Guocai is a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Genetic and Cellular Medicine, with secondary appointments in the RNA Therapeutics Institute and the Biochemistry & Molecular Biotechnology Department. He completed his PhD in Pathobiology through joint training at Harbin Medical University and the National Institute of Biological Sciences (NIBS, Beijing)—an HHMI-style research institute in China. At NIBS, he co-discovered NTCP as an essential receptor for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis D virus (HDV)—a landmark discovery that advanced the science and therapeutic strategies for hepatitis B and D and was later recognized by major awards, including the 2021 Baruch S. Blumberg Prize and the 2022 Future Science Prize in Life Sciences.
During his postdoctoral training at the Scripps Research Institute Florida campus (2013–2019), he shifted his research focus to RNA switch engineering for temporal and dose control of gene therapeutics. At Scripps, he developed a series of novel RNA switches, including a self-cleavage-based RNA switch that efficiently regulates transgene expression in mice with a wide dynamic range. In late 2019, Guocai established his independent laboratory at Shenzhen Bay Laboratory and Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School in Shenzhen, China. In the summer of 2022, he moved his lab to the Horae Gene Therapy Center (now Department of Genetic and Cellular Medicine) and RNA Therapeutics Institute at UMass Chan Medical School. Zhong Lab's research centers on RNA switch engineering and the development of regulatable gene therapies.
Sr. Research Scientist, Lab Manager
Haimin got her medical degree in 2007 and then received a 2-year residency training in China. She then switched her career path to research. She was a postdoc associate at the Scripps Research Institute, Florida campus, and then joined Zhong Lab in 2019 since the lab's establishment.
Visiting Graduate Student
Xiaojuan is a PhD student at Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, China. She joined Zhong Lab since the lab's establishment in 2019, initially at Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, then moved with the lab as a visiting student to UMass Chan Medical School (3/20/2023-).
Chengzhi Du, PhDPostdoctoral Associate
Chengzhi received his PhD degree in Cancer Biology in 2019 from Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing. Since then, he joined Zhong Lab as a Postdoctoral Associate, initially at Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, then moved with the lab to UMass Chan Medical School (5/20/2023-).
Postdoctoral Associate
Mengjia was a graduate student in Zhong Lab. She joined the lab in late 2019 and received her PhD degree in Chemical Genomics in July 2023 from Peking University, China. As the lab then moved to UMass Chan Medical School, she rejoined the lab at UMass Med as a Postdoctoral Associate (10/16/2023-).
Charuvi Singh. Former high school intern (2024) from Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science at WPI; now an undergraduate biochemistry major at UMass Amherst's Honors College.
Madhu Suresh. Former Research Associate (2023-2023); now a PhD student at the University of Freiburg, Germany.
Wei Zhan. UMass Chan graduate student previously rotated in the Zhong lab in 2023.
Yujun Li, PhD. Former Associate Investigator (2020-2022); then Associate Professor and Co-Director of BSL-3 Laboratory at Shenzhen University Medical School, Shenzhen, China.
Hong Pan, PhD. Former postdoc (2020-2022); then Assistant Investigator at Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China.
Weitong Yao, PhD. Former postdoc (2020-2022); then Assistant Investigator at Hubei Jiangxia Laboratory, Wuhan, China.
He Zhang. Former graduate student at Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School (2021-2022); then a master's student, now a PhD student in Biostatistics at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, USA.
Danting Ma. Former Research Assistant (2019-2022); then a graduate student at Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
Xiaomei Fu. Former Research Assistant (2020-2022); then Scientist at ImmVira Co., Ltd, China.
Yifei Wang. Former Research Assistant (2019-2021); then a graduate student at the Institut Polytechnique de Paris, France.
Qin Zou. Former Research Assistant (2019-2020); then in industry.