The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston · PharmacologySerotonin Modulation Research Lab
Jia Zhou · Galveston, Texas
Research Focus
Dr. Jia Zhou's lab at the University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston focuses on understanding cocaine use disorder (CUD) and exploring new treatments. The team is particularly interested in how serotonin receptors can be modulated to help reduce cravings and relapse in individuals struggling with CUD. They aim to develop novel compounds that improve serotonin receptor function as a potential therapy for CUD and related neuropsychiatric disorders.
Cocaine use disorderserotonin receptorsallosteric modulationdrug discoveryneuropsychiatric treatment
Research Aims
3AIM 01Develop new positive allosteric modulators for the serotonin 5-HT2C receptor.
AIM 02Optimize these compounds for drug-like properties.
AIM 03Test the efficacy of optimized modulators in preclinical models of cocaine use disorder.
Skills the Lab Values
in vivo modelingbehavioral assaysdrug metabolism studiespharmacokineticsrodent handlingmolecular docking simulationsbiological assay techniquespharmaceutical preparation
Output against the department
Publications419top 15% of dept.67th of 462
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations13ktop 29% of dept.136th of 462
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.