Special Issue with Prof. Ying Zou
On 16 October, JTGG office spoke with Prof. Ying Zou from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine about her pioneering work in cytogenomics, molecular diagnostics, and their translational impact on patient care. Prof. Zou shared insights from her latest research integrating advanced structural genomic technologies to improve diagnostic accuracy and clinical outcomes in complex genetic disorders. Reflecting on her career, she emphasized the importance of bridging clinical practice with laboratory innovation, while encouraging young scientists to remain curious, resilient, and committed to improving patient lives. She also highlighted key future trends in human genetics, including the expanding role of optical genome mapping, multi-omics integration, and earlier detection of disease through precision genomic medicine.
Questions:
1. Your research spans cytogenomics, molecular diagnostics, and their clinical applications. Could you share a recent project where integrating these approaches significantly advanced patient diagnosis or management?
2. With recent advances in technologies like optical genome mapping and next-generation sequencing, how do you see structural genomic analysis reshaping early diagnosis of complex genetic disorders?
3. Looking back on your career, what key experiences or challenges have shaped your approach to combining research and clinical practice, and what advice would you give to young scientists entering translational genetics?
4. In your view, what are the most exciting emerging trends in human genetics over the next five years?
About Prof. Ying Zou:
Dr. Ying Zou is an Associate Professor of Pathology and Genetic Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her areas of clinical expertise include the diagnosis of genetic abnormalities in patients with cancer or congenital diseases. Dr. Zou serves as Co-Director of the Cytogenetics and Cytogenomics Laboratory at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Director of the Cancer Cytogenetics Laboratory, Director of Cytogenomic Research Core, and Associate Director of Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins Genomics.
Dr. Zou is an expert in cytogenetics and clinical molecular genetics. She is interested in the development of clinical cytogenomic and molecular genetics laboratory tests that can be used in the clinical setting for better patient care, personalized medicine, as well as for discovering disease variants and novel cancer biomarkers. She has been involved in multiple clinical trials. Her research interests are centered on two main projects on the topic of (a) understanding and interpretation of genomic data in human diseases and in cancer development and formation, and (b) telomere biology in human aging and cancer. Dr. Zou has published more than 70 peer-reviewed journal articles.
As a member of the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics, Dr. Zou is active in the training of residents and fellows in several training programs, as well as students for clinical cytogenetics, molecular genetics, pharmaco-genomics and personalized medicine. She was recognized with The Best Attending Pathologist Teacher in Clinical Pathology by University of Maryland in 2017-2018. She is an active committee member of professional societies such as American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP), College of American Pathologists (CAP), Cancer Genomics Consortium (CGC), and Association of Genetic Technologists (AGT), etc., as well as an editor, board member, and associate editor for several professional journals.
Editor: Yana Wei
Production Editor: Ting Xu
Respectfully submitted by the Editorial Office of Journal of Translational Genetics and Genomics
