{"id":239761,"date":"2026-01-07T12:36:34","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T17:36:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=239761"},"modified":"2026-01-07T12:36:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T17:36:34","slug":"uconn-pharmacy-faculty-member-named-aspet-fellow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/01\/uconn-pharmacy-faculty-member-named-aspet-fellow\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn Pharmacy Faculty Member Named ASPET Fellow"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zhong\u00a0completed his bachelor\u2019s degree in biology\u00a0at\u00a0Peking University in China before earning his\u00a0Masters\u00a0of Science\u00a0in biotechnology and Ph.D. in molecular biology from Wageningen University in the Netherlands.\u00a0After\u00a0moving to the United States to explore his passions in genetics, Zhong completed postdoctoral training at Yale University School of Medicine in the Department of Genetics. Working with Professor David Ward\u00a0to investigate\u00a0genetic variability of\u00a0human\u00a0genomes\u00a0during his time at Yale, Zhong moved his research to the Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Therapeutics at the University of Kansas Medical Center.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During his time at the University of Kansas Medical Center,\u00a0Zhong first researched DNA sequence variation to understand the differences between people on a genetic level. Using this research, Zhong became passionate about epigenetics and connected his\u00a0former\u00a0research to\u00a0how gene differences affect patients\u2019 ability to metabolize drugs.\u00a0Building on this work,\u00a0Zhong published pioneering\u00a0work\u00a0examining histone modification, a key\u00a0mechanism\u00a0that helps\u00a0determine\u00a0whether genes are turned on or off based on how tightly or loosely DNA is packaged within proteins.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In his<\/span>\u00a0most recent<\/span>\u00a0career move, Zhong moved back to Connecticut to pursue his current role as Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at UConn\u2019s School of Pharmacy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>For Zhong, joining UConn Pharmacy as a faculty member was\u00a0<\/span>a no-brainer<\/span>\u00a0for him and his family. Spending six years in Connecticut during his time at Yale, Zhong and his family fell in<\/span>\u00a0love with the state and moved back\u00a0<\/span>with excitement.\u00a0<\/span>Additionally, Zhong was enthusiastic about continuing his research\u00a0<\/span>on<\/span>\u00a0epigenetics and drug metabolism at UConn, using animal models to turn this research into\u00a0<\/span>results.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Headshot
Headshot of Xiaobo Zhong (UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once he arrived at the\u00a0School\u00a0in 2012,\u00a0Zhong was tasked with developing a new course in pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine. Working with Theodore Rasmussen (Ph.D.), Zhong\u00a0created\u00a0this\u00a0elective\u00a0course for\u00a0students to take in their third\u00a0(P3)\u00a0professional year.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0not teaching P3 students, Zhong is cultivating passion in students in their first professional year at the\u00a0School.\u00a0Teaching courses\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0Principles of\u00a0Drug\u00a0Action (PDA)\u00a0and\u00a0Introduction\u00a0to\u00a0Therapeutics,\u00a0Zhong introduces\u00a0P1 students to therapeutics\u00a0and treatments for patients.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Aside from teaching, Zhong\u2019s pride lies with mentoring his Ph.D.\u00a0students in epigenetics and genetics research. Using animal models to\u00a0understand how certain drugs are metabolized, Zhong and his students can uncover\u00a0the impact of these drugs on the liver. With the goal of transitioning their research\u00a0on humans and empowering patients to make\u00a0effective medication decisions, some of Zhong\u2019s students have gone on to work for\u00a0pharmaceutical\u00a0companies like Johnson & Johnson,\u00a0Merck,\u00a0AbbVie, and Boehringer Ingelheim.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking for an outlet for his passions in pharmacology, Zhong became an ASPET member in 2007.\u00a0<\/span>Founded in 1908, ASPET is a prestigious, professional scientific society\u00a0with\u00a010\u00a0divisions\u00a0where members explore how drugs and chemicals interact with living systems.<\/span>\u00a0Alongside\u00a0attending\u00a0almost every\u00a0annual meeting since\u00a0becoming a member,\u00a0Zhong\u2019s\u00a0graduate students\u00a0have\u00a0received multiple awards\u00a0for\u00a0best presentations and best papers\u00a0from the prestigious society.\u00a0Zhong is\u00a0also\u00a0a member of the\u00a0ASPET\u00a0Division for Drug Metabolism and Disposition (DMDD) and the Division for Molecular Pharmacology.\u00a0He has served as Councilor (2009-2012) and Chair (2021-2022) of DMDD and is currently on the ASPET Program Committee (2024-2028).\u00a0Additionally, Zhong is the associate editor for the Drug\u00a0Metabolism and\u00a0Disposition\u00a0journal and has\u00a0published more than 30 research papers and more than\u00a015\u00a0editorial articles\u00a0in this journal.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Selected as a 2025\u00a0Fellow, Zhong joins\u00a0former\u00a0UConn School of Pharmacy dean,\u00a0James Halpert (1949-2024)\u00a0and\u00a0UConn School of Pharmacy Pharmaceutical Sciences department head,\u00a0Jos\u00e9\u00a0Manautou\u00a0(Ph.D.)\u00a0as UConn faculty members to be among the\u00a0individuals named\u00a0ASPET Fellows. Honored to receive this prestigious recognition, Zhong is looking forward to the\u00a0future opportunities this position and his role at\u00a0UConn\u00a0will\u00a0provide\u00a0him. Looking to the future, Zhong hopes to pioneer the transition from animal research to human\u00a0centered\u00a0research\u00a0using organ-on-chip\u00a0at the\u00a0School\u00a0and advance drug discovery across the nation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Click\u00a0<\/span>here<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to learn more about ASPET and\u00a0its\u00a02025 Fellows.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Xiaobo Zhong (Ph.D.), Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, has been inducted into the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) 2025 Class of Fellows. Recognized for his efforts in advancing pharmacology through research, mentorship, and service, Zhong joins the prestigious group of 100 researchers from around the world who have been named an ASPET Fellow. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":221,"featured_media":239767,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1864],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2644],"class_list":["post-239761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pharm"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-12 15:59:20","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/221"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239761"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":239768,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239761\/revisions\/239768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/239767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239761"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=239761"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=239761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}