Rate My Professor Rui Zhao

Rui Zhao, PhD, serves as Professor and Vice Chair for Strategic Planning in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She earned a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Science and Technology of China before pursuing her PhD at Purdue University in 1996. Following postdoctoral training at the University of North Carolina supported by a Cancer Research Institute fellowship, she joined the CU Anschutz faculty in 2004, achieving full professor status in 2019. As a member of the University of Colorado Cancer Center, Zhao leads a lab employing structural biology techniques such as cryo-EM and X-ray crystallography, alongside biochemical and genetic methods, to investigate fundamental biological processes implicated in disease.

Zhao's research centers on the molecular mechanisms of pre-mRNA splicing, a critical eukaryotic gene expression step where errors contribute to at least 30% of human genetic disorders and many cancers. Her lab elucidates spliceosome dynamics, comprising five snRNAs and over 100 proteins that undergo conformational changes across splicing cycles. Additionally, she studies the Six1/Eya transcriptional complex, aberrantly upregulated in cancers like breast and brain tumors, where Eya's phosphatase activities promote oncogenesis. Collaborative efforts have identified small-molecule inhibitors targeting Six1/Eya and splicing modulators, with potential therapeutic applications. Notable publications include 'Cryo-EM structures reveal the PP2A-B55α and Eya3 interaction that can be disrupted by a peptide inhibitor' (J Biol Chem, 2025), 'EYA3 regulation of NF-κB and CCL2 suppresses cytotoxic NK cells in the premetastatic niche to promote TNBC metastasis' (Sci Adv, 2025), and 'Selected humanization of yeast U1 snRNP leads to global suppression of pre-mRNA splicing and mitochondrial dysfunction' (RNA, 2024). With over 6,600 citations and an h-index of 44 on Google Scholar, her work significantly influences splicing regulation and cancer therapy fields. Zhao mentors trainees who have secured major grants and advanced to independent research positions.