Donna D. Zhang is an assistant professor for the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Arizona. She teaches several courses to both graduate and pharmacy students, including Cell Communication and Signal Transduction as well as Pharmacology. In her lab she is currently conducting research on the Nrf2-Keap1 antioxidant response pathway. Nrf2 is a transcription factor that is responsible for the cell’s main defense mechanism against oxidative stress and harmful environmental toxicants and carcinogens. Furthermore, Nrf2 has been shown to play a role in the effectiveness of chemotherapy.

The Nrf2 antioxidant response has been shown to protect against cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, aging, cardiovascular disease, inflammation, pulmonary fibrosis, and acute pulmonary injury. Through the research Donna Zhang and her colleagues have done, they have discovered many natural and chemical compounds that activate this pathway. However, activation of this pathway is not always beneficial. Her most recent paper, entitled “Nrf2 enhances the resistance of cancer cells to chemotherapeutic drugs, the dark side of Nrf2”, demonstrates the effects of Nrf2 in chemoresistance. An important caveat is discussed in this paper: Induction of Nrf2-dependent antioxidant response is beneficial in disease prevention; however, during chemotherapy, Nrf2 can protect cancer cells from killing by chemo-drugs. Consequently, the discovery of Nrf2 inhibitors should aid in the treatment of cancer, which is one of the research directions in Dr. Zhang’s lab.
Donna Zhang’s hard work and sacrifices do not go unnoticed.

In 2006 she was a recipient of the NIEHS Outstanding New Environmental Scientist (ONES) Award. The ONES award is a five year grant to support outstanding investigators early in their careers. The first ONES grants, totaling $3.6 million, were awarded in September 2006 to eight promising young scientists. An article from details the award and states, “In her ONES project, Zhang will seek to elucidate the mechanism of Nrf2 activation and Nrf2-mediated protection against arsenic-induced toxicity and tumorigenicity”. In addition to the support from National Institute of Health, Zhang has also supported by American Cancer Society to identify effective cancer preventive compounds.

Not only is Zhang being awarded for her research, but she is often invited to speak about her research around the world. In February of 2009, Zhang went to Japan and attended The Japan Science and Technology (JST) Agency Symposium, where she was invited to speak among several top researchers. This year’s JST Symposium was titled: Molecular Mechanism of Environmental Response to Food and Oxygen III./ There, Zhang spoke about the cutting edge research currently being done in her laboratory, specifically on the cross talk of Nrf2 with other well characterized pathways. The recent discovery in her lab on the cross talk between Nrf2 and p21cip1/waf1, a gene downstream of the tumor suppressor gene p53, will be published in the high-impact journal “Molecular Cell” in June 2009. She continues to advance science and to achieve recognition for her contribution in the Nrf2 field. More information about Zhang’s research can be found in her website:
http://www.u.arizona.edu/~zhangd/index.html