Rate My Professor Xiangming Zha

Xiangming Zha, PhD, serves as Professor of Neurosurgery in the Clinical Neuroscience Research Center at Tulane University School of Medicine. He joined Tulane in 2024 following appointments as Associate Professor in the Division of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Pharmacy from 2021 to 2024, and as Associate Professor of Physiology and Cell Biology at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine from 2009 to 2021. Zha received his postdoctoral training at Cell Signaling Technology. His career has focused on neuroscience research, with affiliations including the Tulane Cancer Center as a member of the Genes X Environment Research Program.

Dr. Zha's research centers on brain acid signaling mediated by acid-sensitive ion channels, such as ASIC1a, and proton-sensing G protein-coupled receptors, including GPR4, GPR68, and OGR1, in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke and cerebrovascular pathologies. His laboratory explores neuroprotective mechanisms, including the potentiation of the PERK branch of the unfolded protein response by GPR68 and the role of GPR4 in blood-brain barrier dysfunction during brain ischemia. Key research areas encompass Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Cardiovascular Disease, Cell Biology, Neuroscience, and Signal Transduction. Zha has obtained major funding, including an NIH R01-NS102495 grant titled 'Neuroprotective role of OGR1 in brain ischemia' at the University of South Alabama, a 2019 University of South Alabama College of Medicine Intramural Grant for 'Functional importance of GPR4 in brain microvascular endothelial cell,' and a nearly $2 million NIH grant at UMKC to study neuroprotection in stroke. His work has resulted in over 35 publications cited more than 3,200 times. Representative publications include 'Time-Dependent Potentiation of the PERK Branch of UPR by GPR68 Offers Protection in Brain Ischemia' (Stroke, 2024) and contributions to studies on pH and proton-sensitive receptors in brain ischemia. Zha has delivered seminars, such as 'Targeting acid sensitive receptors in stroke' at the Tulane Brain Institute.