Virginia Commonwealth University · PharmacologyNeuroinflammation and Alzheimer's Research Unit
Shijun Zhang · Richmond, Virginia
Research Focus
Dr. Shijun Zhang's lab at Virginia Commonwealth University focuses on understanding and combating Alzheimer's disease, particularly through the lens of neuroinflammation. The lab is exploring innovative PET imaging techniques to identify and measure the inflammatory responses associated with Alzheimer's, using a component of the immune system called the NLRP3 inflammasome. Additionally, they are developing new small molecule inhibitors that target NLRP3 to potentially halt or reverse the cognitive decline associated with this disease.
Alzheimer's diseaseneuroinflammationNLRP3 inflammasomePET radiotracersdrug developmentcognitive functionmolecular pharmacologysmall molecule inhibitorstherapeutics
Research Aims
3AIM 01Develop PET radiotracers that specifically target the NLRP3 inflammasome in Alzheimer's disease.
AIM 02Optimize the structure of small molecule NLRP3 inhibitors for better potency and delivery.
AIM 03Evaluate the effectiveness of NLRP3 inhibitors in reducing neuroinflammation and improving cognitive functions in animal models.
Skills the Lab Values
cell cultureanimal modelsmedicinal chemistryradiochemistryPET imagingbiodistribution analysisstructure-activity relationship (SAR) analysispharmacokinetics (PK)biological assays
Output against the department
Publications177bottom 48% of dept.239th of 462
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations4.4kbottom 33% of dept.309th 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.