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Home > Prizes > Prize Recipients > Jin Zhang

Jin Zhang

2010 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise Honoree in Biomedical Science

Location

San Diego, CA

Title

Professor of Pharmacology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Biomedical Engineering at the University of California, San Diego; Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Area(s) of Research

Importance of precise spatiotemporal regulation in signaling, how cells control precisely where and when signaling occurs, and thus how a shift in this regulation could trigger a disease event

Education

University of California, San Diego (postdoc); University of Chicago (MS, chemistry); Tsinghua University (BS)

Country of Birth

China

Tags
biomedical science
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A photo of Jin Zhang against a neutral gray background.
Photo courtesy of University of California, San Diego

Jin Zhang, associate professor of pharmacology and molecular sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, explores the dimensions of cellular space and time in her research to unravel the infinitely complex signaling pathways that are components of the remarkable machinery that regulates countless life processes. By observing cellular signaling molecules — especially how malfunctions in such systems can contribute to disease — Zhang seeks to reveal the importance of precise spatiotemporal regulation in signaling, how cells control precisely where and when signaling occurs, and thus how a shift in this regulation could trigger a disease event.

Essential to her work are tools capable of tracking signaling dynamics in living systems with single-cell resolution. Combining biochemical and biophysical approaches, Zhang and her colleagues have engineered fluorescent biosensors (devices that monitor and transmit information about life processes), to investigate the activities of second messengers, kinases, and phosphatases, and to track the regulation/dysregulation of several signaling pathways. These studies, she hopes, will one day lead to the development of more targeted, effective therapeutic treatments for the defects caused by such dysregulation.

Zhang faces many obstacles in her research, due to the intricate nature of the cell system; but, as she points out, the potential rewards are equally high. In 2009, she received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s Pioneer Award, which supports such high-impact, high-risk research. She has also received the American Heart Association National Scientist Development Award and the Biophysical Society Margaret Oakley Dayhoff Award. In addition to her position at Johns Hopkins, Zhang currently holds a joint appointment in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Whiting School of Engineering. A native of Beijing, China, she completed her undergraduate studies at Tsinghua University before moving to the United States to complete her graduate work in chemistry at the University of Chicago.

 

Awards and Accomplishments

  • Director’s Pioneer Award, National Institutes of Health (2009)
  • Margaret Oakley Dayhoff Award, Biophysical Society (2009)
  • National Scientist Development Award, American Heart Association (2008)

Jury Members

2010 Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise Honoree in Biomedical Science

Heran Darwin

Associate Professor of Microbiology, New York University School of Medicine

Laurie Dempsey

Senior Editor, Nature Immunology

Peter Palese

Professor and Chair, Microbiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Jan Vilcek

Professor of Microbiology, New York University School of Medicine

Leslie Vosshall

Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chemers Family Associate Professor, The Rockefeller University

Nicholas Wade

Science Department, The New York Times

Jedd Wolchok

Director of Immunotherapy, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Tags
biomedical science
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