By: DoM Communications
In this month’s Chair’s Spotlight, we feature Wenqing Zhou, PhD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Innate Immunity at UMass Chan Medical School.
For Dr. Zhou, a passion for science began with an early interest in microbiology and human pathogens. As a master’s student at the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Beijing, she was particularly intrigued by how antibiotic resistance develops in Streptococcus pneumoniae, sometimes leading to clinical treatment failures. As her studies progressed, Dr. Zhou’s focus began to shift to the host side of the equation, exploring how the body defends itself against invading pathogens. This growing interest led her to pursue PhD training at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, where she investigated the regulation of neutrophils, key players in the immune system’s first line of defense during tissue inflammation.
Before joining UMass Chan in July 2025, Dr. Zhou completed a post-doctoral fellowship in mucosal immunology at Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University, where she studied immune regulation at barrier surfaces, particularly the intestine. According to Dr. Zhou, the intestine is home to trillions of beneficial commensal microbes, collectively known as the microbiota. At the same time, it serves as an entry site for potential pathogens. The intestinal immune system faces the complex challenge of remaining tolerant to harmless foreign stimuli while mounting defenses against infections. An unregulated immune response in the intestine causes many diseases in the gut and in distal organs. Dr. Zhou finds this dynamic especially fascinating, specifically how the immune system at barrier surfaces can balance these opposing functions and maintain harmony in the body.
At UMass Chan, Dr. Zhou is an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Innate Immunity, where her research continues to focus on elucidating the cellular and molecular mechanisms that orchestrate intestinal homeostasis and health and how these pathways become dysregulated to drive disease pathogenesis in the gut and beyond. “Over the past decades, groundbreaking studies demonstrated that there is a series of specific receptors called pattern recognition receptors, but a majority of this discovery is focused on how the immune cells use these receptors to recognize pathogens and to generate inflammatory responses to attack invading pathogens,” said Dr. Zhou. “How immune cells in the gut sense nonharmful microbiota to initiate tolerance is only beginning to be studied. One of the lab’s focuses right now is defining the sensing pathways in the gut and intestinal immune cells to see how they promote immune tolerance to the microbiota instead of inflammation.”
In addition, Dr. Zhou and her lab are currently studying how immune cells balance pro-inflammatory and tolerogenic responses in the gut. One of the key features of the intestinal immune system is the ability to generate active tolerance to harmless commensal microbiota while maintaining efficient immune responses to harmful pathogens. “For example, RORgt+ immune cells are key responders to gut microbiota that drive tolerance, at the same time, they are essential effector cells to pathogens that orchestrate immunity. One of the other focuses in the lab is to define key regulators in these immune cells that balance between tolerance and inflammation,” said Dr. Zhou.
“As I continue to set up my lab, I’m excited to explore new collaborations. Looking ahead, I’m eager to connect and collaborate with colleagues in immunology, microbiology, and gastroenterology.”
One of the most rewarding aspects of Dr. Zhou’s work is the experimental process itself and the excitement of discovering new results. “The work I do is inherently rewarding because I genuinely enjoy it,” Dr. Zhou explains. “When you have an idea, you test it, and sometimes your hypothesis is correct, sometimes it isn’t, but regardless of the outcome, you end up with a story to tell. And to me, that journey of exploration and discovery is the most rewarding part.”
Looking ahead, Dr. Zhou’s long-term research goals are to investigate how immune cells are regulated to promote health and homeostasis in the mammalian intestine and ultimately provide new insights into therapeutic strategies for the prevention and treatment of inflammatory diseases and disorders in the gut and beyond. “Each day I focus on the experiment in front of me,” said Dr. Zhou. “People often ask you if you have a five-year, or a ten-year plan for your career and life, but for me, honestly, I prefer to focus on the present—taking it one day and one experiment at a time. I believe that if you do your best with the tasks at hand each day, your goals will naturally fall into place.”
We look forward to the upcoming work of Dr. Zhou and her lab in the field of mucosal immunology and beyond.