Dr Zhou’s research interest is in the isolation, structural identification, pharmacological study and structural modification of peptides from a wide range of natural sources, with a focus on the peptides from the venoms of amphibians, scorpions and snakes, for the purpose of discovery and development of novel peptide drugs or drug leads.

The major categories of peptides that are being studied include antimicrobial peptides, protease inhibitory peptides, anti- and pro- angiogenic peptides, and cancer cytotoxic peptides.