Johns Hopkins Medicine · Baltimore, MD
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Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
About the lab
Our laboratory investigates how immune and metabolic signaling pathways reshape brain function in stress and HIV-related neuropsychiatric disorders, including depression, cognitive dysfunction, and sleep deficits.
We investigate microglial biology, gut–brain immune interactions, and neuroimmune metabolism using single-cell technologies and translational animal models to identify novel therapeutic targets.
Our work has demonstrated that selective inhibition of microglial glutaminase alleviates stress-induced behavioral deficits and that modulation of gut–brain immune signaling improves psychosocial and cognitive abnormalities in murine HIV models.
We are developing next-generation neuroimmune therapeutics for depression, cognitive dysfunction, and sleep abnormalities in both stress- and HIV-related disorders.
News & Events
2026
Dr. Zhu and Ryan Zhang receive Employee and Student Worker of the Year Awards
Johns Hopkins University recognized Dr. Zhu and undergraduate researcher Ryan Zhang for outstanding contributions to experiential learning and mentorship.
March 2026
New paper published in Brain, Behavior and Immunity
Our lab's latest work reveals sex-specific gut mycobiome dysbiosis activates macrophage Dectin-1 signaling to drive neurobehavioral deficits in EcoHIV-infected mice.
2025–2026
Lab trainees receive prestigious travel and pilot awards
Dr. Yannan Li wins the 2026 SNIP Travel Award; Dr. Naigang Li named 2026 NIMH P30 Pilot Awardee — reflecting our lab's strong commitment to mentorship.