Dr Lan Zhu is a Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience at De Montfort University (DMU), Leicester, UK. She earned her Bachelor of Medicine from Tongji Medical University, Wuhan, China, where she also taught Physiology for two years. She pursued her PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Turin, Italy. Following her doctorate, she undertook postdoctoral research at the University of Turin, University of Leicester, and King's College London. She has extensively explored synaptic plasticity related to learning and memory, as well as the role of ion channels - particularly potassium channels - in peripheral neuropathic pain.
Since joining DMU in 2015, Dr Zhu has focused on investigating how cerebellar dysfunction contributes to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, with a particular interest in the dysregulation of voltage-gated potassium channels and their impact on neuronal activity.
She employs a range of techniques, including animal behaviour analysis, electrophysiology, immunohistochemistry, fluorescence and confocal microscopy, western blotting, and RT-qPCR.
Dr Zhu actively collaborates with neuroscientists from DMU, the University of Leicester, and industry partners to advance translational research in neuroscience.