Professor Zhonghua Gao is an internationally renowned epigenetic biologist who has served as an assistant professor and tenured associate professor at Pennsylvania State University in the United States before joining SUAT. He has made systematic and indispensable contributions in the fields of chromatin and transcriptional regulation, cell fate determination, neurodevelopment, and the mechanisms of autism. He has published multiple important works in top-tier journals, including Nature, Cell, and Molecular Cell, among which his research on the Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 (PRC1) has been cited over 1,000 times. The research group led by Professor Gao has consistently received funding from multiple scientific institutions, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States.

Professor Gao earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Science and Technology of China, obtained his Ph.D. from Cornell University, and conducted postdoctoral research under the guidance of Dr. Danny Reinberg (a member of the National Academy of Sciences and HHMI) at New York University. Since 2015, he has conducted independent research and taught at Pennsylvania State University, including several courses on genetics, epigenetics, and genomics. He has long been involved in reviewing for international journals and funding organizations.

1.Cell differentiation using stem cells and organoids

2.The roles of Polycomb repressive complexes (PRC) in chromatin and gene regulation

3.Epigenetic regulation in neurodevelopment and neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorders

4.High-order chromatin in regulating cell fate transition

Education:

2002–2009

Ph.D., Physiology, Biophysics, and Systems Biology, Cornell University Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA (Mentor: Dr. Xuejun Jiang)

1996–2001

B.S., Biological Sciences, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China

Professional Experience:

2026 - present

Professor, Faculty of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

2022 - 2025

Tenured Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Hershey Cancer Institute, Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology Program, The Penn State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA

2015 - 2022

Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Hershey Cancer Institute, The Penn State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA

2009 - 2015

Postdoctoral fellow (Mentor: Dr. Danny Reinberg, Member of US National Academy of Sciences), Howard Hughes Medical Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

Selected publications

1.Hanafiah A, Geng Z, Liu T, Tai YT, Cai W, Wang Q, Christensen N, Liu Y, Yue F, and Gao Z. (2024). PRC1 and CTCF-Mediated Transition from Poised to Active Chromatin Loops Drives Bivalent Gene Activation. bioRxiv. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.11.13.623456

2.Chavez J, Wolf T, Espana C, Geng Z, Tai YT, Flanagan J, Moldovan G, Stafford J, Gao Z. The zinc-finger protein POGZ associates with Polycomb repressive complex 1 to regulate bone morphogenetic protein signaling during neuronal differentiation. Stem Cell Rev Rep. (in press)

3.Geng Z, Tai YT, Wang Q, Gao Z. (2024). AUTS2 disruption causes neuronal differentiation defects in human cerebral organoids through hyperactivation of the WNT/β-catenin pathway. Sci Rep. 14(1):19522.

4.Geng Z, Wang Q, Miao W, Wolf T, Chavez J, Giddings E, Hobbs R, DeGraff DJ, Wang Y, Stafford J, Gao Z. (2023). AUTS2 controls neuronal lineage choice through a novel PRC1-independent complex and BMP inhibition. Stem Cell Rev Rep. 19: 531-549

5.Chen S, Wang Q, Yu H, Capitano ML, Vemula S, Nabinger SC, Gao R, Yao C, Kobayashi M, Geng Z, Fahey A, Henley D, Liu SZ, Barajas S, Cai W, Wolf ER, Ramdas B, Cai Z, Gao H, Luo N, Sun Y, Wong TN, Link DC, Liu Y, Boswell HS, Mayo LD, Huang G, Kapur R, Yoder MC, Broxmeyer HE, Gao Z*, Liu Y*. (2019) Mutant p53 drives clonal hematopoiesis through modulating epigenetic pathway. Nat Communications. 10(1):5649.

* co-corresponding authors

6.Gao Z., Lee P., Stafford J.M., von Schimmelmann M., Schaefer A., Reinberg D. (2014) An AUTS2–Polycomb complex activates gene expression in the CNS. Nature (Article). 516:349–354.

7.Gao Z.*, Zhang J.*, Bonasio R., Strino F., Sawai A., Parisi F., Kluger Y, Reinberg D. (2012) PCGF Homologs, CBX Proteins, and RYBP Define Functionally Distinct PRC1 Family Complexes. Mol Cell. 45(3):344-56.

8.Trojer P., Cao A.R., Gao Z., Li Y., Zhang J., Xu X., Li G., Losson R., Erdjument-Bromage H., Tempst P., Farnham P.J., Reinberg D. (2011) L3MBTL2 protein acts in concert with PcG protein mediated monoubiquitination of H2A to establish a repressive chromatin structure. Mol Cell. 42(4):438-50.

9.Gao Z., Gammoh N., Wong P.M., Erdjument-Bromage H., Tempst P., Jiang X. (2010) Processing of autophagic protein LC3 by the 20S proteasome. Autophagy. (1):126-37.

10.Gao Z., Tian Y., Wang J., Yin Q., Wu H., Li Y.M., Jiang X. (2007) A dimeric Smac/diablo peptide directly relieves caspase-3 inhibition by XIAP. Dynamic and cooperative regulation of XIAP by Smac/Diablo. J Biol Chem. 19;282(42):30718-27.

Honors and Awards:

2022, Career Citation Milestone Award, Penn State College of Medicine

2017, Scientist Development Award, American Heart Association

2013, National Research Service Award, NIH NCI

2005, The Vincent du Vigneaud Award of Excellence, Cornell University