• Home
• About
• Archives

Researcher named UFRF Professor

Dr. Liang Zhou

Dr. Liang Zhou, a professor of immunology at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, has received a UF Research Foundation professorship.

“This recognition goes to faculty who have a distinguished current record of research and a strong research agenda that is likely to lead to continuing distinction in their fields,” said David Norton, UF’s vice president for research. “Based on the more than 700 UF faculty recognized over the past 26 years, we can expect significant research discoveries, scholarship and technology transfer from this group in the future.”

The UFRF Professors were recommended by their college deans based on nominations from their department chairs, a personal statement and an evaluation of their recent research accomplishments as evidenced by publications in scholarly journals, external funding, honors and awards, development of intellectual property and other measures appropriate to their field of expertise.

“Dr. Zhou’s scholarly contributions clearly identify him as an innovator and leader in his discipline, mucosal immunology,” said Chris Adin, D.V.M., the college’s executive associate dean, who helped prepare Zhou’s nomination packet.

Recruited to UF in 2015 through the university’s preeminence initiative, Zhou’s research focuses on the biology of lymphocytes, which are crucial for host defense against pathogens and help maintain health.

“The importance of a healthy gut, which represents the largest immune organ in the body, has gained increasing appreciation in recent years,” Adin said. “Study of the development, regulation and function of lymphocytes in that organ has accordingly become an area of intense research focus. Dr. Zhou’s meticulous methodological approaches and substantive contributions to advancing our understanding of these cells in the healthy and diseased gut have positioned him as a leader in this field.”

Zhou has published more than 58 peer-reviewed articles in his career, which have garnered more than 18,000 citations. Most of his papers are in high-impact journals. The 22 papers he has published since the beginning of 2018 have been cited 545 times. Additionally, Zhou has attracted more than $6 million in extramural funding since 2018. He presents regularly at scientific conferences nationally and internationally.