Huiping Zhang, PhD
Professor
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Psychiatry

PhD, Queen's University
MS, Tongji Medical University
BS, Central China Normal University



Huiping Zhang, PhD is a Professor of Psychiatry at the Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine at Boston University. He previously held academic positions at Yale University School of Medicine, where he completed his postdoctoral training and advanced through the ranks as a Research Associate Scientist (equivalent to Research Assistant Professor), Assistant Professor (tenure-track), and Research Scientist (equivalent to Research Associate Professor). Dr. Zhang’s research centers on the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms underlying substance use disorders (SUDs) and related psychiatric conditions. His work has been supported by multiple NIH grants, including a K99/R00, an R21, and two R01 awards from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). He has also served as a subcontract Principal Investigator on two R01 grants funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). In addition to his research, Dr. Zhang is actively involved in academic publishing, serving on the editorial boards of several peer-reviewed journals, including PLoS ONE, Frontiers in Genetics, Frontiers in Psychiatry, and Complex Psychiatry.

Associate Professor
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Medicine
Biomedical Genetics

Member
Boston University
Genome Science Institute


Graduate Faculty (Primary Mentor of Grad Students)
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences




Identifying Brain Epitranscriptomic Changes Associated with Alcohol Use Disorder
03/01/2022 - 12/31/2026 (PI)
NIH/National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
5R01AA029758-04

Association of maternal, fetal, and placental biomarkers with neonatal neuroimaging and development following in-utero opioid exposure
09/01/2023 - 08/31/2026 (Subcontract PI)
Boston Medical Center Corporation NIH NICHD
1R01HD113143-01

Safety, pharmacokinetics and efficacy of extended-release naltrexone in pregnant women with opioid use disorder
10/01/2018 - 05/31/2023 (Subcontract PI)
Boston Medical Center Corporation NIH NICHD
5R01HD096798-05

Brain microRNA-mRNA regulatory networks and alcohol use disorders
08/01/2017 - 07/31/2022 (PI)
NIH/National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
5R01AA025080-05

Salivary MicroRNAs as Biomarkers for Alcohol Dependence
08/01/2017 - 04/30/2019 (PI)
NIH/National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
7R21AA023068-03


Association of maternal, fetal and placental biomarkers with neonatal neuroimaging and development following in-utero opioid exposure
09/01/2023 - 08/31/2026 (Subcontract PI)
Boston Medical Center - NIH/National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
1R01HD113143-01

Effects of prenatal opioid exposure on placental DNA methylation and gene expression
03/01/2022 - 02/28/2024 (Subcontract PI)
Boston Medical Center - March of Dimes


Title

Adverse childhood experiences and alcohol misuse in Latino adolescents: Testing biopsychosocial and cultural mechanisms
02/01/2022 - 01/01/2027 (Co-Mentor)
Massachusetts General Hospital - NIH/National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
K08AA029150-03

Single-Nucleus RNA Sequencing Analysis of Transcriptome Changes in the Postmortem Ventral Tegmental Area of Individuals with Alcohol Use Disorder
06/15/2024 - 06/14/2025 (PI)
Boston University Genome Science Institute

Functional validation of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome-associated missense mutation in MRPL40 using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing
01/01/2022 - 12/31/2022 (PI)
Wing Tat Lee Research Award

Transmission Electron Microscope
06/15/2020 - 06/14/2021 (Co-Investigator)
NIH NIH
1S10OD028571-01

Epigenetic study of cocaine use disorder using a rat model
07/01/2018 - 08/31/2019 (PI)
Boston University CTSI Pilot Award


Yr Title Project-Sub Proj Pubs
2025 Identifying Brain Epitranscriptomic Changes Associated with Alcohol Use Disorder 5R01AA029758-04
2024 Identifying Brain Epitranscriptomic Changes Associated with Alcohol Use Disorder 5R01AA029758-03
2023 Identifying Brain Epitranscriptomic Changes Associated with Alcohol Use Disorder 5R01AA029758-02
2022 Identifying Brain Epitranscriptomic Changes Associated with Alcohol Use Disorder 1R01AA029758-01
2020 Brain microRNA-mRNA regulatory networks and alcohol use disorders 5R01AA025080-05 13
2019 Brain microRNA-mRNA regulatory networks and alcohol use disorders 5R01AA025080-04 13
2018 Brain microRNA-mRNA regulatory networks and alcohol use disorders 5R01AA025080-03 13
2017 Brain microRNA-mRNA regulatory networks and alcohol use disorders 7R01AA025080-02 13
2016 Brain microRNA-mRNA regulatory networks and alcohol use disorders 1R01AA025080-01 13
2016 Salivary MicroRNAs as Biomarkers for Alcohol Dependence 5R21AA023068-02 8
Showing 10 of 18 results. Show All Results

Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.

iCite Analysis       Copy PMIDs To Clipboard

  1. Koo JS, Zhan Q, Zhang H. Acetaldehyde-driven mRNA methylation and expression changes in ethanol-metabolizing enzyme genes. Epigenetics. 2025 Dec; 20(1):2493865. PMID: 40252050; DOI: 10.1080/15592294.2025.2493865;
     
  2. Cakir B, Tanaka Y, Choe MS, Chu PY, Xiang Y, Kim KY, Zhong M, Gelernter J, Zhang H, Krystal J, Park IH. Functional Validation of Alcohol Dependence-Associated FYN Variants Using Gene Editing and Stem Cell Study Approaches. Int J Stem Cells. 2025 Apr 10. PMID: 40205763; DOI: 10.15283/ijsc24123;
     
  3. Ngo AL, Ahmad CM, Gharavi Alkhansari N, Nguyen L, Zhang H. Epigenetic Insights into Substance Use Disorder and Associated Psychiatric Conditions. Complex Psychiatry. 2025; 11(1):12-36. PMID: 40201238; PMCID: PMC11975344; DOI: 10.1159/000544912;
     
  4. Sousa A, Besong OTO, Wachman EM, Taglauer ES, Beane JE, Kefella Y, Koo JS, Saia K, Jones HE, Zhang H. Placental transcriptome analysis in opioid-exposed versus non-opioid exposed pregnancies. Placenta. 2025 Mar 25; 162:27-34.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39983471
     
  5. Jia N, Zhu Z, Liu Y, Yin X, Man L, Hou W, Zhang H, Yu Q, Hui L. From single nucleotide variations to genes: identifying the genetic links between sleep and psychiatric disorders. Sleep. 2025 Jan 13; 48(1). PMID: 39243390; DOI: 10.1093/sleep/zsae209;
     
  6. Besong OTO, Koo JS, Zhang H. Brain lncRNA-mRNA co-expression regulatory networks and alcohol use disorder. Genomics. 2024 Sep; 116(5):110928. PMID: 39197730; PMCID: PMC11531342; DOI: 10.1016/j.ygeno.2024.110928;
     
  7. Cai Y, Zhu ZH, Qi Q, Yin XY, Jia NN, Hou WL, Chen P, Man LJ, Wang PJ, Qian S, Wang WX, Zhang TH, Wang JJ, Zhang H, Hui L. The negative association of serum complement 3 and 4 levels with visuospatial/constructional function in first-episode patients with schizophrenia. Schizophr Res. 2024 Feb; 264:404-406. PMID: 38237363; DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2024.01.017;
     
  8. Liu Y, Koo JS, Zhang H. Chronic intermittent ethanol exposure-induced m6A modifications around mRNA stop codons of opioid receptor genes. Epigenetics. 2024 Dec; 19(1):2294515. PMID: 38118075; PMCID: PMC10761033; DOI: 10.1080/15592294.2023.2294515;
     
  9. Borrelli KN, Wingfield KK, Yao EJ, Zamorano CA, Sena KD, Beierle JA, Roos MA, Zhang H, Wachman EM, Bryant CD. Decreased myelin-related gene expression in the nucleus accumbens during spontaneous neonatal opioid withdrawal in the absence of long-term behavioral effects in adult outbred CFW mice. Neuropharmacology. 2023 Dec 01; 240:109732.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37774943; PMCID: PMC10598517; DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2023.109732;
     
  10. Kumaresan V, Lim Y, Juneja P, Tipton AE, de Guglielmo G, Carrette LLG, Kallupi M, Maturin L, Liu Y, George O, Zhang H. Abstinence from Escalation of Cocaine Intake Changes the microRNA Landscape in the Cortico-Accumbal Pathway. Biomedicines. 2023 May 05; 11(5).View Related Profiles. PMID: 37239038; PMCID: PMC10216163; DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines11051368;
     
Showing 10 of 87 results. Show More

This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown, or last author.

Bar chart showing 87 publications over 23 distinct years, with a maximum of 9 publications in 2015

YearPublications
19961
20021
20041
20062
20074
20082
20093
20104
20112
20128
20135
20144
20159
20167
20177
20182
20195
20205
20211
20223
20234
20242
20255

In addition to these self-described keywords below, a list of MeSH based concepts is available here.

Substance Use Disorders
Psychiatric Genetics
Epigenetics
Contact for Mentoring:

72 East Concord Street
Boston MA 02118
Google Map


Zhang's Networks
Click the "See All" links for more information and interactive visualizations
Concepts
_
Co-Authors
_
Similar People
_
Same Department