Biography

Xiaoyan Zhou Joined Xuzhou Medical University in 2009. She is a doctoral student, a master's supervisor in genetics at Xuzhou Medical University, and an associate professor. She serves as a standing committee member of the Endocrinology and Diabetes Translational Medicine Professional Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial Research Hospital Association, a member of the Diabetes Branch of the Jiangsu Provincial Geriatrics Association, and a member of the Young Talents Federation of Xuzhou Medical University. She teaches undergraduate courses such as 'Medical Genetics', 'Genetics', and 'Evidence-Based Medicine', graduate courses such as 'Interactions of Biomacromolecules', and international students' course 'Medical Genetics'. She is a national natural science foundation project review expert, a guest editor of the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology, and a reviewer for journals such as the British Journal of Pharmacology and Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism.

She has long been engaged in research on the molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases. By comprehensively employing various technical approaches including clinical sample proteomics analysis, immunology, molecular biology, and structural biology, she explores and clarifies the precise mechanisms of inflammation and immune regulation in neurodegenerative diseases from multiple levels such as population, individual, cell, molecule, and atom. She screens and validates new targets to alleviate neuroinflammation and cognitive impairment, providing theoretical basis for the development of new drugs to treat neurodegenerative diseases and major brain disorders.

Education

Xuzhou Medical University, 09/2018 – 12/2021, PhD        

Xuzhou Medical University, 09/2006 – 06/2009, Master of Medicine

Nanjing Medical University, 09/2002 – 06/2006, Bachelor of Science

Publications:

1. Wu SD, Wang X, Zhou YM, Hu B, Wang KY, Yan CJ, Zhu HY, Li H, Wang XC, Wang HP, Cheng AF, Zhu ZS, Ying CJ, Zhou XY. Setmelanotide alleviates diabetes-associated cognitive impairment by interrupting the binding of ICAM-1 and JIP1 in endothelial cells of the blood-brain barrier. Metabolism 2026, 24:156712

2. Huang CY, Zhang QY, Wang X, Xie YJ, Zhou YM, Yan CJ, Wang KY, Zhu HU, Gao L, Wu SD, Li H, Cheng AF, Hu B, Zhou XY, Ying CJ. An interfering peptide attenuates diabetic encephalopathy by blocking the interaction between CD44 and STAT3. Brain Behav Immun 2026, 136:106782.

3. Gao L, Wu SD, Hu B, Zhang QY, Wu YF, Li H, Qian Y, Huang CY, Wen XR, Li H, Cheng AF, Song YJ, Ying CJ, Zhou XY. Targeting the RAGE-RIPK1 binding site attenuates diabetes-associated cognitive deficits. J Neuroinflammation 2025, 22(1): 162.

4. Ying CJ, Li Y, Wu SD, Gao L, Zhu YD, Qian Y, Wen XR, Li H, Huang CY, Hu B, Song YJ, Zhou XY. MKK3 K329 mutation attenuates diabetes-associated cognitive dysfunction by blocking the MKK3–RAGE interaction and inhibiting neuroinflammation. Aging and Dis 2024, 16(1): 598-618.

5. Zhou, XY, Zhu YD; Gao L, Li Y, Li H, Huang CY, Liu Y, Hu AK, Ying CJ, Song YJ. Binding of RAGE and RIPK1 induces cognitive deficits in chronic hyperglycemia-derived neuroinflammation. CNS Neurosci Ther 2024, 30: e14449.