ASCI / Emerging-Generation Awards, 2024

Ching Zhu, MD, PhD first became passionate about cardiac electrophysiology at age 14 when she began studying cardiac gap junction biology in Robert Gourdie's lab at the Medical University of South Carolina. During her high-school years, she was lead author and co-author on several highly cited publications on connexin regulation. Dr. Zhu received her bachelor's degree in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard University and her MD from Stanford University School of Medicine. She completed Internal Medicine residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School, and went on to concurrently complete her clinical Cardiovascular Disease fellowship and PhD in Molecular and Cellular Integrative Physiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. During her PhD training, Dr. Zhu published on novel mechanisms of neural control in myocardial infarction. Currently a Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellow at UCLA, Dr. Zhu spends her days performing ablation procedures on patients with complex arrhythmias, and her nights conducting bench experiments on molecular and cellular mechanisms of arrhythmia susceptibility. Upon completion of her fellowship, she will transition to a physician-scientist faculty position where she can apply her passion for basic science to advancing therapy for patients with heart rhythm disorders.