Professor Baoting Zhu

Professor

Prof. Zhu received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Texas in 1992. From 1993 to 1998, he worked initially as a Postdoctoral Fellow and later as an Assistant Research Professor at Rutgers University under the direction of Dr. Allan H. Conney, a world-renowned cancer pharmacologist and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. In 1998, he assumed an independent faculty position as a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina. In less than six years while working there, he received promotions to Tenured Associate Professor (2002), Tenured Full Professor (2004), and yhe Frank and Josie P. Fletcher Distinguished Professor (2005). A year later, he was appointed as the Director for the Department of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences. In 2007, Prof. Zhu joined the University of Kansas, School of Medicine to assume a prominent academic position as the permanent William W. Abercrombie Distinguished Professor in Cancer Research.

One of Prof. Zhu’s research interests centers around the better understanding of the biochemical, molecular, and cellular mechanisms underlying the pharmacological actions of steroid hormones and drugs. In addition, Prof. Zhu’s lab is also interested in understanding the pathogenic mechanisms for a number of human degenerative diseases (e.g., Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease) as well as the development of new approaches for their treatment and prevention by using natural compounds. In recent years, Prof. Zhu has also developed a strong interest in studying the memory and cognitive functions of the brain, in an effort to better understand the molecular and chemical mechanisms underlying these vital neuronal functions.

Prof. Zhu has published over 130 peer-reviewed publications, mostly in top-tier leading scientific journals in the world (serving as the first author or the corresponding author in ~85% of these papers), with ~7000 citations (Google Scholar). Over the years, Prof. Zhu has received many research awards, including the Burroughs Wellcome Toxicology-Teratology Award and the American Cancer Society Research Scholar Award.