Affiliation: Department of Biology, Indiana University Bloomington

Dr. Sam Zheng is the co-director of the Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center (BDSC), an NIH-supported repository that serves the global biomedical research community by maintaining a vast collection of genetic strains and providing extensive data resources through the BDSC website.

After completing his doctoral research on the evolution of the period gene in Drosophila, Dr. Zheng continued to investigate circadian rhythms for more than 20 years, using Drosophila and cell culture systems as experimental models. During his tenure as coordinator of the chronobiology program at the University of Pennsylvania, he witnessed the field’s rapid expansion driven by close collaboration among laboratories employing diverse methods, tools, and model organisms.

Dr. Zheng is a strong advocate for adopting New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) to advance the understanding of the neurobiological and molecular mechanisms underlying complex behaviors.