Zhao Lab
With the advance of high-throughput genome sequencing and precision medicine, the Zhao Lab is exploring the genetic basis of cardiovascular development and congenital heart disease using patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). We are thrilled to establish the first iPSC Genomics laboratory in the Center for Cardiovascular Research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and are currently transforming our understandings on the genetic mechanisms of congenital heart disease using patient-derived cardiomyocytes, endothelial cells, and smooth muscle cells. Collaborating with principal investigators in The Heart Center at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, we are positioned to advance our perception on congenital heart disease using both human iPSCs and mouse/zebrafish/pig models. In addition, we are using genome editing tools (CRISPR/Cas9) to correct/introduce genetic variants in the context of normal and diseased heart cells originally from the patients and study how a particular genetic variant could contribute to congenital heart defects.
Previous Works in the Lab
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Abnormal Progenitor Cell Differentiation and Cardiomyocyte Proliferation in Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome | Circulation (ahajournals.org) (2024)
- Impaired Human Cardiac Cell Development due to NOTCH1 Deficiency | Circulation Research (ahajournals.org) (2022)
- Common and Divergent Cellular Etiologies Underlying Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome (European Heart Journal 2025)
- Cell-Free RNA Signatures in Maternal Blood with Fetal Congenital Heart Disease (Circulation Research 2025)
- Identification of Cardiac-specific Regulatory DNA Elements Using High-throughput ChIP-seq and RNA-seq in the Human Heart (Circulation Research 2017)
- Evaluation of the Contribution of Genetic Components and Reprogramming Mechanisms (iPSC Reprogramming Versus Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer) to the Transcriptional and Epigenomic Signatures of Terminally Differentiated Cells (PNAS, 2017)
We're Recruiting!
The Zhao Lab is looking for motivated, curious and dedicated postdocs and graduate students.
Featured Researcher – Mingtao Zhao, DVM, PhD
Dr. Mingtao Zhao was selected as the Abigail Wexner Research Institute featured researcher in June 2021. Click the button below to learn more about Dr. Zhao and his work in the Center for Cardiovascular Research.
