Qiangjun Zhou

The 2026 Cell Imaging Shared Resource Life Is Beautiful Image Contest celebrates three researchers, Spencer Rothfuss, Hannah Collins, and James Hayes, whose striking microscopy images reveal unexpected beauty in the microscopic world. From an accidental ice crystal to the intricate cellular landscapes of the brain and developing zebrafish eye, this year’s winning images showcase the artistry and scientific discovery made possible through advanced imaging. Read More

Department of Cell and Developmental Biology faculty are unraveling the mysteries of human cells one discovery at a time. Read More

In a new paper postdoctoral fellow Rong Sun and members of the Qiangjun Zhou lab used cryo-electron tomography to better understand the precise structural arrangement of synapses of excitatory primary hippocampal neurons. Read More

A team of Vanderbilt researchers discovered that C. diff produces the spheres, called ferrosomes, and that these structures are important for infection in an animal model. The findings are a rare demonstration of a membrane-bound structure inside a pathogenic bacterium. Read More