Speakers
Prof. Xu ZHANG
Fellow, the World Academy of Sciences
Fellow, Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences Director, Guangdong Institute of Intelligence Science and Technology, China
Prof. Xu Zhang, Neuroscientist, Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, TWAS (The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries) Fellow, and Member of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. In 2021, he was appointed as a professor of Shanghai Institute for Advanced Study, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Director of Shanghai Brain-Intelligence Engineering Center, and President of Guangdong Institute of Intelligent Science and Technology, respectively. He is also the President of the Chinese Neuroscience Society, the Vice President of the Chinese Society of Cell Biology, and the Vice President of the Pain Branch of the Chinese Medical Association.
Peripheral nerve injury and persistent inflammation cause pathologic pain. Based on the idea that changes of gene expression in spinal cord circuits may contribute to chronic pain, we developed cDNA microarray technology from rat DRG in the laboratory to systematically describe the gene expression profiles of DRG and spinal cord in chronic pain. The gene expression of ion channels, receptors and signal transducers in the DRG and spinal dorsal horn after peripheral nerve injury has been significantly changed, providing evidences for the unique gene expression profile of DRGs and spinal dorsal horn after peripheral nerve injury. In 2021, we used single-cell sequencing technology to further reveal the change of cell types in primary sensory neurons and corresponding functions caused by neuropathic pain induced by nerve injury. Our current research focuses on exploring the structural change of neural circuits during neuropathic pain, revealing their correlation with neuropathic pain, and finding their effects on cognition and other brain functions as well as related mechanisms of neural circuits.
