Juan Zhao

Juan Zhao, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at East Tennessee State University's Quillen College of Medicine in Johnson City. Her research focuses on T cell immune aging mechanisms and their role in chronic viral infections, HIV latency, and immunocompromised states.

Education:

• Bachelor's in Medicine (Anesthesiology), Xuzhou Medical University, China (2011)
• MS in Medicine (Immunology), Soochow University, China (2014)
• PhD in Biomedical Science (Infectious Disease), East Tennessee State University, USA (2019)

Research Overview: Dr. Zhao investigates how T cell immune aging contributes to pathogenesis in chronic viral infections. Her work aims to identify pathways that could be targeted to improve immune responses in HIV latency and other immunocompromised conditions.

Scientific Contributions:

• Principal investigator on an NIH-funded study
• Co-investigator on multiple NIH-funded projects
• Published over 30 peer-reviewed articles