Staff & Faculty Directory
Youhua Zhang
Associate Professor; Biomedical Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine
Education Credentials: M.D., Ph.D.
Expertise: Cardiac Electrophysiology
Joined New York Tech: 2011
Youhua Zhang specializes in cardiac electrophysiology, cardiac autonomic control, and heart failure research. He was a cardiologist at the Cardiovascular Institute and Fu Wai Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (Beijing, China) before joining the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Cleveland Clinic, where he served as postdoctoral fellow to project staff and research assistant professor from 1999 to 2011. Zhang joined the Department of Biomedical Sciences at NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2011 as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor in 2015.
Zhang has pioneered the use of cardiac selective vagal nerve stimulation to control ventricular rate in atrial fibrillation. He has demonstrated the beneficial therapeutic effects of chronic vagal nerve stimulation in heart failure. He has made seminal contributions to the atrioventricular (AV) node electrophysiology, particularly the dual pathway electrophysiology. He discovered and validated a new index of dual pathway AV nodal conduction, termed His electrogram alternans, also known as Zhang’s phenomenon. Currently he is also studying alcohol and caffeine, the 2 most widely consumed substances, on cardiac arrhythmogenesis.
He received his medical degree at Xinjiang Medical College, Urumqi, China, and Ph.D. in cardiology at Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
- Alcohol, Caffeine and Cardiac Arrhythmias in Various Conditions
- Cardiac Autonomic Nervous System in Cardiac Arrhythmias and Heart Failure
- Atrioventricular Node Dual Pathway Electrophysiology
- Ma S, Rail J, Zhang Y. Uncovering the Mystery of the Atrioventricular Node Dual-Pathway Electrophysiology. Heart Rhythm O2 2025;6(5):696–708. PMID: 40496576
- Zhang Y. A jump in the atrioventricular conduction curve is not caused by a switch from fast pathway to slow pathway conduction. Frontiers in Physiology. 2024;15:1367509. PMID: 38617058
- Zhang Y, Kim C, Wasif N, Li Y, Huang Y, Kobayashi S, Udo-Bellner L, Stout R, Ojamaa K. Alcohol and Caffeine Synergistically Induce Spontaneous Ventricular Tachyarrhythmias – Ameliorated with Dantrolene Treatment. Heart Rhythm O2 2023;4(9):549-555. PMID: 37744935
- Delfiner MS, Nofi C, Li Y, Gerdes AM, Zhang Y. Failing Hearts Are More Vulnerable to Sympathetic, but not Vagal Stimulation Induced Atrial Fibrillation: Ameliorated with Dantrolene Treatment. Journal of Cardiac Failure. 2018;24(7):460-469. PMID: 29885493.
- Zhang Y. His electrogram alternans (Zhang’s phenomenon) and a new model of dual pathway atrioventricular node conduction. Journal of Interventional Cardiac Electrophysiology 2016;45(1):19-28. PMID: 26614299.
- Zhang Y, Dedkov EI, Teplitsky D, Weltman NY, Pol CJ, Rajagopalan V, Lee B, Gerdes AM. Both Hypothyroidism and Hyperthyroidism Increase Atrial Fibrillation Inducibility in Rats. Circulation Arrhythm Electrophysiol. 2013;6(5):952-9. PMID:24036190.
- 1998 Clinical Achievement Award, Cardiovascular Institute and Fu Wai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
- 2005 Innovator Award, The Cleveland Clinic
- 2008 Innovator Award, The Cleveland Clinic
- Cardiovascular System
- Case Based Learning (CBL) Year 1
- Case Based Learning (CBL) Year 2