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Zhang Biomolecular Engineering and Synthetic Biology Laboratory

Dr. Fuzhong Zhang

2024 Francis F. Ahmann Professorship

2019 NIH Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award

2017 SIMB Young Investigator Award

2016 Dean’s Faculty Award for Innovation in Research

2016 B&B Daniel I.C. Wang Award

2015 NASA Early Career Faculty

2015 ONR YIP Award

2015 HFSP Young Investigators Award

2015 AFOSR YIP Award

2014 NSF CAREER Award

2013 DARPA Young Faculty Award

2013 ORAU Junior Faculty Award

News

  • Jun 2024: Xinyue’s work on ATP dynamics was published in Nature Communications. In this paper, we illustrated the change of microbial ATP concentration in numerous growth conditions and developed an efficient strategy to improve bioproduction by alleviating cellular ATP level. The work was also featured in WashU News. Congratulations Xinyue!     
  • May 2024: Natalie and Paycen have completed their studies in our group and moved on to new positions. Wish them good luck!
  • April 2024: Juya received the EECE Research Impact Award this year. Congratulations Juya!
  • Feb 2024: Shri’s paper on composite protein fibers was published in Mater. Adv. Congratulations Shri!
  • Jan 2024: Jingyao has successfully defended his thesis and will start his  postdoc life at Los Alamos National Lab. Congratulations and good luck Jingyao!
  • Dec 2023: Juya’s paper on adhesive hydrogel was published in ACS Appl. Mater. & Interfaces. Congratulations Juya!
  • Dec 2023: Two new PhD students, Yuyang Zhou and Ira Wang, formally joined us. Welcome!
  • Sept 2023: Yichao’s paper on PPTP-seq was published in Nature Communications. In this work, we developed a high throughput systems biology method that allowed us to reveal >200,000 promoter responses to regulator perturbations in a single experiment. Congratulations, Yichao! Also read our story at the WashU news.
  • Jun 2023: We had fun in our paintball game. Check out our photos in the group activity page.
  • May 2023: our work on bi-terminally fused spider silk was selected in the Editors’ Highlights by Nature Communications. 
  • April 2023: Chris Hartline received the EECE Research Impact Award this year. Congratulations Chris!
  • April 2023: Jingyao’s paper on bi-terminally fused spider silk was published in Nature Communications. In this work, we created an engineering strategy for silk proteins that can be produced in bacteria at 8 g/L while their fibers are as strong as nylon. Congratulations, Jingyao!
  • Feb 2023: Yichao has successfully defended his thesis and will start his new career as a postdoc in PNNL. Congratulations and good luck Yichao!
  • Dec 2022: Two new PhD students have joined us: Leo Penny and Das Bedadeep. Welcome!
  • Nov 2022: Wenqin and Chris Hartline’s paper on engineering diverse lipid profiles was published in Metab Eng. Congratulations to Wenqin and Chris!
  • June 2022: Chris Hartline published two research papers in ACS Synth Biol and Front in Microbiol Congratulations, Chris!
  • June 2022: Alden was awarded the NIH T32 training grant from the Genome Analysis Training Program (GATP). Congrats, Alden!
  • May 2022: Both Chris Hartline and Cameron Sargent successfully defended their PhD theses. Congratulations Chris and Cameron!
  • April 2022: Dr. Zhang gave an invited Keynote lecture at the ACS Rubber Division Annual Meeting at Cleveland, OH.
  • April 2022: Jingyao received the EECE Research Impact Award this year. Congratulations Jingyao, well deserved!
  • Dec 2021: Alex Schmitz successfully defended his PhD thesis. Congratulations Alex!
  • Dec 2021: Dr. Trent Evans moved to Boston working at Flagship Labs 81. Trent, wish you the best in your new career.
  • Dec 2021: Three new PhD students have joined us: Gloria Zhou, Shri Venkatesh Subramani, and Bojing Jiang. Welcome!
  • Oct 2021: Eugene’s paper on adhesive hydrogels was published in ACS Appl. Mater. & Interfaces Congratulations, Eugene!
  • Aug 2021: Chris and Cameron’s paper on titin fiber was published in Nature Communications. Congratulations, Chris and Cameron!
  • Aug 2021: Kok Zhi Lee Join the lab as postdoc. Welcome!
  • Jul 2021: Jingyao’s paper on strong amyloid-silk fiber was published in ACS Nano Congratulations, Jingyao!
  • Jul 2021: Dr. Zhang has been promoted to the rank of full professor.
  • Jun 2021: Ruixue Zhang, Xinyue Mu and Alden Filko Join the lab as PhD students. Welcome!
  • May 2021: Yichao received the EECE Research Impact Award this year. Congratulations Yichao, well deserved!
  • Feb 2021: Zhang Lab partners with uFluidix for the manufacture of high precision Microfluidic chip and devices.
  • Dec 2020: Han Yu and John Jarger Join the lab as research technicians, and Lucy Zhang joins us a postdoc. Welcome! 
  • Nov 2020: Congratulations to Chris Bowen, who is now a senior scientist at Pfizer. 

  • Jul 2020: Eugene Kim successfully defended his PhD thesis titled “Bio-Directed Synthesis of High-Performance Mussel-Based Protein Adhesives and Composites”. He is now an Assistant Professor at George Mason University. Congratulations Eugene! Wish you the best in your career.

  • Jan 2020: The group has published several research papers at the beginning of this year. Yichao’s work on gene expression heterogeneity, Chris H’s work on metabolite sequestration, and Po-cheng’s work on sucrose production in UTEX 2973. Congratulations to them!
  • Dec 2019: Juya Jeon and Xinyuan Chang join our lab as new Ph.D. students. Welcome, Juya and Xinyuan!
  • Nov 2019: Chris Bowen’s paper was published in ACS Synthetic Biology Congratulations, Chris!

  • Oct 2019: Dr. Trent Evans officially joins the Zhang Lab as a postdoc. Welcome, Trent!

  • Sept 2019: Chris B. successfully defended his PhD thesis titled “A Platform for Microbial Production of Ultra-High Molecular Weight Protein-Based Materials”. Congratulations, Dr. Bowen!

  • Sept 2019: Yichao was awarded the NIH T32 grant as part of the Genome Analysis Training Program (GATP). Congrats, Yichao!

  • Aug 2019: Congratulations to Dr. Zhang for receiving the prestigious NIH MIRA Award to study metabolite heterogeneity in bacteria!

  • Jul 2019: Wenqin’s paper was published in Nature Communications for her work on using synthetic biology to enable protein origami. Congratulations, Wenqin!

  • Jul 2019: Our lab welcomes 6 selected high school students from the Greater St. Louis metro area this summer! They will be participating in a one-week long Lab Research Experience, funded by NSF, learning about molecular cloning and cell cultivation techniques. Check out the photos on our Outreach page.

  • Apr 2019: Po-Cheng successfully defended his PhD thesis titled “Metabolic Engineering of Cyanobacteria for Production of Chemicals”. Congratulations, Dr. Lin!

  • Apr 2019: Bin’s paper was published in Biomacromolecules. Congratulations, Bin!

  • Dec 2018: Jingyao officially joined the lab as a PhD candidate. Xiaohui also joins us as a visiting scholar & postdoc. Welcome, Jingyao & Xiaohui!

  • Nov 2018: Eugene’s paper was published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. Congratulations, Eugene!

  • Nov 2018: Shaojie finished his study in the Zhang Lab and retured to his home school for his PhD defense. Wish him all the best!

  • Aug 2018: Chris and Bin’s paper was published in Biomacromolecules. Congratulations, Chris and Bin!

  • Jul 2018: Cameron was awarded a NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship (NSTRF). Congratulations, Cameron!

  • June 2018: Zhang Lab Alum Yi published his work in Biotechnology and Bioengineering. Congratulations, Yi!

  • May 2018: Zhang Lab Alums Linda and Carlos published their work in Microbial Cell Factories. Congratulations, Linda and Carlos!

  • May 2018: Wen successfully defended her PhD thesis titled “Exploring Fatty Acid Metabolism for the Biosynthesis of Non-Natural Chemicals”. Congratulations, Dr. Jiang!

  • Mar 2018: Weitao Geng officially joined the Zhang Lab as a visitor scholar. Welcome!

  • Jan 2018: Di’s paper was published in ACS Synthetic Biology. Congratulations, Di!