Remembering Dr. Liang Zhu
On June 7, 2022, the Einstein community lost a dear colleague and friend when Liang Zhu, M.D. Ph.D., passed away following a long illness. He was 64.
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Liang had served as interim chair and professor of developmental and molecular biology (DMB) from 2010 to 2018 and was professor of medicine and of ophthalmology and visual sciences. Widely admired and respected by his peers and trainees, he made seminal contributions to our understanding of how the cell cycle is regulated. His studies on the regulation of cell proliferation and survival by Rb, cyclin/Cdk and Skp2 and the interaction between Rb and the androgen receptor, were highly relevant to cancer.
Liang was co-recruited to DMB and the Liver Center, with a secondary appointment in medicine, in 1996. He rose through the ranks becoming professor in 2006 and was appointed to the department of ophthalmology & visual sciences in 2011. Apart from his scientific insights, he is remembered for his warmth, his modesty, his humor, his enthusiasm, the depth of his humanity, and his devotion to DMB.
Known for being generous with his time and knowledge, Liang mentored and trained dozens of individuals, ranging from high school and undergraduate students taking part in various Einstein programs to graduate students, M.D./Ph.D. candidates, and postdoctoral research fellows, and also to junior faculty. Two of his graduate students—Peng Ji and Hongbo Wang—received the College of Medicine’s prestigious Julius Marmur Award given annually to up to three graduate students who demonstrate research excellence. He also served on the advisory and/or thesis defense committee for dozens more graduate students from colleagues’ laboratories.
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Dr. Zhu mentored dozens of graduate students and postdocs. At his funeral, a number of his former mentees posed with E. Richard Stanley, Ph.D., chair of developmental and molecular biology.
Throughout his 23 years at Einstein, he was actively involved in giving lectures on a variety of topics, including cancer, mechanisms of disease, and signal transduction, and he often organized a discussion session for the Gene Expression course.
“Liang was my Ph.D. mentor at Einstein, who taught me about science with care and inspiration. I don’t think I could have achieved what I have now without him,” noted former trainee Peng in an email about his mentor. Peng earned an M.D./Ph.D. at Einstein is now associate professor of medicine at Northwestern University. “I visited him in late 2018 and I remember his last words to me: ‘Keep up with the good work, I am so proud of you.’ I think we’ve all inherited something from Liang in different ways, and he will be forever missed and loved.”
Liang’s passion for Einstein is further demonstrated through his participation on numerous committees, including serving as a faculty senator, as a member of the Sue Golding Graduate School admissions committee, the qualifying exam committee, the board of Einstein Quarterly, the task force on faculty mentoring, and the curriculum committee, to name a few.
“Liang truly loved his job. He didn’t feel like he was working,” shared his wife Sun Park, M.D., M.S., assistant professor of medicine. “He especially loved interacting with faculty, students, and staff, and the collegial environment at Einstein that encourages collaboration rather than competition.” Apart from work, Liang also enjoyed cooking, gardening, sewing, photography, and travel.
Liang came to Einstein following a research fellowship in medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Care. He earned his M.D. from Shanghai Second Medical College, where he received an Excellent Student Award and his Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut Health Center.
“We were extremely fortunate to recruit Liang to DMB in conjunction with the Liver Center in 1996,” said E. Richard Stanley, Ph.D., “His work is a beautiful example of how thoughtful and detailed elucidation of the signaling pathways involving Rb and p53 is useful in targeting the many diseases in which they are involved.”
He added, “I’m grateful for Liang’s willingness to serve as interim chair of DMB when I went on sabbatical in 2010 and for his acceptance of the appointment as interim chair for the following eight years. His quiet wisdom was greatly appreciated, as was his support of the faculty, postdoctoral fellows, students, and staff, and his enthusiasm for the department as a whole. He has been greatly missed since having to step down because of his illness, and he will be remembered with affection by us all.”
Liang’s research was widely recognized with honors, including a Leukemia Society of America Fellowship, a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Scholarship and a Hirschl Award.
We offer our deepest sympathy to our colleague Sun, who survives him. To honor Liang’s memory and legacy Einstein has established the Liang Zhu Memorial Fund, which will support basic scientific and medical research and training in DMB, along with an annual Liang Zhu Memorial Lecture, presented by an outstanding invited speaker.
Donations may be made payable to Albert Einstein College of Medicine, with the words "Liang Zhu Memorial Fund" on the memo line of the check or in an accompanying note, and sent to the following address, marked to the attention of Allyson Fraser:
Allyson Fraser Office of Development Albert Einstein College of Medicine 1300 Morris Park Ave., Block Building 7th floor Bronx, New York, U.S.A. 10461
To leave memories of Liang or offer condolences, please visit our Leave a Remembrance page.
Posted on: Friday, July 01, 2022