Postdoctoral Research Scientist

Dr. Junqing Kang completed her doctoral studies in biochemistry and molecular biology at Tsinghua University, specializing in the epigenetic regulation of transcription initiation under the mentorship of Dr. Haitao Li. Following her Ph.D., she joined the Zhang lab in 2024, where she continues to investigate the intricacies of epigenetics and chromatin biology. Junqing's current research focuses on unraveling the molecular mechanisms underlying the inheritance patterns of parental histones during the process of DNA replication.

Postdoctoral Research Scientist

Dr. Gu received a B.E. in biopharmaceutics from Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine. He received his Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from the Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, where he first constructed several single-chromosome Schizosaccharomyces pombe models and revealed that both chromosome number(s) and configuration affect meiosis and natural speciation under the guidance of Dr. Jin-Qiu Zhou and Li-Lin Du. Now, in Dr. Zhiguo Zhang’s lab, he focuses on exploring the molecular mechanisms for neurons to promote the proliferation of diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) to identify new potential therapeutic targets for epigenetically dysregulated DIPG.

Postdoctoral Research Scientist

Dr. Eun-Ji Ko earned her Ph.D. under the guidance of Dr. Heui-soo Kim at Pusan National University. Her doctoral research focused on the function of the HERV-K env gene in tumorigenic characteristics using CRISPR/Cas9 technology in colorectal cancer. Subsequently, her postdoctoral research examined the roles of HERV-K env in the immune system using CRISPR/Cas9 in human monocytic leukemia cells, as well as the functions of the membrane-related ZO protein in the tumorigenic properties of B16-F10 mouse melanoma cells under the supervision of Dr. Hee-Jae Cha at Kosin University College of medicine. Currently, Eun-Ji is focusing on H3.3K27 Cells to elucidate molecular mechanisms and identify new targets.

Postdoctoral Research Scientist

Dr. Duan received a BS from the South China University of Technology and a PhD in microbiology from the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He focused on population genomics, genetics, and the adaptive evolution of yeast for his doctoral research in Dr. Fengyan Bai's lab. For his postdoctoral research, he studies epigenetic inheritance in yeast and mammalian cells and uses NGS approaches to investigate cancer epigenetics—in particular, why the chromatin remodelers SMARCA4 and CHD2 are crucial for the proliferation of DMG with H3K27M mutations.

Postdoctoral Research Scientist

Dr. Zhiming Li obtained his PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology from Peking University, where he trained in Dr. Wei-Guo Zhu’s lab to study the epigenetic regulation of DNA damage response and repair. He then joined the Zhang lab in 2018 and continued his research in the field of epigenetics and chromatin biology. Zhiming helped establish the first working eSPAN protocol to quantify the enrichment of proteins at the replicating DNA strands in mammalian cells. Currently, Zhiming focuses on the molecular mechanisms governing the distribution of parental histones during DNA replication, and how this regulatory apparatus might be relevant in human diseases. Outside of academia, Zhiming is a proud dog dad and loves all sorts of outdoor activities, including hiking, biking, skiing and kayaking.

Associate Research Scientist

Dr. Xu received a BS from the School of Life Sciences at Sun Yat-sen University and a PhD in cell biology from Peking University, under the mentorship of Dr. Chuanmao Zhang. Her PhD research focused on studying cell cycle regulation, in particular the centrosome duplication cycle and cell cycle transitions. For her postdoctoral research, she is interested in how epigenetic information is preserved on parental histones inherited from mother to daughter cells and how chromatin states and epigenetic landscapes are regulated during stem cell differentiation.

Associate Research Scientist

Dr. Zhang received a BS in biotechnology from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. He received a PhD in cell biology from Peking University, where he completed a proof-of-principle study reprogramming the cell fate of somatic cells to induced pluripotent cells by using only small molecules under the mentorship of Dr. Hongkui Deng. Now in Dr. Zhiguo Zhang’s lab, he is dedicated to elucidating the molecular mechanisms for onco-histone mutations in diffuse midline gliomas (DMG) and identifying potential therapeutic targets for novel treatments. He is making use of state-of-the-art techniques (e.g., CUT&RUN, CUT&Tag) to determine how H3K27M onco-histones regulate the tumorigenesis of DMG. He is also using CRISPR/Cas9 genetic screens to identify novel therapeutic targets for DMG tumors.

Graduate Student, Postdoctoral Residency Fellow

Matthew is currently a senior resident in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Columbia University. He completed his undergraduate education as a Presidential Honors Scholar at New York University, and attended medical school at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, graduating with distinction in research. He then completed an internship in Internal Medicine at Emory University and now is pursuing residency in radiation oncology. He is the first oncology trainee at Columbia accepted into the ABR Holman Research Pathway, during which he is pursuing a PhD in Cellular, Molecular, and Biomedical Studies. His research interests lie in pediatric and central nervous system malignancies, particularly in using new technologies to improve drug delivery and studying the role in which the blood brain barrier plays. He is currently examining the use of non-invasive focused ultrasound-mediated blood brain barrier-opening to enhance drug delivery, in combination with targeted molecular therapies, to explore new treatment paradigms.

Lab Manager

Hui is the lab manager of the Zhang Lab. Her current research project focuses on early cancer detection using cell-free DNA.

Official Lab Mascot

Hugo is a three-year-old Shiba Inu. He enjoys his twice-daily walks and all the company he can get. He says arf—hello!