Date: 3 November 2026 (Tuesday)
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre 2, G/F, William M.W. Mong Block, 21 Sassoon Road 
Host: Professor Jiandong Huang

Dr. Zhenyu Yue is the Alex and Shirley Aidekman Professor, Director of the Center for Parkinson's Disease Neurobiology, and Vice Chair of Basic Research in the Department of Neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He earned his Ph.D. from Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Rutgers University and completed his postdoctoral training as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Fellow at The Rockefeller University.

Dr. Yue's laboratory uses multidisciplinary approaches to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and Huntington's diseases, as well as psychiatric disorders such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. His team develops preclinical cell and animal models to identify disease biomarkers and therapeutic targets. The laboratory has mapped the transcriptomic landscape of the human substantia nigra, revealing the heterogeneity and selective vulnerability of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease. Using iPSC-derived neurons and genetic mouse models of Parkinson's disease, his team works to elucidate disease mechanisms and advance therapeutic strategies.

A pioneer in autophagy research, Dr. Yue characterized the first mammalian autophagy gene in vivo. His work has provided fundamental insights into the core autophagy machinery and into how autophagy dysfunction in neurons and glia contributes to neurological disorders. More recently, his laboratory showed that AKAP11, a risk gene for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, encodes an autophagy receptor that controls the homeostasis of the PKA RI complex and regulates synaptic activity. This work sheds light on how autophagic control of synaptic transmission contributes to the molecular mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders.

Dr. Yue has published more than 170 SCI-indexed papers, including original research articles and reviews in Nature, Science, Cell, Nature Cell Biology, Nature Neuroscience, Neuron, Cell Research, Nature Communications, and The Journal of Clinical Investigation. His work has been cited more than 48,000 times, and he has a Google Scholar h-index of 86.

The autophagy–lysosome pathway plays a critical role in cellular homeostasis by clearing protein aggregates, damaged organelles, and invading pathogens. While tightly regulated to maintain baseline homeostatic levels, autophagy is rapidly upregulated in response to tissue injury and cellular stress. Mendelian variants in autophagy-related genes (ATGs) are linked to neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases, underscoring autophagy protective function in the central nervous system. Here, we map the landscape of autophagy cargo and autophagy-regulated cellular functions across neurons and glia. Furthermore, I will share the evidence and discuss the molecular mechanisms for which maladaptive autophagic pathways drive neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders.

All are welcome.