Disclaimer: The following information is drawn from materials prepared by candidates for promotion to associate professor in one of the scholarship-requiring tracks (RS and CS). It is intended to illustrate activities and materials that might support promotion. In using these materials, please note the following: *The Provost (and, in some cases, the President) are the University officers authorized to approve promotions. All levels of review below these officers are advisory. *Only Departments are empowered to propose promotions, and the Divisional Dean is charged with transmitting such proposals to the Provost or returning them to the Department. *The judgment of the Department, Dean, and Provost will therefore be critical to assessing qualification for promotion. *Materials considered by the Department, Dean, and Provost will also (and always) include confidential evaluations obtained from outside the University. Materials considered by the Provost will include the confidential evaluations of the Dean and Department, and those considered by the Dean will include the confidential evaluations of the Department. *Thus, the following materials are ONLY PART of a complete proposal for promotion, whereas promotion is based on the ENTIRE proposal. Therefore, it should not be assumed that a record comparable to that below will necessarily result in promotion, or that a record not comparable to that below will fail to result in promotion. The Departmental Chair is likely to be the best source of advice as to whether promotion is feasible and, when it is not, what additional activity may result in qualification for promotion. *This document has been prepared as a tool for use by assistant professors in the Division of the Biological Sciences. Other individuals who may find it informative are Department Chairmen, Section Heads, Committee Chairmen, senior faculty and potential recruits. Its intent is to help guide individuals and their departments as they think about promotion to Professor. This document is not intended to list the elements that every promotion proposal will be expected to address. The following information is presented for information purposes only and is not intended to create any contract or agreement, and its contents are subject to addition, deletion, and change without prior notice.

Name

Xiaoxi Zhuang, Ph.D.

Department of Primary Appointment:

Neurobiology

Secondary appointments:

Committee on Neurobiology Biological Sciences Collegiate Division

Present track:

Research Scholar (Tenure)

Proposed rank:

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

Proposed track:

RESEARCH SCHOLAR (TENURE)

DEPARTMENT: What is the candidate's field or specialization?

Dr. Zhuang’s research is in the field of molecular and genetic studies of reward.

LAY SUMMARY:

It has been argued that dopamine is more associated with anticipatory desire and motivation (commonly referred to as "wanting") as opposed to actual consummatory pleasure (commonly referred to as "liking").

Dr. Zhuang works on the molecular and neural pathways responsible for information processing in the basal ganglia, the part of the brain known to be important for movement, motivation and reward. At the University of Chicago, his work has focused on the neurotransmitter, dopamine, and how dopamine acts to modulate the function of the basal ganglia.  By genetically manipulating molecules that regulate dopamine signaling, Dr. Zhuang has made a number of important findings. Animal behavior can be modified by previous experiences with environmental conditions that lead to either reward or punishment.  The role of dopamine in this behavior modification has been well known for decades. However, how the specific aspects of those behaviors are mediated by dopamine signals has not been specified.  By using genetic manipulations that selectively alter either the baseline tonic dopamine levels or the highly temporally regulated phasic dopamine levels in mice, Xiaoxi's work has demonstrated that it is the phasic dopamine that mediates reward experience-dependent learning whereas it is the tonic dopamine that modulates the strength of such learned behavioral responses (e.g. working for food reward). At molecular level, learning is represented by changes in connectivity in the brain. Dr. Zhuang's work further demonstrates that one specific molecule, the adenylyl cyclase type V, is likely the main player in mediating phasic dopamine induced changes in connectivity in the basal ganglia. Dopamine is also known to be important for movement, and the progressive loss of dopamine neurons is the cause of Parkinson’s disease. However, the biochemical basis of selective dopamine neuron loss in Parkinson’s disease remains uncharacterized. Dr. Zhuang's lab has generated a number of transgenic Parkinson’s disease mouse models. His work has demonstrated that dopamine itself, when it is not regulated, is toxic. Overall, Dr. Zhuang's's work is gradually mapping out a important molecular players responsible for a number of mental disorders: addiction, Parkinson's disease, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, obesity and depression.

CURRICULUM VITAE

HONORS AND AWARDS

1991-1996 Columbia Faculty Fellowship

1999-2001 NARSAD Young Investigator Award

2002-2004 NARSAD Young Investigator Award

2006-present Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation Award

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Society for Neuroscience

American Association for the Advancement of Science

Society of Biological Psychiatry

PEER REVIEW ACTIVITIES --- JOURNALS (AD HOC)

Journal of Neuroscience

PNAS

Journal of Biological Chemistry

Journal of Neurophysiology

Journal of Neurochemistry

Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience

European Journal of Neuroscience

Behavioral Brain Research

Biological Psychiatry

Molecular Psychiatry

Neuropsychopharmacology

Psychopharmacology

Experimental Neurology

Neuroscience and Biobehavioural Reviews

Genesis

Journal of Inherited Metabolic Disease

PEER REVIEW ACTIVITIES --- GRANTS (AD HOC)

Human Frontier Science Program

The Department of Veterans Affairs

University of Pittsburgh Pepper Center

PRESENTATIONS

1. Biochemical and behavioral consequences of chronic hyperdopaminergia. Xenogen Biosciences, 2001, Invited

2. Animal models of catecholamine defects. First Symposium on Pediatric Neurotransmitter Diseases, 2002, Invited

3. A novel gene trapping approach for conditional knockout. Symposium on Forward Genetics and Behavior, Chicago Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, 2002, Invited

4. Genetic and behavioral dissection of impulse control. Lehigh University Department of Biology, 2002, Invited

5. Genetic and behavioral dissection of impulse control. International Symposium on Behavioral Genomics, Beijing, China, 2002, Invited

6. Genetic and behavioral dissection of impulse control. Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, 2003, Invited

7. Genetic and behavioral dissection of impulse control. Columbia University, Department of Psychology, 2003, Invited

8. Opening the black box with genetic tools: analysis of dopamine and control of behavior. University of Virginia Neuroscience Seminar Series, 2003, Invited

9. Opening the black box with genetic tools: analysis of dopamine and control of behavior. Northwestern University, Department of Physiology, 2003, Invited

10. Opening the black box with genetic tools: analysis of dopamine and control of behavior. International Conference on Genetic Basis of Brain, Mind and Behavior, Beijing, China, 2004, Invited

11. Opening the black box with genetic tools: analysis of dopamine and control of behavior. Loyola University, Department of Pharmacology, 2005, Invited

12. Opening the black box with genetic tools: analysis of dopamine and control of behavior. University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Neuroscience Institute, 2006, Invited

13. The role of phasic and tonic dopamine in reward-based learning, response vigor and choice behavior. NIAAA, NIH 2007, Invited

14. The role of phasic and tonic dopamine in reward-based learning, response vigor and choice behavior. Ernest Gallo Clinic & Research Center, UCSF, 2007, Invited

15. The role of phasic and tonic dopamine in reward-based learning, response vigor and choice behavior. Columbia University, Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, 2007, Invited