Rate My Professor Zhe Han

Dr. Han's research employs Drosophila and human cells to model human genetic diseases, with emphasis on heart, kidney, blood, muscle, metabolic disorders, cancer, and COVID-19. His lab pioneered Drosophila nephrocytes as models for human podocytes in nephrotic syndrome and APOL1 nephropathy, high-throughput validation for congenital heart disease variants, and functional analysis of SARS-CoV-2 proteins. Achievements include the "Gene Replacement" approach for disease gene validation and identification of a dietary supplement as targeted therapy for COQ2-related kidney disease. Select publications are "SARS-CoV-2 Nsp6 causes cardiac defects through MGA/MAX complex-mediated increased glycolysis" (Communications Biology, 2022), "Exocyst Genes Are Essential for Recycling Membrane Proteins and Maintaining Slit Diaphragm in Drosophila Nephrocytes" (Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 2020), "Mutations in NUP160 are implicated in Steroid-Resistant Nephrotic Syndrome" (JASN, 2019), and "High throughput in vivo functional validation of candidate congenital heart disease genes in Drosophila" (eLife, 2017). Major awards include NIH R01 grants such as R01-DK098410 ("Drosophila, a new genetic model for glomerular diseases and drug discovery") and R01-HL134940 ("Ancestral roles of histone-modifying genes in heart development and disease"), and the American Heart Association National Scientist Development Award (2006). Dr. Han leads the Disease Modeling Unit and Coordination Section in CPDM@UMB, advancing precision disease modeling.