Dr. Zhu’s research has been focusing on the developmental origins of cardiometabolic disease. She has sought to develop an interdisciplinary research portfolio focusing on disease etiology and prevention strategies to inform upstream prevention and interrupt the vicious intergenerational cycle of obesity, diabetes, and related comorbidities across the lifespan. Dr. Zhu has conducted NIH-funded research to examine the intergenerational associations of maternal hyperglycemia and environmental exposures (diet, nutrition, and endocrine disrupter chemicals) during pregnancy in relation to metabolic impairments at birth, during childhood, and in later life among women and their offspring.

Dr. Zhu’s current work also capitalizes on rich resources of real-world clinical data available at Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) to advance research on strategies for upstream prevention and disparities reduction in cardiometabolic disorders among women and children. She applies machine learning methods to develop models to predict pregnancy complications (e.g., gestational diabetes [GDM]) and treatment modalities in order to inform risk-based models of care in real-world health care settings (K12HD052163). Leveraging resources from the telemedicine program serving all women with GDM at KPNC, Dr. Zhu developed a cohort of ~30,000 individuals with GDM and identified glycemic control trajectories and examined their associations with risk of perinatal complications and childhood obesity (NIDDK P30DK092924 Pilot Program; PI: Zhu). Dr. Zhu has also been investigating the mechanisms by which the in-utero environment may infer risk of fetal growth extremes and childhood obesity (NIDDK K01DK120807; PI: Zhu). Findings may inform the ability of using metabolomics in improving objective dietary assessment and advancing the field of precision nutrition. In addition, in a population-based cohort study of ~0.5 million diverse women at KPNC, Dr. Zhu's team is examining the associations of blood pressure categories and trajectories in pregnancy with risks of perinatal and postpartum complications, and the joint impact of obesity and diabetes (R01HL157666; PI: Zhu).