Yin and Yang of PARP inhibition

Speaker: Shan Zha

Venue: Meeting Room 705, School of Medical Complex Building, Zijingang Campus

Abstract: Professor Shan Zha is the James A. Wolff Professor of Pediatrics at Columbia University Medical Center, an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), and an internationally renowned scholar in the interdisciplinary field of DNA damage repair and immunology. Her research has long focused on DNA double-strand breaks and genomic instability. Using transgenic mouse models and cell biology techniques, she has systematically elucidated the central roles of key repair factors such as ATM, DNA-PKcs, and PARP in maintaining genomic stability, regulating immune system development, and suppressing lymphomagenesis. In recent years, she pioneered the discovery of novel roles for the DNA repair proteins Ku and DNA-PKcs in RNA metabolism and innate immune regulation, opening new directions in the intersection of genome integrity and immune response.

Professor Zha has an extensive publication record, with over 70 papers in top international journals such as Nature, Molecular Cell, and PNAS. As an independent principal investigator, she has led eight NIH R01 grants and one NIH P01 multidisciplinary program project. She has long served on the editorial boards of journals including Nucleic Acids Research and JCB, and is a reviewer for leading journals such as Nature and Science. In 2020, she launched and organized the international online seminar series “SocialDNAling,” bringing together scholars from around the world. She has also served as chair multiple times for Gordon Research Conferences (GRC) and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) meetings, making significant contributions to advancing the field and promoting international collaboration.