Faculty Profile for Dr. Jie Zhu

profile photo for Dr. Jie Zhu
Dr. Jie Zhu
Assistant Professor — School of Family & Consumer Sciences
FCS 101
phone: (512) 245-2135
Scholarly/Creative Work
Awards
Grants
Service

Biography Section

Biography and Education

 Dr. Zhu currently is a tenured associate professor of Human Nutrition. He earned his B.S. in Clinical Medicine and M.D. from School of Medicine at Wuhan University. Thereafter, he earned his Ph.D. in Internal Medicine with a focus on Gastroenterology and Nutrition from The First Clinical Medical College at Wuhan University. After that, he was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship in Human Nutrition at UNC Nutrition Research Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Teaching Interests

 Nutrient Metabolism; Nutritional Biochemistry; Nutrition and Health

Research Interests

 Dr. Zhu’s research focuses on exploring how diet patterns/nutrients (especially one-carbon metabolism nutrients) and gene interactions affect human chronic diseases risk, and understanding inter-individual differences in nutrients metabolism through a systems biology approach which incorporates various assessments of biochemical, epidemiological, genetic, epigenetic, metabolomic and physiologic endpoints. The goal of this research work is to identify individual genetic factors contributing to diet-related disease risk, understanding inter-individual differences in nutrients metabolism, and exploring effective nutrition intervention programs, which will inform the development of personalized nutrients intake recommendations and ultimately promote human health as well as allow for more effective prevention and/or treatment of human chronic diseases. Dr. Zhu's research findings have been published in multiple high-quality peer-reviewed journals, such as Diabetes Care, JAMA Network Open, and Nutrients and he has been invited to present his significant findings at various international academic conferences.

Selected Scholarly/Creative Work

  • Lamkin, K., Xu, L., Wang, K., Liu, Y., Yang, K., Wu, H., … Zhu, J. (2024). Choline and Betaine Intakes during Pregnancy in Relation to Risk of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus among Chinese Women. British Journal of Nutrition.
  • Zhu, J., Saikia, G., Zhang, X., Shen, X., & Kahe, K. (2024). One-carbon Metabolism Nutrients, Genetic Variation, and Diabetes Mellitus. DIABETES METAB J.
  • Farber, C. M., Renteria, K., Ritter, J., Muraida, J., Rivers, C., McKenzie, A. L., … Lane, M. A. (2023). Comparison of maternal versus postweaning ingestion of a high fat, high sucrose diet on depression-related behavior, novelty reactivity, and corticosterone levels in young, adult rat offspring. Behavioural Brain Research, 455, 114677. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114677
  • Zhu, J., Chen, C., Lu, L., Shikany, J., D’Alton, M. E., & Kahe, K. (2023). Folate, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 status in association to metabolic syndrome incidence. JAMA Network Open, 6(1), e2250621. https://doi.org/doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.50621 Impact factor(2023): 13.8
  • Teoh, C. M., Cooper, A., Renteria, K., Lane, M., Zhu, J., & Koh, G. Y. (2022). Supplementation of methyl-donor nutrients to a high-fat, high-sucrose diet during pregnancy and lactation normalizes circulating 25-dihydroxycholecalciferol levels and alleviates inflammation in offspring. Metabolites, 12(12), 1252. https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo12121252

Selected Awards

  • Award / Honor Recipient: The Hainan Medical University & The Chinese Health Policy and Management Society (CHPAMS) 2024 Annual Conference, The Chinese Health Policy and Management Society. July 6, 2024 - July 7, 2024
  • Award / Honor Recipient: The Chinese Health Policy and Management Society 2023 Summer Meeting Scholarship Award, The Chinese Health Policy and Management Society. July 8, 2023 - July 10, 2023
  • Award / Honor Recipient: College of Applied Arts Achievement Award for Excellence, Scholarly/Creative Activities, College of Applied Arts. August 2020
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Best Oral Presentation, The 7th Asian Congress of Dietetics. 2018
  • Award / Honor Recipient: The 6nd Academic English Speech Contest for Young Pediatric Medical Professionals in Shanghai, Shanghai, China. 2018

Selected Grants

  • Zhu, Jie (Principal). Exploring Interaction of One-carbon Metabolism Nutrients Intakes and Genetic Susceptibility on Risk of Metabolic Syndrome among Multi-ethnic U.S. Adults with Diverse Socio-demographic, Biomedical, and Lifestyle Characters, Community Health and Economic Resilience Research Fellowship Grant, Texas State’s Translational Health Research Center, State, $90417. (Funded: June 1, 2022 - August 31, 2023). Grant.
  • Zhu, Jie (Co-Principal), Koh, Gar Yee (Co-Principal). Effect of maternal methyl-donor nutrients supplementation during pregnancy and lactation on the risk of cardiometabolic disorders among offspring, Research Enhancement Program, Texas State University, $13370. (Funded: December 3, 2021 - June 30, 2023). Grant.
  • Zhu, Jie (Principal). Maternal Choline and Betaine Intakes during Pregnancy and Risk of Gestational Diabetes, Miying (Shanghai) Cultural Creative Co., LTD, Private / Foundation / Corporate, $10000. (Funded: February 1, 2021 - December 30, 2024). Grant.
  • Zhu, Jie (Principal), Shen, Xiaoxi (Co-Principal), Wang, Kaipeng (Co-Principal). Pork intake, Genetic Susceptibility, and Social Determinants in Association with Risk of Diabetes among a Population-based Prospective Study of US Hispanics/Latinos, National Pork Board, Private / Foundation / Corporate, $55000. (Submitted: April 23, 2025, Funded: September 1, 2025 - Present). Grant.
  • Zhu, Jie (Principal), Shen, Xiaoxi (Co-Principal), Metsis, Vangelis (Co-Principal). One-carbon Metabolism Nutrients Intakes, Genetic Susceptibility, and Social Determinants in Association with Diabetes Incidence among the U.S. Hispanic Adults: HCHS/SOL, TXST CADS 2024 Catalyst Research Awards, Texas State Center for Analytics and Data Science, Texas State University, $1000. (Submitted: December 22, 2024, Funded: February 1, 2024 - December 31, 2024). Grant.

Selected Service Activities

Member
Graduate Admissions Committee
January 22, 2021-Present
Member
Scholarship Awards Committee
September 2020-Present
Organizer
University translational science scholar showcase
September 2020-Present
Member
SFCS Recruitment committee
October 2019-2020
Volunteer
Bobcat Bounty food pantry distribution
August 2023-Present