Email

lilei.zhang@bcm.edu

Positions

Associate Professor

Molecular and Human Genetics
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX US

Associate Professor

Internal Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine

Associate Professor

Molecular Physiology and Biophysics
Baylor College of Medicine

Faculty Member

Genetics & Genomics Graduate Program
Baylor College of Medicine

Faculty Member

Development, Disease Models, & Therapeutics Graduate Program
Baylor College of Medicine

Addresses

BCM-MD Anderson Hall (Office)

Room: BCMA-441E
Houston, TX 77030
United States
Phone: (713) 798-2285

Education

MD from Peking University Health Science Center

07/2001 - Beijing, China

PhD from Johns Hopkins University

05/2006 - Baltimore, Maryland

Human Genetics and Molecular Biology

Postdoctoral Fellowship at Johns Hopkins University

05/2008 - Baltimore, Maryland

Internship at University Hospitals Case Medical Center

06/2009 - Cleveland, Ohio

Internal Medicine

Residency at University Hospitals Case Medical Center

06/2012 - Cleveland, Ohio

Internal Medicine

Fellowship at University Hospital Case Medical Center

07/2013 - Cleveland, Ohio

Medical Genetics

Postdoctoral Fellowship at Case Western Reserve University

08/2016 - Cleveland, Ohio

Certifications

Texas Medical Board

Ohio Medical Board

American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics

American Board of Internal Medicine

Professional Interests

• Genetic and Epigenetic regulation of heart failure and cardiomyopathies
• Investigate the pathogenesis and treatment for inherited cardiac diseases using iPSC-CM model

Professional Statement

The overarching theme of our laboratory is to understand the genomic and epigenomic regulation of the cardiovascular system in health and in disease with an emphasis on heart failure and cardiomyopathies.

One of our research focuses is circadian gene regulation in cardiac remodeling. Our work covers the entire circadian regulatory landscape, from the core clock, to the slave clock, to the effectors. We discovered that core clock factor REV-ERB is protective for cardiac pathological remodeling and pharmacological activation of REV-ERB prevents heart failure progression even in late-stages. This was the first example of treating heart failure by manipulating circadian machineries. We also established the very first cardiac slave clock, KLF15, which controls the circadian ischemia reperfusion injury in the heart. Recently, we discovered the first circadian lncRNA, Circa. Circa is uniquely expressed in the adult cardiomyocytes and protects the heart during pressure overload and myocardial infarction through global regulation of alternative splicing via interaction with hnRNP A1. Our goal is to gain knowledge on circadian gene regulation in the heart and ultimately to use this information to design novel therapeutics for heart failure.

Another focus of our laboratory is to study patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cell differentiated cardiomyocytes from patients with inherited cardiomyopathies. Using a comprehensive panel of phenotyping tools (biophysics, electrophysiology, energetics, and imaging) combined with genome editing tools, we aim to establish a platform to diagnose the molecular defects, characterize the pathogenic pathways and develop targeted therapy for inherited cardiomyopathies.

Selected Publications

• Le Li , Hui Li , Chih-Liang Tien , Mukesh K. Jain , Lilei Zhang "Kruppel-Like Factor 15 Regulates the Circadian Susceptibility to Ischemia Reperfusion Injury in the Heart." Circulation. 2020 Apr 27;141(17):1427-1429. Pubmed PMID: 32339045
• Xu W, Li L, Zhang L "NAD+ Metabolism as an Emerging Therapeutic Target for Cardiovascular Diseases Associated With Sudden Cardiac Death.." Front Physiol.. 2020;11:901.
• Zhang L*, Zhang R, Tien CL, Chan RE, Sugi K, Fu C, Griffin AC, Shen Y, Burris TP, Liao X, Jain MK* "REV-ERBα Ameliorates Heart Failure Through Transcription Repression.." JCI Insight. 2017;2(17):e95177. Pubmed PMID: 28878135
• Hsieh PN, Zhang L, Jain MK "Coordination of cardiac rhythmic output and circadian metabolic regulation in the heart.." Cell Mol Life Sci.. 2017;75(3):403-416. Pubmed PMID: 28825119