ZUO, Zhong, Joan 左中BSc, PhD
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Personal Details
Dr. Zuo joined the School of Pharmacy, The Chinese University of Hong Kong in Jan. 2000. She holds a B. Sc. and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences and have had over 15 years’ experience in the biopharmaceutics and pharmacokinetics fields. Dr. Zuo's pharmaceutical industry experience has encompassed pilot batch research and production of tablet, capsule, shampoo and cream as well as high-throughput drug screening.
Research Interests
Flavonoids are polyphenolic phytochemicals present extensively in our daily diet, medicinal plants and herbal remedies. Since Prof. Zuo joined CUHK in 2000, she has secured over 7 million continuous supports from RGC, ITF and HA as PI to support her series investigations on bioactive flavonoids and other herbal components. The mechanistic findings on the absorption and metabolism of these components have been applied to areas such as in vitro and in vivo quality control of herbal products, improvement in delivery of herbal components in vivo, elucidation or even prediction of potential herb/herb or herb/drug interactions in vivo. Dr. Zuo's collaborative researches also extend to the areas of investigation of drug delivery systems for intranasal and transmucosal delivery etc.
Teaching
- Coordinating and lecturing PHAR 2510 Fundamentals of Herbal Medicines
- Coordinating and lecturing PHAR 2210 Dosage Form Science III
- Lecturing PHAR 2220 Biopharmaceutics Pharmacokinetics
- PHAR 3510 Complementary and Alternative Medicine
- PHAR 5130 Overview of Drug Development
Award
- Teacher of the Year Award 2003/2004, School of Pharmacy, CUHK
Recent Publications
- Zhang, Li; Li, Chenrui; Lin, Ge; Krajcsi, Peter; Zuo, Zhong. Hepatic Metabolism and Disposition of Baicalein via the Coupling of Conjugation Enzymes and Transporters-In Vitro and In Vivo Evidences. AAPS Journal (2011), 13(3), 378-389.
- Wen Zhining; Wang Zhijun; Wang Steven; Ravula Ranadheer; Yang Lun; Xu Jun; Wang Charles; Zuo Zhong; Chow Moses S. S.; Shi Leming; Huang Ying. Discovery of molecular mechanisms of traditional Chinese medicinal formula Si-Wu-Tang using gene expression microarray and connectivity map. PLoS One (2011), 6(3), e18278.
- LIN Ge, LI Na, ZUO Zhong, and ZHANG Li. "Drug-drug interactions and drug-dietary chemical interactions." Oral Bioavailability: Basic Principles Advanced Concepts, and Applications, First Edition. Published by John Wiley & Son Inc (2011), 233-251.
- Wang Ling; Wang, Zhijun; Wo, Siukwan; Lau, Clara B. S.; Chen, Xiao; Huang, Min; Lee, Vincent H. L.; Chow, Moses S. S.; Zuo, Zhong* . A bio-activity guided in vitro pharmacokinetic method to improve the quality control of Chinese medicines, application to Si Wu Tang. International Journal of Pharmaceutics (2011), 406(1-2), 99-105.
- Wong, Yin Cheong; Zuo, Zhong*. Intranasal Delivery-Modification of Drug Metabolism and Brain Disposition. Pharmaceutical Research (2010), 27(7), 1208-1223.
Patent
- Chow, Sing Sum Moses; Wang, Yan-Feng; Zuo, Zhong Joan. "Method of enhancing absorptions of transmucosal administration formulations." Singapore Patent No. 129874; USA Patent No. US 7,329,416 B2, granted on Feb. 12, 2008; Chinese Patent No. 200580030149.3, granted March 24, 2010; Hong Kong Patent No. HK1107271, granted on May 31, 2010; Malaysian Patent No. MY-141878-A, granted on July 16, 2010.

