Assistant Professor
University of Illinois Chicago
Dr. Zhao received his Ph.D. in Biological Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech in 2017 and B.S. in Bioengineering from East China University of Science and Technology in 2013. He did his postdoctoral training at the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Wyss Institute at Harvard University from 2017 to 2021. He started his independent research group in 2021 and is currently an Assistant Professor in the Pharmaceutical Sciences Department at UIC. His research is focused on bioinspired and biomimetic strategies for designing better therapeutics, with the ultimate goal to improve the diagnosis and treatment of diseases including cancer, autoimmune diseases, acute injuries, and drug addictions. To date, Dr. Zhao’s research efforts have led to > 50 published articles in journals including Cell, Nature Biomedical Engineering, PNAS, Science Advances, Advanced Materials, Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews et al. In addition, he is the inventor of several U.S. and international patents. Dr. Zhao’s work has been covered by many media outlets, such as Science Daily, Technology Networks, and Science in Boston. He is currently an Associate Editor of AICHE's journal, Bioengineering & Translational Medicine.