Zhaolan (Joe) Zhou, Ph.D.

Zhaolan (Joe) Zhou, Ph.D., is a Professor of Genetics at the Perelman School of Medicine, and Director of the Preclinical Models Core at the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC) at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. His research focuses on understanding the pathogenic basis of autism spectrum disorders with known genetic causes and the epigenetic basis of neuropsychiatric disorders with environmental insults. In the past few years, he has led a research team that developed the first lines of mouse models recapitulating human genetic mutations found in Rett Syndrome and CDKL5 disorder, and engineered genetically modified mice to interrogate stress-related neuroepigenetics in the brain. Through a combined genetic, genomic, physiological, and behavioral approaches, the Zhou lab has revealed novel insights into the pathogenic mechanisms of Rett Syndrome and CDKL5 disorder, identified robust and quantitative biomarkers, and has been aiming to develop innovative strategies to treat autism spectrum and neuropsychiatric disorders.