Rate My Professor Q. Zhou

Professor Qiang Zhou is a Chair Professor in the School of Biological Sciences within the Faculty of Science at the University of Hong Kong, where he also serves as Dean of the Faculty since 2022. He obtained his B.Sc. in 1986 from the University of Science and Technology of China and his Ph.D. in 1992 from the University of California, Los Angeles. Before joining HKU, he was on the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, receiving prestigious awards including the Schubert Family Junior Faculty Award (1997-1999), Hellman Faculty Award (2000), France-Berkeley Fund Award (2000), American Cancer Society Research Award (2001), and Biological Sciences Award (2002). His postdoctoral training included fellowships from the Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research (1993-1996) and the US Army Breast Cancer Research Program (1996).

Professor Zhou's research focuses on molecular biology, specifically the mechanisms and human co-factors regulating HIV-1 gene expression and latency, transcriptional elongation of RNA polymerase II in health and diseases, phase-separation mechanisms affecting transcription and DNA damage response, and epigenetic control of gene transcription. Notable publications include Fong and Zhou (2001) 'Stimulatory effect of splicing factors on transcriptional elongation' in Nature; Yang et al. (2001) 'The 7SK small nuclear RNA inhibits the CDK9/cyclin T1 kinase to control transcription' in Nature; Yik et al. (2003) 'Inhibition of P-TEFb (CDK9/cyclin T) kinase and RNA polymerase II transcription by the coordinated actions of HEXIM1 and 7SK snRNA' in Molecular Cell; Zhou et al. (2012) 'RNA Polymerase II elongation control' in Annual Review of Biochemistry; Lu et al. (2018) 'A phase separation mechanism for hyperphosphorylation of RNA polymerase II CTD' in Nature; and Fu et al. (2022) 'Poly(ADP-ribosylation) of P-TEFb disrupts phase separation to inhibit global transcription after DNA damage' in Nature Cell Biology. He has earned additional honors such as the China and United States Biochemistry Examination and Application Fellowship (1987), University of California Cancer Research Coordinating Committee Award (2009), and service as Charter Member of the NIH AIDS Molecular and Cellular Biology Study Section (2007-2011). Professor Zhou has delivered key lectures, including the CFAR Leaders-in-AIDS Lectureship (2006) and the 21st Century Global Center of Excellence Lectureship (2008).