معرفی
Zirong Gu is an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas), affiliated with the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences. His research focuses on understanding how basal ganglia outputs interact with other brain regions to regulate motivated behavior in both health and disease. His work integrates advanced techniques such as single-cell RNA sequencing, viral tracing, and optogenetics to dissect neural circuits.
Gu holds a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Neuroscience from Columbia University’s Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute (2023) and a PhD in Molecular and Developmental Biology from the University of Cincinnati (2015). His research interests span neurobiology, artificial intelligence in neuroscience, and neurological disorders like autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
His publications highlight studies on corticospinal circuits, basal ganglia function, and axon guidance mechanisms. Recent work emphasizes dopamine’s role in memory modules and the impact of semaphorins on neural circuit formation. Gu has received prestigious awards, including the SFN Plexon Presenter Award (2023) and the NARSAD Young Investigator Award (2019).
He actively seeks graduate and undergraduate students to join his lab, focusing on experimental and computational neuroscience. His grants include a NIH K99 Pathway to Independence Award (2020–2027) for studying basal ganglia subcircuits in action control.
Gu’s lab explores interdisciplinary approaches, combining molecular, anatomical, and behavioral studies to advance understanding of neural circuits in health and disease.
