Xinzhong Dong

Dr. Dong is a Professor in the Departments of Neuroscience, Dermatology, Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is also an Investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He completed his PhD degree in Biochemistry at UCL and his postdoc training at Caltech. Dr. Dong is a pioneer and world leader in the field of itch and skin biology whose works have uncovered new therapeutic targets for many of these debilitating chronic itch and skin conditions. His laboratory has taken a multidisciplinary approach to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms of pain and itch. His lab has identified and characterized a novel family of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) called Mrgprs which are expressed in primary sensory neurons and innate immune cells and function as novel itch receptors. Dr. Dong has published over 150 papers, book chapters, reviews which have been highly cited and covered in the popular press like The New York Times, NBCnews.com, and The New Yorker. He has trained numerous successful PhD and MD/PhD students, postdoctoral fellows, and physician scientists. He is also the scientific founder of Escient Pharmaceuticals in San Diego.