Rate My Professor Wenbo Zhang

Wenbo Zhang, PhD, is Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and Professor of Neurobiology at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), holding the Edwin and Rebecca Gale Endowed Distinguished Chair in Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. He received his B.S. in Biochemistry from Yunnan University (joint undergraduate program with Fudan University) in 1997 and his Ph.D. in Cell Biology from the Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in 2003, during which he served as an exchange student at the University of Louisville from 2000 to 2001. Dr. Zhang completed his postdoctoral training at the Vascular Biology Center of Georgia Health Sciences University, where he was awarded postdoctoral fellowships from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International and the American Heart Association. He joined UTMB in 2011.

The research in Dr. Zhang's laboratory elucidates mechanisms of retinal injury in ischemic retinopathies, including diabetic retinopathy, retinopathy of prematurity, and glaucoma, encompassing retinal neuronal injury, vascular leakage and degeneration, and pathological angiogenesis. His team examines the roles of endoplasmic reticulum stress, inflammatory chemokines such as CXCL10/CXCR3, Sirt6 in neuroprotection against aging and glaucoma, Epac1 in Müller glial activation and neurodegeneration, and epigenetic regulators in ocular chemical injury. Employing mouse and rat models, primary cell cultures, molecular biology techniques, immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry, and advanced imaging, they explore nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery and novel mediators for therapeutic intervention. Dr. Zhang has authored 68 peer-reviewed articles, 5 reviews, and 2 editorials, with notable publications including "Sirt6 protects retinal ganglion cells and optic nerve from degeneration during aging and glaucoma" (Molecular Therapy, 2024), "CXCR3 Deficiency Alleviates Retinal Ganglion Cell Loss by Regulating Neuron–Astrocyte Communication in a Mouse Model of Glaucoma" (Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, 2025), "Epac1 deletion attenuates Müller glial pathological activation and mitigates retinal neurodegeneration in ischemia-induced retinopathy" (Journal of Advanced Research, 2025), and "Progressive Retinal Vascular and Neuronal Degeneration in BXD32 Mice: A Model for Age-Dependent Neurovascular Pathology" (International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2025). His work contributes to brain health research through active grants and collaborations on neurodegenerative diseases using the retina as a window to the brain.