Summary
Dr Hailin Zhao is a research associate in the Department of Anesthetics, Pain Medicine & Intensive Care, imperial college London.His research interests are in organo-protection and cancer biology. He has been working in the following research areas:
Renal medicine: Renal transplantation
As a mainstream therapeutic method, kidney transplantation has drastically transformed the health quality of patients suffering from end-stage renal failure. Success in renal transplantation is promoted by introduction of powerful immuno-suppressive medication. However, the long-term outcome of the transplanted kidney is still far from ideal. A high priority in kidney transplantation research, therefore, lies in the development of reno-protective strategy, which confers a long-term benefit in graft survival. Dr Zhao has been working in developing novel renoprotective strategy against early graft injury and later graft lost.
Neuroscience: Neonatal asphyxia
Perinatal hypoxic-ischaemic brain damage due to lack of oxygen to the brain during birth remains a major cause of mortality and morbidity. It is crucial that strategies are developed to minimise the long-term neurological sequelae of fetal hypoxia-ischaemia during birth. Dr Zhao has been working in developing novel neuroprotective therapies against neonatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy.
Cancer biology: Tumor growth and metastasis
Cancer remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Surgical resection is a commonly used method for patients with solid tumors. However, tumor metastasis after cancer surgery often occurs, which is mainly responsible for deaths in cancer patients. Dr Zhao has been working in the molecular mechanisms of tumor growth, angiogenesis, metastasis and chemo-resistance and has been investigating the factors which promote cancer recurrence after surgery.
Molecular cell biology: regulated necrosis
Cell death research was revitalized by the understanding that necrosis can occur in a highly regulated and genetically controlled manner. Dr Zhao has been working on the novel cell mechanisms of regulated necrosis, such as necroptosis, parthanatos, pyroptosis and NETosis and exploring their potential roles in organ injury and disease. This is a cutting-edge field with substantial research interest and potential for clinics.
Dr Zhao's research is supported with grants from
British Medical Research Council (MRC), DPFS program (2009-2012)
SPARKS Charity (2012-2014)
BJA / RCoA Basic Science Research Fellowship (2014-2016)
BOC Chair cancer grant (2017-present)
Westminster Medical School Research Trust (2018-present)
The National Institute of Academic Anaesthesia, BJA/RCoA project grant (2018-present)
External Links:
Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Hailin_Zhao
Publications
Journals
Chang E, Wang Y, Zhu R, et al., 2023, General anesthetic action profile on the human prefrontal cortex cells through comprehensive single-cell RNA-seq analysis, Iscience, Vol:26, ISSN:2589-0042, Pages:1-19
Li X, Chang E, Cui J, et al., 2023, Bv8 mediates myeloid cell migration and enhances malignancy of colorectal cancer, Frontiers in Immunology, Vol:14, ISSN:1664-3224, Pages:1-13
Chen Q, Liu X, Liu Z, et al., 2023, Tackling regulated cell death yields enhanced protection in lung grafts., Theranostics, Vol:13, Pages:4376-4390
Wong R, Zhang Y, Zhao H, et al., 2022, Circular RNAs in organ injury: recent development, Journal of Translational Medicine, Vol:20
Iwasaki M, Zhao H, Hu C, et al., 2022, The differential cancer growth associated with anaesthetics in a cancer xenograft model of mice: mechanisms and implications of postoperative cancer recurrence, Cell Biology and Toxicology, ISSN:0742-2091