientists from СʪÃÃÊÓƵ and University of Leicester.

The research techniques employed in her research include behaviour analysis, surgery, whole cell patch clamp recording, in vivo extracellular recording, ex vivo sharp electrode intracellular recording, cell/tissue culture, immunohistochemistry, fluorescence microscopy, confocal microscopy, western blot and RT-qPCR.

She currently leads the thematic area of Translational Science within the Institute of Applied Health Research.

Research group affiliations

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Publications and outputs


  • Calvo M, Richards N, Zhu L*, Schmid AB*, Barroso A*, Ivulic D, Zhu N, Anwandter P, Bhat MA, Court FA, McMahon SB, Bennett DL. Altered potassium channel distribution and composition in myelinated axons suppresses hyperexcitability following injury. Elife. 2016 Apr 19; 5: e12661. (Impact factor: 8.7; H-index: 161)


  • Zhu L*, Chew DJ*, Delivopolous E, Minev I, Musick K, Fitzgerald J, Lacour S, Tarte E, Craggs M, Mosse C, Donaldson N, McMahon SB, Fawcett JW. A microchannel neuroprosthesis for bladder control after spinal cord injury in rat. Sci Transl Med. 2013 Nov 6;5(210):210ra155. (Impact factor: 19.3; H-index: 242; reported on BBC News: )


  • Zhu L*, Tsantoulas C*, Yip P, Grist J, Michael G and McMahon S. Kv2 dysfunction after peripheral axotomy enhances sensory neuron responsiveness to sustained input. Exp Neurol. 2014 Jan; 251:115-26. (Impact factor: 5.6; H-index: 195)


  • Tsantoulas C, Zhu L, Shaifta Y, Grist J, Ward J, Raouf R, Michael G and McMahon S. Sensory neuron down-regulation of the Kv9.1 potassium channel subunit mediates neuropathic pain following nerve injury. J Neurosci. 2012 Nov 28;32(48):17502-17513. (Impact factor: 6.7; H-index: 471)


  • Zhu L, Sacco T, Strata P and Sacchetti B. Basolateral amygdala inactivation impairs learning-induced long-term potentiation in the cerebellar cortex. PLoS One. 2011 Jan 31;6(1):e16673. (Impact factor: 3.8; H-index: 367)


  • Zhu L, Scelfo B, Hartell NA, Strata P, Sacchetti B. The effects of fear conditioning on cerebellar LTP and LTD. Eur J Neurosci 2007 Jul; 26:219-227. (Impact factor: 3.7; H-index: 213)


  • Zhu L, Scelfo B, Tempia F, Sacchetti B, Strata P. Membrane excitability and fear conditioning in cerebellar Purkinje cell. Neuroscience 2006 Jul 7; 140:801-810. (Impact factor: 3.7; H-index: 229)


  • Andjus PR, Bajic A, Zhu L, Strata P. Metabotropic glutamate receptor-mediated currents at the climbing fiber to Purkinje cell synapses. J Chem Inf Model 2005 Nov-Dec; 45:1536-1538. (Impact factor: 5.9; H-index: 169)


  • Andjus PR, Bajic A, Zhu L, Schachner M, Strata P. Short-term facilitation and depression in the cerebellum: some observations on wild-type and mutant rodents deficient in the extracellular matrix molecule tenascin C. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2005 Jun; 1048:185-197. (Impact factor: 6.5; H-index: 261)


  • Andjus PR, Zhu L, Cesa R, Carulli D, Strata P. A change in the pattern of activity affects the developmental regression of the Purkinje cell polyinnervation by climbing fibers in the rat cerebellum. Neuroscience 2003; 121:563-572. (Impact factor: 3.7; H-index: 229)

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Research interests/expertise

  • Physiology of potassium channels particularly voltage-gated potassium channels in the cerebellar functions
  • Voltage-gated potassium channel mechanisms in the cerebellar dysfunction and general pathophysiology of schizophrenia
  • NMDA receptors mechanisms in the cerebellar dysfunction in schizophrenia
  • Cerebellar mechanisms in schizophrenia
  • Ion channel particularly voltage-gated potassium channel mechanisms in neuropathic pain
  • Translational bioengineering e.g. bladder functional recovery after spinal cord injury
  • Neuronal mechanisms including neuronal excitability, synaptic transmission and synaptic plasticity of learning and memory
  • Pharmacology of glutamatergic receptors, e.g. AMPAR, NMDAR, mGluR and their involvement in synaptic plasticity underlying learning and memory

Areas of teaching

    • Anatomy and physiology of Nervous System
    • Brain and Nervous System disorders
    • Cellular pathology
    • Neuropathology
    • Undergraduate and postgraduate project supervision

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Medicine
  • PhD in Neuroscience
  • PGCert in Higher Education

Honours and awards

External:

  • International Full Bursary PhD scholarship, awarded by University of Turin, Italy; funded by Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR); Ministry of Health; Fondazione CRT; October 2001 – October 2005
  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow, selected by Department of Neuroscience, University of Turin, Italy; funded by European Union; Regione Piemonte and Compagnia San Paolo Foundation; November 2005 – April 2007
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, selected by Department of Cell Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Leicester; funded by BBSRC; May 2007 – November 2010
  • Best Poster Prize, titled “Quantitative visualisation of transmitter release at hippocampal synapses”, awarded by University of Leicester, Neuroscience Day 2009
  • Wellcome Trust Value in People Research Associate Grant, shortlisted and interviewed on 16/8/2010
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, selected by Pain and Neuroregeneration group, Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases (CARD), King’s College London, funded by EPSRC; January 2011 – July 2013
  • Aurora 2023, awarded by Advance HE's Aurora leadership development programme, 24th January – 18th July 2023

Internal:

  • Vice Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award nominations in 2021 and 2022

Membership of professional associations and societies

  • British Neuroscience Association (BNA)
  • Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS)
  • International Brain Research Organisation (IBRO)
  • Fellow of Higher Education Academy

Professional licences and certificates

  • Certificate of Home Office Procedure Individual Licence
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education
  • Certificate in Research Supervision

Projects

    • Investigating cerebellar mechanisms of schizophrenia by using a pharmacological mouse model: regulation of voltage-gated potassium channels
    • Investigating the morphological changes of the cerebellum from a pharmacological animal model of schizophrenia
    • Regulation of a glutamate receptor and its implications in the cerebellar dysfunction of a pharmacological animal model of schizophrenia
    • Regulation of a calcium binding protein and its implications in the cerebellar dysfunction of a pharmacological animal model of schizophrenia

Current research students

    • Miss Mahfuza Maisha (PhD, 2023 - present, 1st supervisor)
    • Mr Mohammad Abudayeh (PhD, 2021 – 2023, 2nd supervisor)
    • Miss Leah MacGregor (PhD, 2020 – present, 1st supervisor)
    • Miss Rubab Ralpur (PhD, 2017 – 2023, 2nd supervisor, successful completion)
    • Mr Lukasz Lagojda (PhD, 2016 – 2021, 1st supervisor, successful completion)

Internally funded research project information

  • СʪÃÃÊÓƵ research start-up fund, £5000, principal investigator, 2015 – 2016
  • СʪÃÃÊÓƵ Investment Fund 2015, £8,800, co-investigator, 2015
  • СʪÃÃÊÓƵ full bursary PhD scholarship, £39K, first supervisor, 2016 - 2019
  • СʪÃÃÊÓƵ PhD bench fee, £15K, first supervisor, 2016 - 2019
  • СʪÃÃÊÓƵ PhD bench fee, £6K, first supervisor, 2020 – 2023
  • СʪÃÃÊÓƵ PhD bench fee, £6K, first supervisor, 2023 - 2026
  • Joint internal fund from HLS Faculty and School of Allied Health Sciences; Leica DM2000 fluorescence microscope and workstation, £10K, principal investigator, March 2017
  • Ethovision XT animal behaviour track system, £7045, principal investigator, August 2019
  • СʪÃÃÊÓƵ Front runner internship, £8400 (£2100 per place for 6 months), supervisor, October 2019 - present. Currently recruiting for 2024/2025 round
  • СʪÃÃÊÓƵ Internal Sandwich Placement, supervisor, September 2019 - May 2020
  • СʪÃÃÊÓƵ Research allowance budget, £1000, principal investigator, October 2022
  • СʪÃÃÊÓƵ QR funding, £4000, principal investigator, awarded on 2nd February 2023, for updating software for patch clamp setup
  • СʪÃÃÊÓƵ LIPI institute budget, £499.10, for attending Home Office PPL project licence training course which I completed in January 2024
  • СʪÃÃÊÓƵ IAHR institute budget, £3250, for working on my proposed project in partnership with Autifony Therapeutics Ltd with their in-kind contribution, October 2023 – June 2024

Professional esteem indicators

  • Research Leave, awarded by СʪÃÃÊÓƵ, January 2022 – April 2022
  • Research Sabbatical, awarded by СʪÃÃÊÓƵ, 7 teaching weeks in November 2024 – January 2025
  • Invited by University of Leicester to be external examiner for PhD thesis entitled “The role of serotonin in synaptic plasticity: detailed characterisation of the effect of serotonin on long-term potentiation across the hippocampus”; completed in 04/2023
  • Invited by University of Leicester to be external examiner for PhD thesis entitled ““The effects of CB1R activation on age-related cognitive decline and presynaptic calcium in the aged hippocampus”; completed in 07/2022
  • Invited by University of Leicester to be external examiner for PhD thesis entitled “Molecular mechanisms for activity-dependent control of neuronal excitability in the central auditory pathway”; completed in 01/2022
  • Awarded СʪÃÃÊÓƵ Research Leave, 1/2022 – 4/2022
  • Gave advice to researchers in Artificial Intelligence for Healthcare, 2021 - present
  • Provided research findings to the BBC News Health, 2013

Research project for potential international students

Schizophrenia is a debilitating neurodevelopmental brain disorder. Affecting 1% of the population worldwide, schizophrenia imposes a tremendous global economic burden associated with health and social care. The current antipsychotics face many challenges, attributed to incomplete understanding of the complex pathogenesis of schizophrenia. The cerebellum is regarded as an integral node in neuronal circuits subserving all brain functional domains. Over the past two decades structural and functional abnormalities of the cerebellum have been linked with schizophrenia; and treatments aimed at the cerebellum, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, have shown promising efficacy.

The following projects will be using a well-established pharmacological mouse module of schizophrenia while employing a wide range of techniques to study the cerebellar mechanisms of this brain disorder:

  1. We have recently found some morphological changes in the cerebellum of this animal model. We would like to investigate more systematically in more details the morphological alterations of the cerebellum, from tissue level, cellular level to subcellular level, of this animal model.
  2. We have recently found that, voltage-gated potassium channel Kv2.1, a schizophrenia vulnerability risk gene, is significantly downregulated at the gene level and the protein level in the cerebellum of this mouse model. We would like to understand how this dysregulation contributes to the neuronal and cerebellar dysfunction of this mouse model.
  3. Another voltage-gated potassium channel Kv3 expresses in a subpupulation of neurons including cerebellar granule cells, enabling them to fire action potential at up to 1000 Hz for the require physiological functions. Kv3.1 dysregulation in the cerebral cortex has been implied to account for the cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia. We would like to know how various subtypes of Kv3 channels are regulated in the cerebellum of this mouse model, and furthermore, how the potential dysregulation contributes to the neuronal and cerebellar dysfunction of this mouse model.                                                                    
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