About

Lu Zheng is a professor of finance at the Paul Merage School of Business, University of California, Irvine. She joined the Merage School faculty in September 2006, after serving as an assistant professor of finance at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business from 1999 to 2006, where she was promoted to associate professor with tenure in May 2006. Her research encompasses various aspects of investments, including equity markets, mutual funds, hedge funds, investor behavior and expectations, and institutional trading. Zheng has published her work in leading academic journals such as The Journal of Finance, The Review of Financial Studies, The Journal of Business, and The Journal of Empirical Finance. She has received recognition for her research, with two papers nominated for the Smith Breeden award for the best paper in The Journal of Finance. Zheng has presented at numerous academic seminars and conferences, including the American Finance Association, Western Finance Association, and European Finance Association meetings. She has also served as a referee for nearly 20 academic journals and has been extensively interviewed by major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The Economist, BusinessWeek, CBS, and NPR. Zheng holds a bachelor's degree from Agnes Scott College and a PhD in finance from Yale University.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Ecology
• Industrial organization
• Chromatography
• Pharmacology
• Pathology
• Materials science
• Business
• Immunology
• Nanotechnology
• Medicine
• Internal medicine
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Gastroenterology
• Marketing
• Economics

Selected publications

• 68Ga-pentixafor PET/CT shows better diagnostic performance than 18F-FDG PET/CT in chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma: a case report and review of literature

  Frontiers in Oncology · 2026-04-02

  articleOpen access

  Chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) is an indolent B-cell lymphoma for which current imaging modalities offer limited diagnostic value. This article reports a comparison of the imaging features of 18 F-FDG and 68 Ga-pentixafor in this disease and reviews the relevant literature. A 60-year-old woman presented with a 6-month history of fever and scattered systemic lymphadenopathy. The patient underwent both 18 F-FDG and 68 Ga-pentixafor PET/CT imaging within a 2-day period. 68 Ga-pentixafor PET/CT identified significantly increased metabolic activity in enlarged lymph nodes, the spleen, and bone marrow. Immunohistochemical staining demonstrated a phenotypic profile positive for CD5, CD20, and CD23; showed focal positivity for cyclin D1; and was negative for CD10, BCL-6, and SOX11, findings consistent with the diagnosis of CLL/SLL. Compared with 18 F-FDG, 68 Ga-pentixafor PET/CT detected more lesions with significantly higher tracer uptake. This case suggests that, for patients with CLL/SLL, 68 Ga-pentixafor PET/CT demonstrates significantly superior performance in evaluating the tumor burden and delineating the disease extent compared with 18 F-FDG PET/CT.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• SIRT3 Regulates HMGCS2 Deacetylation and Influences Cholangiocarcinoma Progression via the Metabolism of Ketone Bodies

  Human Mutation · 2026-01-01

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a highly aggressive malignancy. 3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthase 2 (HMGCS2), a mitochondrial enzyme involved in ketogenesis, has been linked to tumor progression, but its role in CCA remains unclear. HMGCS2 expression in CCA tissues was analyzed using TCGA data and immunoblotting (IB). Functional assays were performed in CCA cell lines (HuCCT-1 and RBE) and an in vivo xenograft model. Metabolomics explored HMGCS2-mediated metabolic changes. SIRT3-HMGCS2 interactions were examined via molecular docking, IF, CO-IP, GST pull-down, and CHX assays, with mutational analysis identifying interaction sites. IHC assessed clinical samples. HMGCS2 was downregulated in CCA. Overexpression inhibited proliferation and invasion, while knockdown promoted these effects, consistent in vitro and in vivo. Metabolomics showed HMGCS2 enhanced ketone body synthesis, and exogenous ketone bodies mimicked its antitumor effects. SIRT3 deacetylated HMGCS2 at K310 (with plasmid mutation assay), and low HMGCS2/SIRT3 expression correlated with poor patient survival. SIRT3-mediated deacetylation of HMGCS2 promotes ketone body synthesis, suppressing CCA progression. HMGCS2 is a potential therapeutic target for CCA.

  PublisherDOI

• Lack of Anterior Communicating Artery Is Associated with Symptomatic Middle Cerebral Artery Atherosclerosis

  Biomedicines · 2026-05-15

  articleOpen access

  Background: Dysplasia or absence of anterior communicating artery (ACoA) is a common variation in the circle of Willis (COW) anomaly, and it may elevate the risks of cerebrovascular diseases. We aimed at investigating the association of ACoA dysplasia/absence with plaque imaging features of middle cerebral artery (MCA) atherosclerosis. Methods: We analyzed the prospective data from a vessel wall imaging cohort of adult patients suffering from acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack due to intracranial atherosclerosis (2014 to 2020). Patients demonstrating MCA atherosclerotic plaques were included. The ACoA dysplasia/absence and other incomplete COW configurations were identified on magnetic resonance angiography. The MCA plaques were evaluated through high-resolution vessel wall imaging. Results: Of the 107 patients with MCA atherosclerosis, 29.9% showed ACoA dysplasia/absence. The patients with ACoA dysplasia/absence were more likely to have concomitant dysplasia/absence of anterior cerebral artery (71.9% vs. 18.7%, p < 0.001). For the 158 MCA plaques identified, those with ACoA dysplasia/absence exhibited a significantly higher prevalence of symptomatic status (58.7% vs. 31.3%, p = 0.001) and non-positive remodeling (58.7% vs. 26.8%, p < 0.001) than those without this variant. Regression analyses further demonstrated the robust association of ACoA dysplasia/absence with symptomatic status (odds ratio, 5.158; 95% confidence interval, 1.744–15.254; p = 0.003) and non-positive remodeling (odds ratio, 6.92; 95% confidence interval, 2.396–19.982; p < 0.001) of MCA atherosclerosis. Conclusions: As a common variation among patients with MCA atherosclerosis, ACoA dysplasia/absence may elevate the possibility to develop symptomatic MCA atherosclerosis, which showed non-positive remodeling. Stroke risk stratification based on the ACoA morphology needs further validation.

  PublisherDOI

• Enhancing query optimization with hybrid ranking model and tree node dependency

  Service Oriented Computing and Applications · 2025-09-25 · 2 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Integrating whole-exome sequencing and scRNA-seq reveal the characteristic in one clear cell renal cell carcinoma sample arising in the setting of VHL disease

  Scientific Reports · 2025-12-18 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) arising in the setting of von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease is a rare type of kidney cancer and features VHL germline mutation. This type of ccRCC is rarely characterised at the single-cell level. In this work, whole-exome sequencing and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) were conducted on one ccRCC sample with VHL disease. Integrating scRNA-seq and whole-exome sequencing data by the Seurat package, we determined the relationship between single-cell transcriptome features and gene mutations. Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence were performed on one VHL germline mutation ccRCC and six non-VHL germline mutation ccRCC samples. We revealed the gene expression characteristics of ccRCC with VHL germline mutation. The frameshift mutations in OBP2A and BCR1, and the elevated expression of COX7A1 were most specific characteristics of ccRCC tumor cells with VHL mutation. And the extensive infiltration of exhausted T cells was the characteristic of tumor microenvironment. In addition, we discovered the relationship between genetic mutations and immune checkpoints. This work highlights the single-cell transcriptome and DNA-level information of this rare ccRCC and will provide more genetic insights and references into this rare disease.

  PublisherDOI

• Identification of a Novel Glycosyl Transferase Family 17 Protein Involved in Cd Accumulation in Rice (<scp><i>Oryza sativa</i></scp>)

  Physiologia Plantarum · 2025-05-01 · 1 citations

  article

  ABSTRACT Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal widely distributed in the environment that poses a significant threat to living organisms because of its strong mobility and toxicity. In this study, a novel gene named Osß‐glu from the glycosyltransferase (GT) family was investigated for its role in the Cd stress response in rice. Various experiments were conducted using the japonica cultivar Nipponbare (Nip) and its mutants ( Osß‐glu‐1 and Osß‐glu‐2 ). The results showed that Osß‐glu was specifically induced by Cd stress rather than by other mineral deficiencies. The Osß‐glu mutants exhibited higher sensitivity to Cd stress, with more significant inhibition of root elongation, reduced biomass, and increased Cd accumulation in the roots, shoots, and xylem sap than Nip. Nitro‐Blue Tetrazolium (NBT) staining indicated a larger acumulation of superoxide anion in the mutant roots under Cd stress, 3,3′‐Diaminobenzidine (DAB) staining showed more pronounced H 2 O 2 accumulation, and Evans Blue staining revealed more dead cells, demonstrating more severe reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and cell damage in mutant roots. Moreover, the mutants had higher hemicellulose content and elevated Cd‐binding capacity in the root cell wall, as well as abnormal expression of genes related to Cd absorption and translocation. Overall, multiple lines of evidence suggest that Osß‐glu plays a crucial regulatory role in the response of rice to Cd stress, acting as an inhibitor of Cd accumulation. This contributes to a better understanding of the precise control network for Cd tolerance in rice, providing a basis for breeding rice varieties with lower Cd uptake.

  PublisherDOI

• [Analysis of complex cochlear implantation electrode repositioning strategies based on intraoperative CT].

  PubMed · 2025-05-01

  articleOpen access

  Intraoperative CT scanning is a reliable adjunctive tool for determining the placement of complex cochlear implantation, and it improves the accuracy of difficult cochlear implantation surgeries.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Balancing Precision and Latency: Improved RT-DETR for Real-Time Gesture Detection

  2025-08-15

  article

  This paper presents an efficient model optimization method to address the dual challenges of high precision and low latency in real-time gesture recognition. Based on RT-DETR, it designs HAPConv and EILAttention to solve channel redundancy, insufficient global information capture, and high computational complexity in existing models (e.g., YOLO, DETR). HAPConv reduces computational complexity and enhances feature representation by combining partial convolution with hybrid attention; EILAttention improves attention precision with differential normalization and adaptive residual connections while maintaining linear complexity. Experiments on a HaGRID subset show the integrated model achieves 0.986 mAP50 with 22.9ms latency, reducing computational load by 25.3% and GPU memory by 14.5% vs. baseline RT-DETR. Ablation and comparison experiments confirm it outperforms mainstream models in precision and efficiency, suitable for mobile real-time deployment.

  PublisherDOI

• Case report: Budesonide alleviated recurrent ulcerative stomatitis and pneumonia of pediatric Behcet-like disease

  Research Square · 2025-11-06

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Impact of antiretroviral therapy during acute or early HIV infection on virologic and immunologic outcomes: results from a multinational clinical trial

  UNC Libraries · 2025-03-14

  articleOpen access

  OBJECTIVE: To assess how antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation during acute or early HIV infection (AEHI) affects the viral reservoir and host immune responses. DESIGN: Single-arm trial of ART initiation during AEHI at 30 sites in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. METHODS: HIV DNA was measured at week 48 of ART in 5 million CD4 + T cells by sensitive qPCR assays targeting HIV gag and pol . Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were stimulated with potential HIV T cell epitope peptide pools consisting of env , gag , nef, and pol peptides and stained for expression of CD3, CD4, CD8, and intracellular cytokines/chemokines. RESULTS: From 2017 to 2019, 188 participants initiated ART during Fiebig stages I ( n = 6), II ( n = 43), III ( n = 56), IV ( n = 23), and V ( n = 60). Median age was 27 years (interquartile range 23-38), 27 (14%) participants were female, and 180 (97%) cisgender. Among 154 virally suppressed participants at week 48, 100% had detectable HIV gag or pol DNA. Participants treated during Fiebig I had the lowest HIV DNA levels ( P &lt; 0.001). Week 48 HIV DNA mostly did not correlate with concurrent CD4 + or CD8 + T cell HIV-specific immune responses (rho range -0.11 to +0.19, all P &gt; 0.025). At week 48, the magnitude, but not polyfunctionality, of HIV-specific T cell responses was moderately reduced among participants who initiated ART earliest. CONCLUSION: Earlier ART initiation during AEHI reduced but did not eliminate the persistence of HIV-infected cells in blood. These findings explain the rapid viral rebound observed after ART cessation in early-treated individuals with undetectable HIV DNA by less sensitive methods.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Savita Pahwa

  University of Miami

  24 shared

• Michael M. Lederman

  Case Western Reserve University

  22 shared

• Bing Yao

  Nanjing University

  22 shared

• Joseph J. Eron

  20 shared

• Bernard Macatangay

  University of Pittsburgh

  18 shared

• Alan Landay

  18 shared

• Richard B. Pollard

  17 shared

• John W. Mellors

  University of Pittsburgh

  17 shared

Awards & honors

• Phi Beta Kappa National Society