Q&A with Dr. Ziyang Zhang: Reshaping Immune Response with Chemistry
November 13, 2024PhRMA Foundation awardee Ziyang Zhang, PhD, of the University of California, Berkeley, created his lab to focus on using chemistry to understand disease processes and hopefully find new therapeutic targets.
Ziyang Zhang, PhD, is a chemist at heart, fascinated by the creation and manipulation of molecules. But he wants to employ his chemistry expertise to make a difference for human health.
An assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology at the University of California, Berkeley, Zhang created his lab to focus on using chemistry to understand disease processes and hopefully find new therapeutic targets. He received a 2024 PhRMA Foundation Faculty Starter Grant in Drug Discovery for his research to develop new compounds that could enhance or dampen the immune system’s response to better treat cancer or inflammatory diseases.
Specifically, Zhang’s work focuses on natural killer T cells. These immune cells act like security guards, checking for abnormal fat molecules from harmful bacteria and sending out alarm signals to other immune cells. His lab aims to design small molecules that would bind to specific proteins to modify how natural killer T cells function, thus recalibrating immune system responses.
Watch this video to learn about Zhang and his research.
Learn more about the PhRMA Foundation’s fellowship and grant opportunities. Check out more researcher stories on our blog.
