Affiliation: Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

Dr. Mao Zhang is a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford University. Her research interests involve comprehensive understanding of key molecules and pathways that initiate cardiac DNA damage, cell death and inflammation during the development of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Her academic training and research experience have provided her with an excellent background in multiple biological disciplines including molecular biology, cell biology, biochemistry, molecular medicine, and bioinformatics. She revealed the splicing landscape of CaMKII-δ in the hearts and elucidated the CaMKII-δ9-UBE2T-DNA damage signaling pathway as a primary mechanism for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and heart failure. Moreover, she found CaMKII-δ9 was a therapeutic target for cardiac ischemic/reperfusion injury-induced inflammation and related heart diseases. For her postdoctoral research, she uses human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) as human-based model system, in conjunction with traditional animal models to investigate key molecules and pathways during the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases, especially diseases caused by genetic mutations and environmental stimulation (e.g., smoking, and nutrient overload), thus identifying new drug targets and therapeutic strategies for cardiovascular diseases.