Phone: +45 2754 8468
E-mail: mzhang@health.sdu.dk
Department:
Institute of Molecular Medicine (IMM)
Biography:
Mengliang Zhang is an Associate Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Southern Denmark. Mengliang Zhang received his education in clinical medicine in China at Jinzhou Medical University from 1981 to 1986. He obtained his master’s degree in neuroanatomy at Dalian Medical University in China in 1991. He got his PhD in neurophysiology at Lund University in Sweden in 2001. From 2001 to 2004 he did a 3-year postdoc at Pennsylvania State University, USA. In 2004, as a research associate professor, Mengliang Zhang joined “Motor Control of Movement Group in Copenhagen” at University of Copenhagen. From 2013, as a researcher, Mengliang Zhang worked at Neuronano Research Center at Lund University directed. He became a reader (docent) at Lund University in 2017. He moved to University of Southern Denmark since 2018.
2001: Lund University, Lund, SwedenPhD, Neuroscience/Neurophysiology 1991: Dalian Medical University, Dalian, ChinaMS, Neuroanatomy 1986: Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou, ChinaMD, clinical medicine |
2001-2004: Pennsylvania State University, USAPost-Doctoral scholar, Neuroscience |
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Dr. Zhang’s main interest is investigate mechanisms underlying motor deficits following traumatic brain injury. Traumatic brain injury is a complex injury with a broad spectrum of symptoms and disabilities, which include a variety ofphysical and psychological effects.Motor deficits are commonly seen following traumatic brain injury.One of the physical changes is abnormal posturing, especially when the injury is severe. In collaboration with Prof. Georgy Bakalkin from Uppsala University and Prof. Jens Schouenborg they try to investigate a spinal mechanism underlying the formation of abnormal posture using a rat model. In addition to the neural mechanism, they found that the neuroendocrine system may play a critical role for the formation of postural deficits following brain injury. They are trying to find out which neurohormones are involved and what are the acting mechanisms for these substances. Their ultima aim will be to find a pharmacotherapy to treat oralleviateabnormal postural symptom induced by brain injury.
Dr. Zhang’s another research topic is to study mechanisms of hypotension following spinal cord injury.A symptom following spinal cord injury is the lowered blood pressure especially in its acute and subacute phase. Often the patients experience hypotension when the body position is changed – so called orthostatic hypotension. Although there are some hypotheses for the etiology of orthostatic hypotension the exact mechanism is still unclear. He will investigate the mechanism behind this cardiovascular functional change using spinal cord injured animal models. A candidate to potentially regulate the blood pressure in the spinal cord may be cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons around the central canal. Since these neurons are mechanosensitive, they may detect the pressure changes in the spinal cord/cerebrospinal fluid and further act on the sympathetic neurons to regulate hemodynamics. |