Professor Yong ZHAO's research integrates multi-omics, computational biology, immunology, molecular biology, biochemistry, and synthetic biology to develop immune tolerance-inducing therapies and novel biologics for clinical applications. His work focuses on transplantation, autoimmune diseases, and cancer, aiming to create new immune cell-based and bioengineered drugs.

Prof. Yong ZHAO is a professor in Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology. He used to be the Deputy Director of the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Director of the National Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology; Director of the Department of Immunology, Cunji Medical College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences; Vice Chairman of the Transplantation Immunology Committee, Chinese Society for Immunology (CSI); and Council Member of the Chinese Society for Immunology. He serves as Editor for Experimental Review of Clinical Immunology and Cellular and Molecular Immunology, and received the National "Outstanding Youth Fund".

He mainly engaged in transplant immunology research, including the induction of immune tolerance and its cellular molecular mechanisms, the induction and application of immunosuppressive cells, the molecular regulation of thymus development and differentiation, and macrophage biology. He also interested in identification of novel functional subpopulations of innate immune cells. Achieved a series of important research results. He had published more than 200 SCI articles and more than 70 articles in Chinese core journals, including Nature Medicine, Nature Communications, JEM, Blood, Journal of Immunology, American Journal of Transplantation and Transplantation, and obtained 2 Chinese invention patent authorizations. Published two book "Xenotransplantation Immunology" and "Transplant Immune Tolerance" as Editor-in-chief, and 5 books as co-editors.

Education Background

September 1990–July 1993: Ph.D. in Biology, Norman Bethune University of Medical Sciences

September 1987–July 1990: Master’s Degree in Radiomedicine, Norman Bethune University of Medical Sciences

September 1982–July 1987: Bachelor’s Degree in Radiomedicine, Norman Bethune University of Medical Sciences

Professional Experience

October 2022-Present: Chair Professor, Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology

April 2003-October 2022: Professor, State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

May 2000-April 2004: Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, USA

July 1995-August 2000: Postdoctoral research associate, Bone Marrow Transplantation Section, Transplantation Biology Research Center, Surgical Service, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA

July 1993-September 1995: Postdoctoral researcher at Project Research Center, Mitsubishi Kasei Institute of Life Sciences, Tokyo, Japan

He is among the Global Top 2% Scientists list, currently serves as a council member of the Chinese Society of Biotechnology and the Chinese Society for Immunology, Deputy Chairman of the Transplant Immunology Branch of the Chinese Society for Immunology, Associate Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese Journal of Zoology, and editorial board member of journals such as Expert Review of Clinical Immunology and Cellular & Molecular Immunology, and has received numerous awards and honors (covering international, domestic, or field-specific recognitions).

Awards and Honors

2024: First Prize of the Science and Technology Award from the Chinese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine

2023: Tier-A Distinguished Talent, Pengcheng Peacock Plan

2021–2023: Elsevier Highly Cited Chinese Researcher (Basic Medicine)

2017: Director, State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology

2009: National Talents Program

2005: National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars

2003: CAS "Hundred Talents Program"

Technology Transfers:

1. Medical Application of Wip1 Inhibitors, 2016 (Authorized in 2020)

2. Car-T cells and their application to treat hypersensitive diseases (pending 2025)

Major Research Projects:

As Chief Scientist, led multiple high-profile research projects, including the National Key Research and Development Program, Key Projects of the National Natural Science Foundation, and Special Projects of the Shenzhen Medical Research Fund, driving advancements in synthetic biology and biomedical research.

Representative Publications:

1. "mTORC2 orchestrates monocytic and granulocytic lineage commitment by an ATF5-mediated pathway",iScience,2023, Corresponding Author

2. "Wip1 inhibits neutrophil extracellular traps to promote abscess formation in mice by directly dephosphorylating Coronin-1a",Cellular & Molecular Immunology,2023, Corresponding Author

3. "Single-cell transcriptomic analysis reveals transcriptional and cell subpopulation differences between human and pig immune cells",Genes & Genomics,2023, Corresponding Author