Research/Areas of Interest
Characterization of neural stem cells that may be appropriate as therapeutic sources as well as in vivo and in vitro bioassays to test the role of nutritional supplements in maintaining brain health and preventing age-related neurological diseases.
Education
- PhD, University of Tennessee, Memphis
Biography
Dr. Tong Zheng is a Research Scientist I on the Neuroscience and Aging Team at the HNRCA. Her research interests include characterization of brain stem cells that may be appropriate as therapeutic sources as well as bioassays to test the role of nutritional supplements in maintaining brain health and preventing age-related neurological diseases. She has conducted studies focused on stroke-, degenerative disease- and cancer-related stem and progenitor cells including adult, fetal neural progenitor cells, human induced pluripotent stem cells, and human mesenchymal stem cells. Dr. Zheng studies these cells as potential treatments for brain diseases by grafting them into neonatal and adult animal models. She has recently been investigating the effect of nutrient supplements in brain development as well as on the aging brain using neural stem cells as in vivo and in vitro models. Dr. Zheng has authored over 30 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters. She was awarded the Rehabilitation Research Associate Investigator Award from the Brain Rehabilitation Research Center in Gainesville, Florida and a predoctoral fellowship from the Neuroscience Center at the University of Tennessee. Dr. Zheng is member of the Society for Neuroscience.