Bio
Dr. Zhang earned his Ph.D. degree of Pharmaceutical Sciences from Kyoto University, Japan in 2007, followed by postdoctoral study in School of Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, and Research Assistant Professorship in School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Zhang’s group moved from Chapman University to The University of Arizona in 2026.
As reflected by his education/training, Dr. Zhang was educated in Pharmacy, Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, overall, the study of drugs. In addition, Dr. Zhang has been trained in Physiology and Biophysics. He has always been working either on the drugs themselves or more often on the drug targets, such as ion channels. As the PI on several National Institutes of Health and American Heart Association grants, I laid the groundwork for the proposed research by elucidating the interactions between small molecule modulators and their drug target, KCa2.1, KCa2.2, KCa2.3, and KCa3.1 channels.
Dr. Zhang’s group utilizes structural biology techniques to study ion channels and transporters. Specific areas currently under investigation are (1) structure-aided drug discovery targeting KCa2.2 channels for movement disorders including ataxia, essential tremor, and atrial fibrillation; (2) structure-aided drug discovery targeting KCa2.3 channels for alcohol use disorders; (3) structure-aided drug discovery targeting KCa3.1 channels for dehydrated hereditary stomatocytosis. He is an author of more than 30 peer-reviewed original research publications on highly reputable journals such as Nature Chemical Biology, Science Advances, PNAS and Nature Communications. Dr. Zhang is a member of the Biophysical Society, Society for Neuroscience, and American Heart Association.