Jialiu Zeng

Assistant Professor

364 Life Sciences Complex

jzeng22@syr.edu

315.443.7657

Personal Website

Education:

  • Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow, Nanyang Technological University (2021-2024)
  • Postdoctoral Associate, Yale University (2020-2021)
  • Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, Boston University (2020)
  • B.Eng. in Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore (2014)

Institute Affiliation: BioInspired Institute

Areas of Expertise:

  • Nanomedicine and targeted drug delivery
  • Stimuli-responsive biomaterials
  • Translational neuroscience
  • Biomarker discovery
  • Disease modeling

The Zeng lab combines expertise in nanotechnology, biomaterials, and drug delivery systems to develop novel nanomedicine platforms to promote the clearance of toxic protein aggregates in neurodegenerative diseases and target lipid dysregulation in metabolic disorders. Specifically, we leverage these new tools to investigate how insulin resistance, oxidative stress, inflammation, and autolysosomal dysfunction, contribute to Parkinson’s disease (PD) as well as metabolic disorders, including metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), obesity, and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Through an interdisciplinary approach that integrates biomarker discovery, advanced therapeutics, and translational neuroscience, the Zeng Lab aims to pioneer innovative strategies for targeting neurodegenerative diseases and metabolic disorders.

Honors and Awards:

  • Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship, Nanyang Technological University (2021-2024)
  • International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) Travel Grant (2024)
  • Women in Engineering, Science, and Technology (WiEST) Development Grant, Nanyang Technological University (2022)
  • BUNano Cross-Disciplinary Fellowship, Boston University (2016-2018)

Selected Publications:

  1. Asimakidou E, Saipuljumri EN, Lo CH, Zeng J* (2025). Role of metabolic dysfunction and inflammation along the liver–brain axis in animal models with obesity induced neurodegeneration. Neural Regeneration Research, 20(4): 1069-1076.
  2. Zeng J*, Cheong LYT, Lo CH* (2025). Therapeutic targeting of obesity-induced neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 15:1456948.
  3. Asimakidou E, Tan JKS, Zeng J*, Lo CH* (2024). Blood-brain barrier targeting nanoparticles: biomaterial properties and biomedical applications in translational neuroscience, Pharmaceuticals, 17(5):612. 
  4. Zeng J, Loi GWZ, Saipuljumri EN, Silva-García O, Pérez-Aguilar JM, Romero Durán MA, Baizabal-Aguirre VM, Lo CH (2024). Peptide-based allosteric inhibitor targets TNFR1 conformationally active region and disables receptor-ligand signaling complex. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 121(14):e2308132121.
  5. Lo CH*, O’Connor LM, Loi GWZ, Saipuljumri EN, Indajang J, Lopes KM, Shirihai OS, Grinstaff MW, Zeng J* (2024). Acidic nanoparticles restore lysosomal acidification and rescue metabolic dysfunction in pancreatic β-cells under lipotoxic condition. ACS Nano, 18(24): 15452-15467.
  • Quick JD, Silva C, Wong JH, Lim KL, Reynolds R, Barron AM, Zeng J*, Lo CH* (2023). Lysosomal acidification dysfunction in microglia: an emerging pathogenic mechanism of neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. Journal of Neuroinflammation, 185.
  • Lo CH* & Zeng J* (2023). Defective lysosomal acidification: a new prognostic marker and therapeutic target for neurodegenerative diseases. Translational Neurodegeneration, 12:29.
  • O’Connor LM, O’Connor BA, Lim SB, Zeng J, Lo CH (2023). Integrative multi-omics and systems bioinformatics in translational neuroscience: A data mining perspective. Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis, 13(8): 836-850.
  • Zeng J*, Acin-Perez R, Assali EA, Martin A, Petcherski A, Xiao R, Lo CH, Shum M, Liesa-Roig M, Han X, Shirihai O*, Grinstaff MW* (2023). Restoration of lysosomal acidification rescues autophagy and metabolic dysfunction in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Nature Communications, 14(1): 2573.
  • Lo CH* and Zeng J* (2023). Application of polymersomes in membrane protein study and drug discovery. Bioengineering and Translational Medicine, 8(1):e10350.
  • Xiao R^, Zeng J^, Bressler EM, Lu W, Grinstaff MW (2022). Synthesis of bioactive (1-6)-β-glucose branched poly-amido-saccharides that stimulate macrophages. Nature Communications, 13(1):1-13. (^Co-first authors)
  • Rai P, Janardhan K, Meacham J, Madenspacher J, Lin W, Karmaus PWF, Li Q, Yan M, Zeng J, Grinstaff MW, Shirihai OS, Taylor G, Fessler M (2021). Irgm1 links mitochondrial quality control to autoimmunity. Nature Immunology, 22(3): 312-321.
  • Zeng J*, Shirihai OS, Grinstaff MW* (2020). Modulating lysosomal pH: a molecular and nanoscale materials design perspective. Journal of Life Sciences, 2(4):25-37.
  • Zeng J*, Martin A, Shirihai OS, Xue H, Grinstaff MW* (2019). Biodegradable PLGA nanoparticles restore lysosomal acidity and protect neural PC-12 cells against mitochondrial toxicity. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 58 (31):13910-13917.
  • Zeng J, Shirihai OS, Grinstaff MW (2019). Degradable nanoparticles restore lysosomal pH and autophagic flux in lipotoxic pancreatic beta cells. Advanced Healthcare Materials, 8(12): 1801511.
Back to Directory