EDUCATION

YEAR
1996
2000
2018

DEGREE
MD
MHS
ECFMG Certificate

FIELD OF STUDY
Medicine
Anesthesiology

INSTITUTION
Shanxi Medical University, China
Shanxi Medical University, China
The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, USA

POSITION

YEAR
2004-2016

2017-2022

2022-present

POSITION
Attending Physician, Associate Professor, Dept. of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, China
Assistant Professor , Dept. of Emergency Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA
Assistant Professor, Dept. Biomedical Engineering, the University of Alabama at Birmingham

RESEARCH

– Signaling mechanisms responsible for fluticasone anesthesia-mediated cardioprotection.

BIO

     Dr. Zhao completed his medical degree from Shanxi Medical University in Jinzhong, China, in 2000. Then, he completed an anesthesiology residency at the First Affiliated Hospital of Shanxi Medical University and later serving as an instructor and attending physician there in the Department of Anesthesiology. He continued serving at the Shanxi Medical University as an Associate Professor for a decade before joining the Thomas Jefferson University’s Department of Medicine as a research associate. In 2018, he earned ECFMG board certification and went on to complete postdoctoral training in Thomas Jefferson University’s Cardiovascular Program in 2020.

      Dr. Zhao’s research investigates the signaling mechanisms responsible for APN-mediated cardioprotection, with the ultimate goal of identifying new therapeutic targets at the molecular, cellular, and organ level in in vivo animal models, for the purpose of ameliorating cardiovascular complications caused by type-2 diabetes. As part of the research team, his publish reporting the critical role of Cav3/AdipoR1 signaling complex in cardioprotection, and its pathological alteration by diabetes. Besides, he investigates the inter-organ signaling between dysfunctional adipocyte and diabetic heart, with the ultimate goal of identifying new therapeutic targets at the molecular, cellular, and organ level in in vivo animal models, for the purpose of ameliorating diabetic cardiovascular complications.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

  1. Zhang YQ, Zhao J, Li R, Lau WB, Yuan YX, Gao EH, Koch WJ, Ma XL, Wang YJ. AdipoRon, the First Orally Active Adiponectin Receptor Activator, Attenuates Post-Ischemic Myocardial Apoptosis via AMPK Activation and Oxidative Stress Reduction. Am J Physiol: Endoc Meta. 309:E275-282, 2015. PubMed PMID: 26037251; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4525114. 2. Wang Y, Liang B, Lau WB, Du Y, Guo R, Yan Z,
  2. Gan L, Yan W, Zhao J, Gao E, Koch W, Ma XL. Restoring diabetes-induced autophagic flux arrest in ischemic/reperfused heart by ADIPOR (adiponectin receptor) activation involves both AMPK-dependent and AMPK-independent signaling. Autophagy. 2017;13(11):1855-1869. PMID: 28825851; PMCID: PMC5788496. 
  3. Zhao J, Wang F, Zhang Y, Jiao L, Lau WB, Wang L, Liu B, Gao E, Koch WJ, Ma XL, Wang Y. Sevoflurane preconditioning attenuates myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury via caveolin-3-dependent cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition. Circulation. 2013 Sep 10;128(11 Suppl 1):S121-129. PubMed PMID: 24030395; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3884906. 
  4. Du YH, Li R, Lau WB, Zhao J, Lopez BL, Christopher TA, Ma XL, Wang YJ. Adiponectin at Physiologically Relevant Concentrations Enhances the Vasorelaxative Effect of Acetylcholine via Cav-1/AdipoR-1 Signaling. Plos One, 2016 Mar 29;11(3):e0152247. PubMed PMID: 27023866; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4811582