Elite ALF fellowship awarded to Zhong

UNCG Research congratulates Dr. Wei Zhong on winning an elite Roger L. Jenkins, M.D., Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from the American Liver Foundation (ALF). The ALF Postdoctoral Research Fellowships support M.D.s,  Ph.D.s, and M.D./Ph.D.s in their first or second year appointments as postdoctoral research fellows or trainees.

ALF activities center on the prevention, treatment, and cure of liver disease. Fellowship applicants seek professional development, additional training, and experience in liver research. Only ten individuals received Postdoctoral Research Fellowships this year. Zhong’s peers hail from the Mayo Clinic, Stanford University, the Baylor College of Medicine, Emory, UC-San Diego, the University of Kansas Medical Center, the University of Pittsburgh, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and the INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier in Quebec.

Currently a member of the UNCG Center for Translational Biomedical Research, Dr. Zhong seeks to become an independent researcher of alcoholic liver disease. Alcoholic liver disease represents a major health problem in the United States. Zhong aims to understand the disease’s pathogenesis and develop effective therapies for its treatment.

When the liver metabolizes alcohol, it generates certain aldehydes. When too many of these aldehydes are produced, they play a role in alcohol toxicity. Zhong will use her ALF funding to investigate how the liver detoxifies aldehydes during alcoholic liver disease development.

Dr. Zhanxiang Zhou at the Center for Translational Biomedical Research will serve as Zhong’s research mentor for the fellowship.