Jenny H. Zhou, MD, PhD Joins UVA Ophthalmology
The Department of Ophthalmology continues to grow its research foundation alongside its clinical and educational missions. In that spirit, we are pleased to welcome Jenny H. Zhou, MD, PhD, who joined the department in January as Associate Professor. She brings a nationally recognized research program focused on vascular biology and retinal microvascular disease, strengthening the department’s expanding research enterprise.
Dr. Zhou’s path into vascular research began during her medical and doctoral training in China. As a physician in an MD-PhD program, she worked with a vitreoretinal surgeon and encountered the global burden of retinal disease firsthand. “I saw retinal disease, including diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration, is overwhelming in the world,” she recalls. That experience led her to focus on vascular studies using the oxygen-induced retinopathy model and ultimately shaped the direction of her scientific career.
She later pursued advanced vascular biology training at Yale University within the Vascular Biology and Therapeutics Program, where she worked alongside leaders in the field and refined her focus on mechanisms of vascular disease. Over the past decade, her research has centered on cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM), a vascular malformation of the central nervous system that can cause hemorrhage, stroke-like symptoms, and significant neurologic disability. The condition may also affect the retina and spinal cord, placing it squarely within the broader field of microvascular biology.
One of Dr. Zhou’s most significant contributions has been defining angiopoietin-2/Tie2 signaling as a central pathway in cerebral cavernous malformation. In work published in Nature Medicine, she demonstrated how dysregulated signaling disrupts endothelial cell junctions and compromises vascular stability. In subsequent research reported in Circulation Research, she identified a population of endothelial progenitors with increased mTOR signaling that contributes to lesion initiation, further clarifying the cellular mechanisms underlying disease progression.
The scientific recognition was meaningful. The patient response left an even deeper impression. After publication, individuals and families affected by cerebral cavernous malformation wrote to her directly. They shared that the research gave them hope that targeted therapies might one day change the course of the disease. For Dr. Zhou, those messages reinforced the responsibility that comes with translational research. “I believe future clinical trials targeting this pathway could improve patient outcomes in the long term,” she says, acknowledging that progress will require sustained collaboration among scientists, clinicians, and industry partners.
Her laboratory continues to expand that work while exploring related questions in retinal vascular biology. She is investigating how cerebral and retinal endothelial systems compare at the single-cell level and has examined the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in retinal microvascular disease in research published in Nature Communications. These efforts reflect her broader focus on disease-relevant mechanisms and her commitment to building a research program that bridges fundamental vascular biology with clinical impact.
Dr. Zhou describes herself as self-motivated, a trait that has shaped her approach to both research and leadership. Running a laboratory, she notes, requires balancing established projects with high-risk exploratory work while navigating the realities of grant funding and publication timelines. She emphasizes teamwork within her group, assigning trainees to projects that match their strengths and encouraging cross-validation of findings to strengthen the final science. “Trainees contribute their strengths,” she explains. “Cross-validation strengthens our research.”
As she transitions fully to UVA, following her move from Yale, Dr. Zhou is focused on building collaborations within the department and across the School of Medicine. Her arrival adds depth to the department’s vascular biology expertise and creates new opportunities for interdisciplinary partnership, particularly at the intersection of retinal disease and systemic vascular mechanisms.
Outside the laboratory, Dr. Zhou balances a demanding research schedule with family life. She enjoys squash, running, and ping pong, and she is the mother of three young children, including twins who are almost two years old. She speaks candidly about the intensity of academic research, often requiring sixty to seventy hours per week, and about the importance of sustaining energy and focus over the long arc of scientific discovery.
Dr. Zhou’s work represents a continuation of UVA Ophthalmology’s longstanding integration of clinical insight and scientific rigor. Her program brings national recognition, translational ambition, and a clear commitment to disease-relevant discovery. We are pleased to welcome her to the department and look forward to the impact her research will have in the years ahead.
Selected Publications
Zhou JH et al. Nature Medicine. 2016.