Professor Guoan ZOU has been working, in the direction of active components from natural products and their activity evaluations, in the Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences since graduating from Peking Union Medical College (Medical Department of Tsinghua University) in 2009 with the PhD specialty Pharmacognosy. Professor ZOU is mainly committed to the innovation and development of ethnic medicine, including extraction, isolation and structural identification of bioactive ingredients, preparation of chemical standard samples, quality standard and evaluation of ethnic medicines. The findings have provided scientific and theoretical evidence for revealing the material basis and promoting the sustainable development of ethnic medicines. In 2013, as one of the chief members, Professor ZOU developed the international cooperation and exchanges with the Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences and promoted the construction of Central Asia Drug Discovery and Development Center of Chinese Academy of Sciences. In addition, he worked as a visiting scientist in the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston for one year from December 2015 to December 2016.
Main research fields and achievements:
Study on the active components of ethnic characteristic medicines
Targeted at the ethnic medicinal resources, modern separation and analysis technology is applied to realize the systematic isolation and rapid identification of their chemical components; while bioactivity screening and mechanism studies are carried out to reveal their pharmacodynamic material basis and action mechanisms.
Quality evaluation of ethnic medicines
To carry out quality analysis and research on ethnic medicines, for improvement and promotion of available standards, and establishment of unavailable ones.
Financially supported projects
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Key Research and Development Program of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Tianshan Talent Training Program, Xinjiang International Science & Technology Cooperation Program, West Light Foundation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the CAS President’s International Fellowship Initiative.
Selected Honors:
l The cultivation candidate of Tianshan Talents Program (2021-2023) of the autonomous region;
l The top-notch young talent of Tianshan Talent Training Program (2023-2026);
l The outstanding youth science and technology award of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region chemical society in 2018 and 2019;
l The first prize of scientific and technological progress of the autonomous region in 2015 (ranked sixth);
l The 11th autonomous region excellent academic paper of natural science in 2011.
Selected Publications
- Yan DF, Zhang MM, Tang D, Song YQ, Liu L, Zhao HQ, Begmatov N, Turginov OT, Zhao B, Yang HQ, Zou GA*. Sesquiterpenoids from Euphorbia esula L. Phytochemistry, 2026, 241: 114663.
- Zhang MM, Nueraihemaiti M, Kamoldinov K, Yan DF, Song YQ, Xu NN, Zou GA*, Aisa HA*. Sesquiterpenoids from Ferula samarkandica. Phytochemistry, 2025, 237: 114529.
- He CH, Lv JM, Khan GJ, Duan H, Wang W, Zhai KF*, Zou GA*, Aisa HA*. Total flavonoid extract from Dracocephalum moldavica L. improves pulmonary fibrosis by reducing inflammation and inhibiting the hedgehog signaling pathway. Phytotherapy Research, 2023, 37(7): 2745-2758.
- Wu JF, Turak A, Zang D, Zou GA*, Aisa HA*. Sesquiterpenoids from Seriphidium transiliense and their melanogenic activity. Journal of Natural Products, 2022, 85(11): 2570-2582.
- Zhao YR, Zou GA*, Aisa HA*. Guaianolides and unusual 3-oxa-guaianolides from Artemisia macrocephala. Phytochemistry, 2022, 197: 113108.
Direction:
Natural medicinal chemistry
