Donglei Zhang, Professor
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

Zhang Donglei, Ph.D., is a professor at the School of Basic Medicine at Huazhong University of Science and Technology and an awardee of the National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars of the Natural Science Foundation of China. Dr. Zhang obtained his BS degree from Beijing Normal University (2004), an MS degree from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2007), and a Ph.D. degree from the Rutgers State University of New Jersey (2013).

Dr. Zhang’s main research interest is the function of membranous and non-membranous subcellular organelles, especially the function and molecular mechanism of non-coding RNA and cytoskeleton protein involved in the regulation of the reproductive system and early embryo of the model organism, the nematode worm C. elegans. His research revealed (1) The non-coding piRNA-target recognition rules; (2) Dynamics of embryonic ribonucleoprotein complex P granule, a membrane free organelle by liquid-liquid phase separation which determines the identity of germ cells; and (3) A positive feedback pathway to activate the small GTPase RhoA, which regulates the asymmetric division and membrane ingression during cytokinesis. He published multiple papers in international journals, including Science, Journal of Cell Biology, eLife, Current Biology, Developmental Cell, Genetics, etc.