Prof. Zhongjun Zhou is the Chui Fook-Chuen Professor in Molecular Medicine at the School of Biomedical Sciences, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong (HKU). He holds an MD in Pathophysiology from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, and a PhD in Medical Biochemistry from Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. An internationally recognised researcher in ageing biology, matrix biology and developmental biology, Prof. Zhou’s work investigates how chromatin architecture, nuclear and extracellular matrix proteins, and stem-cell regulation influence development, ageing and age-related diseases. His research has generated important insights into premature ageing syndromes, DNA repair, epigenetic regulation and longevity, including work on the molecular mechanisms underlying Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome.

More recently, Prof. Zhou’s team has developed human islet-organoid platforms for diabetes treatment, single-cell multi-omics technologies, and approaches to identify senescent-cell antigens for anti-ageing antibody drugs and vaccines. He is the founding President of the Hong Kong Society for Cell Biology and the Asian Society of Aging Research, and serves as Editor-in-Chief of Translational Medicine of Aging. He has received major academic honours including the Croucher Senior Research Fellowship, HKU Outstanding Research Award and the State Science and Technology Award (Second Class). His project on the production of human pluripotent stem cell-derived islet organoids for diabetes treatment has also received support under the Innovation and Technology Commission’s RAISe+ Scheme.