Peng Zou

Associate Professor (with tenure), College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University.

Research Interests:
We aim to invent chemical and biophysical tools to map neuronal activities at high spatiotemporal resolution. We apply these tools to investigate the underlying biological macromolecules, physical forces, and chemical signaling that give rise to neuronal functions. Examples are engineered enzymes, fluorescent indicators, custom-built microscopes and software, etc.

Our methods are drawing from a wide range of techniques, including protein engineering, chemical synthesis, molecular and cellular biology, fluorescence microscopy, high-throughput sequencing, mass spectrometry-based proteomics, and quantitative modeling.

Current research projects include:
1) Free radical-based chemical probes for profiling proteins and RNAs in neurons
2) Genetically encoded optical reporters for neural activities
3) Directed evolution of enzyme tools