Zihan Zhang

• Project lead for the development of antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates (AOCs) targeting genetically driven rare diseases. • Oversee nucleic acid therapeutic design, including siRNA/ASO sequence selection, chemical modification strategy, in vitro screening (efficacy, toxicity), and in vivo pharmacology and safety studies

RNA Technology Team for sequence and chemical modification innovation

Projects and activities: • Developed a cell migration mechanics based biomedical device to monitor primary neutrophils swarming for the diagnosis of sepsis with high specificity and sensitivity. • Built a custom magnetic tweezers setup to manipulate the host cell entry and intracellular degradation kinetics of Toxoplasma gondii in mouse macrophages; investigated parasite immune escape mechanisms during host-pathogen interaction and T cell activation. • Performed cell-based reporter assays using genetically encoded calcium indicator (GECI) and synthesized fluorescent dyes to visualize intracellular calcium concentration during inflammation in vitro. • Invented a versatile intracellular biosensor toolset to detect degradation of pathogens inside macrophages expressing various biomarkers in real-time with fluorescence imaging. • Employed nanotechnology-enabled biophysical tools to deliver nanocarriers inside immune cells via different strategies; monitored the cargo degradation in endocytic pathway to screen candidates for immunology cell assays. • Collaborate with The Hospital for Sick Children and investigated the mechanism of Salmonella exocytosis controlled by Salmonella pathogenicity island-2 (SPI-2).

Taught chemistry lab courses including C103 Introduction to Chemical Principles, C127 Elementary Chemistry Lab 2 • Mentored 48 students with general chemistry experiments in two lab sections each semester • Evaluate student performance, grade lab reports, and proctor exams

Projects and activities: • Synthesis of nanosized Li4Ti5O12 grown on carbon foams (LTO/C) as anode material for high-performance rechargeable lithium-ion batteries • Synthesis of supramolecular vesicles based on cyclodextrin and ferrocene derivatives for drug delivery • Performed sample characterizations utilizing UV-Vis, TGA, XRD, BET, and NMR

Projects and activities: • Synthetic Design of Novel Separator Using Mixing Polymers with Controllable Pore Size for Li-S battery • Synthetic Design towards Novel Transition Metal-oxide Li-S Cathode Materials Using Sonochemical Method • Hands-on experience with battery cycling system, SEM, Raman, XRD, and BET for sample characterization and analysis