Hong Zhang

Biography

Appointments Investigator, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing,(March 2012 to present) Associate Investigator, National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, (September 2009 to March 2012) Assistant Investigator, National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, (July 2004 to September 2009) Instructor, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, (March 2004 to July 2004) Education Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Research Fellow, February 2001 to March 2004, Department of Molecular Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics, January 2001 Beijing Institute for Cancer Research, Beijing Medical University, M.S. in Tumor Biology, July 1994 Department of Biochemistry, Anhui University, B.S. in Biochemistry, July 1991 Awards and Honors The 6th C.C.Tan (Jia-Zhen Tan) Life Science Award (谈家桢生命科学创新奖), 2013 National Outstanding Young Scientist Award, 2012 HHMI International Early Career Scientist Award, 2012 Lilly-Asian Scientific Excellence Award, 2006 Appointments Investigator, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing,(March 2012 to present) Associate Investigator, National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, (September 2009 to March 2012) Assistant Investigator, National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, (July 2004 to September 2009) Instructor, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, (March 2004 to July 2004) Education Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Research Fellow, February 2001 to March 2004, Department of Molecular Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics, January 2001 Beijing Institute for Cancer Research, Beijing Medical University, M.S. in Tumor Biology, July 1994 Department of Biochemistry, Anhui University, B.S. in Biochemistry, July 1991 Awards and Honors The 6th C.C.Tan (Jia-Zhen Tan) Life Science Award (谈家桢生命科学创新奖), 2013 National Outstanding Young Scientist Award, 2012 HHMI International Early Career Scientist Award, 2012 Lilly-Asian Scientific Excellence Award, 2006

Research Interest

Autophagy involves the enclosure of cytoplasmic material in the autophagosome and its subsequent delivery to the lysosome for degradation. Studies of autophagy in yeast have laid the groundwork for a molecular understanding of the autophagy pathway, but fail to consider unique multicellular animal-specific mechanisms for the regulation and function of autophagy. The research interest of our lab currently focuses on the molecular mechanism of the autophagic machinery, the regulation of autophagy activity during development and the physiological function of autophagy. First, we are using C. elegans as a model to identify essential components for basal autophagy and tissue specific variants of autophagy. The molecular mechanism of the identified components will be investigated. Second, using degradation of protein aggregates during C. elegans embryogenesis as a model, we are studying how protein aggregates are selectively recognized and removed by autophagy. Third, we are investigating how autophagic machinery integrates signals from other cells and environmental conditions to maintain cell, tissue and organism homeostasis. Fourth, we are characterizing the function of metazoan-specific autophagy genes in neurodegenerative diseases, especially the molecular mechanism underlying the selective vulnerability of certain neuronal populations. These ongoing studies will provide insights into the molecular mechanism of autophagy and also the mechanism of various diseases associated with impaired autophagy such as neurodegeneration.