Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology and MSc Pharmacology Course Leader

I studied BSc and MSc in Pharmaceutical Sciences at China Pharmaceutical University (1982-1989) and was appointed as Lecturer in Pharmaceutics at the same university (1989-1991) before I headed to Aberdeen for my PhD studies (1992-1995) with Professor Mike Richards at School of Pharmacy (RGU).

I did my postdoctoral training in toxicology group led by Professor Alan Boobis at Imperial College London (2000-2009). During this time I developed the label-free quantitative proteomics and applied it to identify metabolising enzymes in 3D human skin and estrogen responsive protein biomarkers in human breast cancer cells.

Apart from my academic research career, I am a pharmacist registered with General Pharmaceutical Council (UK) with practising experience in community pharmacy.

In January 2010, I was appointed as Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology within the Division of Science at the University of Bedfordshire.

Qualifications

• PhD in Pharmacology - The Robert Gordon University, UK
• MSc in Biopharmaceutics & Pharmacokinetics - China Pharmaceutical University, China
• BSc in Pharmaceutical Science - China Pharmaceutical University, China

Teaching expertise

• Pharmacology (UG Level 2 and UG Level 3)
• Molecular Pharmacology (MSc)
• Drug Discovery & Development (MSc)
• Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (MSc)
• Undergraduate and postgraduate lab-based projects

Research interests

• Novel alternative non-animal safety testing for cosmetic chemicals
• Metabolism pathways in skin
• Skin sensitization
• Label free quantitative proteomics

Research projects

• Identification of metabolism pathways in human and rodent skin models by proteomics
• Mechanistic studies of skin sensitization
• The development of co-culture cell model to explore toxicity of chemical exposure
• Effects of formulations on skin disposition and biotransformation

Publications

• Sven van Eijl, Zheying Zhu, John Cupitt, Magdalena Gierula, Christine Götz, Ellen Fritsche and Robert J Edwards. Elucidation of xenobiotic metabolism pathways in human skin and human skin models by proteomic profiling, PLoS-ONE 2012 (accepted; Impact factor 4.41)
• Zheying Zhu, Robert J Edwards. Application of proteomics to study mechanisms of toxicity and dose-response relationships of chemical exposure, Handbook of Systems Toxicology, p255-264 published by John Wiley & Sons, January 2011 (invited contribution)
• Camilla Pease, Zheying Zhu, Christine Goetz, Pierre Aeby, Paul Carmichael,
  Daniel Duche, Carsten Goebel, Stefan Pfuhler, Kerstin Reisinger, Robert Edwards
  and Ellen Fritsche. Human skin metabolism and its relevance to safety assessment of topically applied chemicals: learning from the COLIPA skin metabolism project, Proceedings at 7th World Congress on Alternatives to Animal Testing in the Life Science, Rome, Italy, 2009
• Zheying Zhu, Robert J Edwards, Alan R Boobis. Increased expression of histone proteins during estrogen-mediated cell proliferation, Environmental Health Perspectives 117 (6):928-934, 2009 (Impact factor: 6.19)
• Zheying Zhu, Alan R Boobis, Robert J Edwards. Identification of estrogen-responsive proteins in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells using label-free quantitative proteomics, Proteomics 8:1987-2005, 2008 (Impact factor: 4.81)
• Zheying Zhu, Robert J Edwards, Alan R Boobis. Proteomic analysis of human breast cell lines using SELDI-TOF-MS shows that mixtures of estrogenic compounds exhibit simple similar action (concentration additivity), Toxicology Letters 181:93-103, 2008 (Impact factor: 3.58)

Contact details

T: +44 (0)1582 743476
E: zheying.zhu@beds.ac.uk