M. Christine "Chris" Zink is the director of the Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She also holds professorships in the Department of Pathology at Johns Hopkins and in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Zink researches the response of the

immune system The immune system is a network of biological processes that protects an organism from diseases. It detects and responds to a wide variety of pathogens, from viruses to parasitic worms, as well as cancer cells and objects such as wood splinte ...

retrovirus A retrovirus is a type of virus that inserts a DNA copy of its RNA genome into the DNA of a host cell that it invades, thus changing the genome of that cell. Once inside the host cell's cytoplasm, the virus uses its own reverse transcriptase ...

es such as

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

and is currently investigating an animal model of antiretroviral therapy and the potential of a common antibiotic to prevent

HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) are neurological disorders associated with HIV infection and AIDS. It is a syndrome of progressive deterioration of memory, cognition, behavior, and motor function in HIV-infected individuals during t ...

s.Johns Hopkins faculty profile

Miranda Hitti, WebMD, April 26, 2005 on: foxnews.com As a veterinarian, Zink is known for consulting and writing on canine athletics
and is an expert on

stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...

therapies for dogs. She was named Outstanding Woman Veterinarian of the Year at the 2009 meeting of the

American Veterinary Medical Association The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), founded in 1863, is a not-for-profit association representing more than 99,500 veterinarians in the US. The AVMA provides information resources, continuing education opportunities, publicatio ...

(AVMA)."On the Move: Vet of the Year, M. Christine Zink of Johns Hopkins in Maryland," ''The Daily Record,'' Baltimore, Maryland, July 24, 2009. Her books include ''Peak Performance: Coaching the Canine Athlete, Dog Health and Nutrition for Dummies'', ''The Agility Advantage'', and ''Jumping from A to Z: Teach Your Dog to Soar and Building the Canine Athlete: Strength, Stretching, Endurance and Body Awareness Exercises''. Zink is a

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

-born

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

"One dog's stem-cell venture"
''The Toronto Star,'' Barbara Turnbull, July 18, 2009 and has won several awards for her photography.

Education and training

Chris Zink earned a

doctor of veterinary medicine A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

(DVM) degree from the

University of Guelph , mottoeng = "to learn the reasons of realities" , established = May 8, 1964 ()As constituents: OAC: (1874) Macdonald Institute: (1903) OVC: (1922) , type = Public university , chancellor ...

, where she also received a PhD in

macrophage Macrophages (abbreviated as M φ, MΦ or MP) ( el, large eaters, from Greek ''μακρός'' (') = large, ''φαγεῖν'' (') = to eat) are a type of white blood cell of the immune system that engulfs and digests pathogens, such as cancer cel ...

biology.JHU NIMH researchers profile
From 1985 to 1988, Zink completed a postdoctoral research fellowship with Opendra "Bill" Narayan at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

, studying animal models of HIV pathogenesis.

Academic career

Following her postdoctoral work, Zink accepted an assistant professorship in the comparative medicine division at Johns Hopkins. She directed the division's postdoctoral training program from 1999. In 2000, Zink became a full professor. In 2007, Zink became the director of the Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology at Johns Hopkins. She follows long-time colleague

Janice E. Clements Janice Ellen Clements is vice dean for faculty at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Mary Wallace Stanton Professor of Faculty Affairs.lentivirus ''Lentivirus'' is a genus of retroviruses that cause chronic and deadly diseases characterized by long incubation periods, in humans and other mammalian species. The genus includes the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS. Lent ...

es on the

central nervous system The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain and spinal cord. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity of all par ...

Honors

The Association for Women Veterinarians Foundation named Zink the Outstanding Woman Veterinarian of the Year in 2009. The honor was announced at the meeting of the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

in 2009.

References

External links

Canine Sports
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zink, M. Christine American pathologists American sports physicians American veterinarians American women biologists Canadian academic administrators Canadian pathologists Canadian sports physicians Canadian veterinarians Canadian women biologists Women academic administrators Women pathologists Women veterinarians Cynologists Living people Johns Hopkins University administrators Year of birth missing (living people) HIV/AIDS researchers Scientists from Toronto Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health faculty University of Guelph alumni Canadian emigrants to the United States 21st-century Canadian biologists 21st-century Canadian women scientists 21st-century American women