Dr Lan Zhao

Dr Lan Zhao is a Principal Investigator in the Cardiovascular Group. Following completion of her PhD in 1993 at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, University of London, Dr Zhao has been based at Imperial College. Her appointments have included Senior Research Fellow, BHF Intermediate Research Fellow and Lecturer in Integrative Physiology and Pharmacology. She is currently a non-Clinical Lecturer at Imperial College.
Dr Zhao's research interests are centred in exploring and exploiting the cGMP signalling pathways in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Using established PAH models (hypoxia, monocrotaline, transgenic) and in vivo and in vitro physiology techniques (telemetry, isolated perfused lung, myograph, echocardiography) as the fundamental platform for investigating pathophysiology, and complementing these by cell culture, lung immunochemistry, 3D image analysis (microCT), genome-wide analysis, real time RT-PCR, ELISA, confocal microscopy and proteomics, available either in the Department or across the campus, for providing cellular and molecular mechanisms, Dr Zhao aims to develop novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of PAH. Her present principal project focuses on the role of the cofactor tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), an important regulator of eNOS function, in modulating the NO and superoxide balance and endothelial function in PAH. She is also working on BMPR-II related signalling pathway in PAH and investigating therapies such as statin, neutral endopeptidase inhibitor and PPAR receptor modulators among other projects. She currently holds grants from the British Heart Foundation and Biomarin.