Dr. Zinan Zhou is a neurogeneticist and genomic scientist whose research focuses on how somatic mutations shape human brain aging and neurodegenerative disease. He received his B.S. from Purdue University and earned his Ph.D. at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in the laboratory of Dr. Mark Kahn, where he studied cardiovascular and cerebrovascular development. He subsequently completed postdoctoral training with Dr. Christopher A. Walsh at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where he led pioneering work demonstrating that somatic mutations can directly contribute to neurodegenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, frontotemporal dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease. His research has helped establish somatic mosaicism as a fundamental biological mechanism linking DNA damage, aging, and neurodegeneration, reshaping the conceptual framework for how these disorders arise. Dr. Zhou has received the Robert Austrian Basic Science Award from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Department of Defense PRMRP Discovery Award, and the American Heart Association Career Development Award. His current work receives support from the University of Chicago Center for Motor Neuron Disease and the Safadi Faculty Scholar Program.