Dr. Ming Zhou received a B.S. in biochemistry from Fudan University in Shanghai, China. He came to the U.S. in 1996 to pursue a Ph.D. at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he investigated molecular mechanisms of activation in acetylcholine receptor channels in the laboratory of Dr. Anthony Auerbach.

After he obtained his doctorate in biophysics and physiology in 1999, he joined Dr. Roderick MacKinnon’s laboratory at the Rockefeller University as a postdoctoral fellow and studied structural mechanisms of gating and permeation in potassium ion channels.

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Dr. Ming Zhou received a B.S. in biochemistry from Fudan University in Shanghai, China. He came to the U.S. in 1996 to pursue a Ph.D. at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he investigated molecular mechanisms of activation in acetylcholine receptor channels in the laboratory of Dr. Anthony Auerbach.

After he obtained his doctorate in biophysics and physiology in 1999, he joined Dr. Roderick MacKinnon’s laboratory at the Rockefeller University as a postdoctoral fellow and studied structural mechanisms of gating and permeation in potassium ion channels.

He started an independent laboratory in the Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics at Columbia University as an Assistant Professor in 2004 and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2011.

He joined the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Baylor College of Medicine in 2012. Dr. Zhou ’s research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of transporters that mediate transmembrane flow of small molecules such as ions and nutrients.

With the support of CPRIT, he has tackled the challenge of solving structures of transporters that are involved in cancer biology and elucidating their mechanisms of operation. This research will provide a foundation for developing novel therapeutics that inhibit growth of cancer cells by targeting the transporters.

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