Zijian Xie, PhD, served as director of the Marshall Institute for Interdisciplinary Research (MIIR) and professor at the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine.

Named director of MIIR in 2013, he was known internationally for his groundbreaking work to understand the behavior of cellular pathways and their relationship to cancer, renal disease and cardiac failure.

He came to Marshall from the faculty of the University of Toledo’s College of Medicine, where he was a professor of physiology, pharmacology and medicine and served as the co-director of the M.D./Ph.D. program.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from the Nanjing College of Pharmacy in Nanjing, China, in 1982, a master’s degree in toxicology at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing in 1984 and a doctorate in pharmacology at the Medical College of Ohio (now University of Toledo) in 1990.

At the time of his passing, he had authored or co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters. He also served as the principal investigator or co-investigator on National Institutes of Health-sponsored research totaling more than $10 million and international projects totaling more than $1 million in funding. His work also led to several patented applications for medical inventions and spin-off companies. However, throughout his illustrious 30-year career in academia, he most cherished the friendships he formed along the way with hundreds of former colleagues, collaborators, students and staff.

Dr. Xie passed away Jan. 17, 2020, following a long illness.