Ping Zhang, MD, PhD

Associate Professor of Physiology and Medicine
Department of Physiology

CSRB, Room 305  
533 Bolivar Street
New Orleans, LA 70112
Phone: (504) 568-7881
Fax: (504) 568-2860

pzhang@lsuhsc.edu

Degrees

M.D. -- 1982
Bengbu Medical College
Bengbu, Anhui
P.R. China

Master of Surgery -- 1985
Dept. of Hepatobiliary Surgery
Third Medical University
Chongqing, Sichuan
P.R. China

Ph.D. -- 1990
Dept. of Hepatobiliary Surgery
Third Medical University
Chongqing, Sichuan
P.R. China

Bio

     Dr. Zhang joined the faculty of LSUHSC in 1996, beginning as an instructor and advancing to Associate Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine. In 2010, he was appointed as Associate Professor of Physiology and Medicine by the Department of Physiology at LSUHSC.  
     After earning his medical degree at Third Medical University in Chongqing, Sichuan, P.R. China, Dr. Zhang worked at South-Western Hospital in Chongqing, first as a resident surgeon and later as an instructor. He then accepted a position as attending surgeon and assistant professor at Nanfang Hospital, Nanfang Medical University in Guangzhou, Guangdong.
     Moving to Glasgow, Scotland in 1991, Dr. Zhang completed a fellowship in surgery at Western Infirmary, Glasgow University. He then came to New Orleans, Louisiana to complete fellowships in both Physiology and Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at LSU Health Sciences Center.
     He has authored or coauthored 11 book chapters and reviews, and 74 journal publications. In addition, he serves on the Executive Editorial Board of the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine and is a reviewer for six professional journals.
     Dr. Zhang is a member of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, the Research Society on Alcoholism, the Society of Critical Care Medicine, the International Society for Analytical Cytology, and the Shock Society.
     In addition to his research and teaching responsibilities, Dr. Zhang serves as a mentor for students in the Ph.D. and post-doctoral fellowship programs in Physiology.  

Research Interests

Dr. Ping Zhang's research interest is in the area of immune defense against bacterial pathogens in normal and immunocompromised hosts. He has been engaged in the studies of two major NIH funded research projects:

1. The hematopoietic precursor cell (stem/progenitor) response to bacterial infection in rodent models, particularly the role of phenotypic inversion from downstream progenitors to upstream stem cells in reprogramming hematopoietic precursor cell commitment to granulocyte development following bacterial infection. He also studies how alcohol impairs the granulopoietic response to infection at hematopoietic precursor cell levels.

2. The effects of alcohol consumption on the myelosuppression developed in AIDS disease. This study has been conducted on a primate (rhesus macaque) model of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) infection to investigate the impact of alcohol on the development of myelosuppression and progression of AIDS in these hosts.

Selected Publications

Zhang P, Welsh DA, Siggins II RW, Bagby GJ, Raasch CE, Happel KI, Nelson S: Acute alcohol intoxication inhibits the lineage-c-kit+Sca-1+ cell response to Escherichia coli bacteremia. Journal of Immunology182:1568-1576, 2009.

Zhang P, Nelson S, Bagby GJ, Shellito JE, Welsh DA: The lineage-c-kit+Sca-1+ cell response to Escherichia coli bacteremia. Stem Cells 26:1778-1786, 2008.

Zhang P, Bagby GJ, Happel KI, Raasch CE, Nelson S: Alcohol abuse, immunosuppression, and pulmonary infection. Current Drug Abuse Reviews 1: 56-67, 2008.

Zhang P, Zhong Q, Bagby GJ, Nelson S: Alcohol intoxication inhibits pulmonary S100A8 and S100A9 expression in rats challenged with intratracheal lipopolysaccharide. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 31:113-121, 2007.

Poonia B, Nelson S, Bagby GJ, Zhang P, Quniton L, Veazey RS: Chronic alcohol consumption results in higher simian immunodeficiency virus replication in mucosally inoculated rhesus macaques. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 21:863-868, 2005.

Shahbazian LM, Quinton LJ, Bagby GJ, Nelson S, Wang G, Zhang P: Escherichia coli pneumonia enhances granulopoiesis and the mobilization of myeloid progenitor cells into the systemic circulation. Critical Care Medicine 32:1740-1746, 2004.

Mason CM, Dobard E, Zhang P, Nelson S: Alcohol exacerbates murine pulmonary tuberculosis. Infection and Immunity 72: 2556-2563, 2004.

Quinton LJ, Nelson S, Zhang P, Boé DM, Happel KI, Bagby GJ: Selective transport of cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant from the lung facilitates pulmonary neutrophil recruitment. American Journal of Physiology 286: L465-L472, 2004.

Zhang P, Quinton LJ, Bagby GJ, Summer WR, Nelson S: Interferon-gamma enhances the pulmonary CXC chemokine responses to intratracheal lipopolysaccharide challenge. Journal of Infectious Diseases 187: 62-69, 2003.

Zhang P, Bagby GJ, Happel KI, Summer WR, Nelson S: Pulmonary host defenses and alcohol. Frontiers in Bioscience 7: d1314-d1330, 2002.

Quinton LJ, Nelson S, Boé DM, Zhang P, Zhong Q, Kolls JK, Bagby GJ: The granulocyte colony-stimulating factor response following intrapulmonary and systemic bacterial challenges. Journal of Infectious Disease 185: 1476-1482, 2002.

Peng Y, Rodriguez FH, Kanaly S, Stocking KL, Schurr J, Schwarzenberger P, Oliver P, Huang W, Zhang P, Zhang J, Shellito JE, Bagby GJ, Nelson S, Charrier K, Peschon JJ, Kolls JK: Requirement of IL-17 receptor signaling for lung CXC chemokine and G-CSF expression, neutrophil recruitment, and host defense. Journal of Experimental Medicine 194: 519-528, 2001.

Zhang P, Bagby GJ, Kolls JK, Welsh DA, Summer WR, Andresen J, Nelson S: The effects of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and neutrophil recruitment on the pulmonary chemokine response to intratracheal endotoxin. Journal of Immunology 165: 458-465, 2001.

Peng Y, Garvey PB, Zhang P, Nelson S, Bagby GJ, Summer WR, Schwarzenberger P, Shellito JE, Kolls JK: IL-17 and lung host defense against Klebsiella pneumoniae infection. American Journal of Respiratory Cellular and Molecular Biology 25: 335-340, 2001.

Zhang P, Summer WR, Bagby GJ, Nelson S: Innate immunity and pulmonary host defense. Immunological Reviews 173:39-51, 2000.

Stoltz DA, Nelson S, Kolls JK, Zhang P, Bohm RBJr, Murphey-Corb M, Bagby GJ: In vitro ethanol suppresses alveolar macrophage TNF-α during simian immunodeficiency virus infection. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 161:135-140, 2000.

Zhang P, Bagby GJ, Stoltz DA, Summer WR, Nelson S: Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor modulates the pulmonary host response to endotoxin in the absence and presence of ethanol intoxication. Journal of Infectious Disease 179: 1441-1448, 1999.

Zhang P, Bagby GJ, Stoltz DA, Summer WR, Nelson S: Enhancement of peritoneal leukocyte function by granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in rats with abdominal sepsis. Critical Care Medicine 26: 315-321,1998.

Spitzer JA, Zhang P, Mayer AMS: Functional characterization of peripheral circulating and liver recruited neutrophils in endotoxic rats. Journal of Leukocyte Biology 56: 166-173, 1994.

Boom SJ, Davidson JA, Zhang P, Reidy J, Ramsay G: Comparison of HA-1A and E5 monoclonal antibodies to endotoxin in rats with endotoxaemia. European Journal of Surgery 159: 559-561, 1993.

Siggins RWII, Bagby GJ, Molina P, Dufour J, Nelson S, Zhang P: Alcohol Exposure Impairs Myeloid Dendritic Cell Function in Rhesus Macaques. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 33:1524-31, 2009.