Beika Zhu, PhD

Dr. Beika Zhu's research and long-term career goal is to develop effective therapeutic approaches to cure Alzheimer's disease. After completing her undergraduate study at Sun Yat-Sen University in China, she received her Ph.D. training in Dr. Karl Herrup's lab at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Her graduate study used abnormal neuronal cell cycle activity as a screen to test natural compounds derived from marine bacteria for their potential in preventing it and acting as neuroprotective agents. She was awarded for Hong Kong Ph.D. Fellowship Scheme from Hong Kong government and Best Entrepreneurship Project Award twice in the International Alzheimer's Disease Conference. To further her training and expand her skillset, Dr. Zhu obtained her postdoctoral study in Dr. Xianhua Piao's lab at the University of California, San Francisco. She participates in cutting-edge research in the field of glial biology, and adhesion G-protein coupled receptors. Her background in neurodegenerative diseases with her training in animal models and advanced transcriptomic analysis leads her to specify her research interest on glial-glial communication and neuroinflammation mediated by adhesion GPCRs in Alzheimer's disease.