Home| Non-clinical Lecturer |
Contact details:
| Tel: | +44 20 7882 2285 |
| Fax: | +44 20 7882 2180 |
| Email: | yi.zhang@qmul.ac.uk |
| Address: | Centre for Neuroscience and Trauma, |
Biography
Yi Zhang obtained her medical degree and MSc in Trauma in China . She worked as a Visiting Research Fellow in the University of Uppsala, Sweden, for 8 months in 1991. In later 1991 she obtained a Wellcome Trust Overseas Fellowship to study CNS injury and axonal regeneration in University College London (UCL). She obtained her PhD in Neuroscience in 1996 from University of London . She continued to work as a Research Fellow and then a Senior Research Fellow in UCL. In 2002 she was awarded the Wellcome Trust Research Career Development Fellowship and set up her lab in the University of Sheffield . In 2003 she moved her lab to the Centre for Neuroscience and Trauma, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry. In 2008 she was appointed as a Non-Clinical Lecturer.
Research Activity
Yi Zhang's research activity focuses on the molecular mechanisms of CNS injury and axonal regeneration and developing strategies for the repair of CNS injury. She is particularly interested in the involvement of cell adhesion molecules in the reconstruction and remodelling following the lesion to the nervous system and using gene-targeting techniques to explore the therapeutic value of cell adhesion molecules in promoting neuronal plasticity and axonal regeneration in the nervous system. In recent years, she has concentrated on the studies on how polysialic acid, a post-translational modification of NCAM, regulates neuronal plasticity, cell migration, axonal guidance and targeting. She has also been engrossed in genetic modification of Schwann cells for cell-based therapy to promote the repair of injured spinal cord and peripheral nerves.
Key Publications
• Zhang Y , Yeh J, Richardson PM, Bo, X. ( 2008 ) Cell adhesion molecules of the immunoglobulin superfamily and axonal regeneration. (Review) Restor. Neurol. Neurosci. (in press).
• Zhang Y , Zhang X, Wu D, Verhaagen J, Richardson PM, Yeh J, Bo X. ( 2007 ) Lentiviral-mediated expression of polysialic acid in spinal cord and conditioning lesion promote regeneration of sensory axons into spinal cord . Mol. Ther. 15 : 1796-1804 .
• Zhang Y , Ghadiri-Sani M, Zhang X, Richardson PM, Yeh J, Bo X. (2007) Induced expression of polysialic acid in the spinal cord promotes regeneration of sensory axons. Mol. Cell. Neurosci. 35 :109-119.
• Zhang Y , Bo X, Schoepfer R, Holtmaat AJDG, Verhaagen J, Emson PC, Lieberman AR, Anderson PN. (2005) GAP-43 and L1 act synergistically to promote regeneration of Purkinje cell axons in vivo. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 102 :14883-14888.
• Zhang Y ., Tohyama K, Winterbottom JK, Hague NSK, Schachner M, Lieberman AR, Anderson PN. (2001) Correlation between putative inhibitory molecules at the dorsal root entry zone and failure of dorsal root axonal regeration. Mol. Cell. Neurosci. 17 : 444-459.
• Chaisuksunt V, Zhang Y , Anderson PN, Campbell G, Vaudano E, Schachner M, Lieberman AR (2000) Patterns of expression and distribution of mRNAs for L1, CHL1, c-jun and GAP-43 in identified regenerating neurons of the cerebellum and brainstem of the adult rat. Neuroscience . 100 :87-108.
• Zhang Y , Anderson PN, Roslan R, Lang.D, Schachner M, Lieberman AR (2000) Expression of CHL1 and L1 in the spinal cord, dorsal root ganglion and dorsal root entry zone following sciatic nerve and dorsal root injury. Mol. Cell. Neurosci . 16:71-86 .
• Zhang Y , Dijkhuizen PA, Anderson PN, Lieberman AR, and Verhaagen J (1998) NT-3 delivered by an adenoviral vector induces injured dorsal root axons to regenerate into the spinal cord of adult rats. J. Neurosci. Res. 54 : 554-562.
• Zhang Y , Campbell G, Anderson PN, Lieberman AR , Martini R, and Schachner M (1995) The molecular basis of interaction between regenerating adult rat thalamic axons and Schawann cells in peripheral nerve graft: I. Cell adhesion molecules. J. Comp. Neurol. 361,193-209.
• Zhang Y , Campbell G, Anderson PN, Lieberman AR , Martini R, and Schachner M (1995) The molecular basis of interaction between regenerating adult rat thalamic axons and Schawann cells in peripheral nerve graft: II. Tenascin. J. Comp. Neurol. 361, 210-224.
