Lab Members

Research scientist

Jordan earned her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Virginia Commonwealth in 2023. During her PhD work she studied how loss of isoprenylation decreased IgE mediated mast cell activation in allergic disease. Following this she worked for a cord blood bank working on cellular therapies. In April of 2024 she transitioned to the Zhu lab where she will work on the immune effects of novel cancer and autoimmune therapies.

Postdoc Fellow

You received PhD in Pharmaceutical Science from University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Her research focus is on novel nucleic acid therapeutics and vaccines for cancer immunotherapy and immune disorder treatment/prevention.

Postdoc Fellow

Qiyan graduated from China Pharmaceutical University in 2020, where he obtained his B.S. and Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry. His research is focused on the delivery of cancer chemotherapy and immunotherapy. He worked on dermatologic immunology at Dr. Mi's lab (HenryFord Healthy System, USA, MI, August 2021-May 2023). He joined Dr. Zhu’s lab in June 2023, where he works on PROTAC and nanovaccine development for cancer therapy and autoimmune disease.

Lab Manager

Research Lab Specialist

Gillian earned her Masters in Cancer Immunology and microbiology from SUNY-Buffalo. After graduating she has had almost two decades of biomedical research experience in a variety of fields, including cancer biology, cancer immunology, aging, molecular genetics, diabetes and metabolism, and cardiovascular. She has contributed to over a dozen publications in top tier journals, including 2 Nature Communications papers. More recently she earned a certification in lab animal research coordination from the University of Michigan. 

Postdoc Fellow

Yu received her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Soochow University, China. Her research is primarily focused on the development of biomaterials aimed at modulating the tumor microenvironment (TME) to enhance cancer therapy. In November 2023, she joined Dr. Zhu’s lab, where her current focus is in the field of therapeutic nucleic acid delivery for advancing cancer immunotherapy.

Postdoc Fellow

Shimiao earned his Ph.D. in Genetics from the Division of Life Science and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China in 2021. Following that, he assumed the role of an RNA scientist at CNBG-Virogin Biotech. In November 2023, he transitioned to the Zhu lab, channeling his expertise towards developing innovative nucleic acid-based immunotherapeutics.

Postdoc Fellow

Xiaoge received her Ph.D. in Biology from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. Her previous research focused on RNA synthesis and RNA structural dynamics. She joined Dr. Zhu’s lab in April 2025, where she is currently working on novel circRNA medicine.

Postdoc Fellow

Guolan received her Ph.D. in organic chemistry from East China Normal University in 2019. Following that, she joined Shanghai Jiao Tong University as a postdoc, focusing on post-modification of nucleosides and nucleotides. In 2023, She received postdoc training in medicinal chemistry at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. In June 2024, she joined Dr. Zhu’s lab and her current research focuses on pharmaceutical sciences and nucleic acid medicine.

Postdoc Fellow

Sicong received his Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of Michigan. His research is primarily focused on the RNA structure influences on its enzymatic cleavage steps and development of RNA structure based antisense oligo design. In July 2024, he joined Dr. Zhu’s group to work on novel therapeutic nucleic acid design for RNA editing

PhD student

Emma received her bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology and Genomics from the University of Pittsburgh in 2025. She joined Dr. Zhu’s lab in 2026 and is co-advised by Dr. Ashlee Brunaugh, with research interests in respiratory drug delivery and biomaterials.

PhD student

Xiang obtained his bachelor degree in Applied Chemistry from Shandong University in China. He has worked on polymeric carriers for CFTR gene delivery during his master's training at University College London. He joined Dr. Zhu’s lab in 2021 to study drug delivery for cancer immunotherapy.

MSIPS Student

Yujia graduated from Zhejiang University in 2025 with a degree in Bioengineering. In 2026, she joined Dr. Zhu’s lab at the University of Michigan as a capstone student. Her research interest focuses on RNA therapeutics and drug delivery systems.

PhD student

Zitong earned her bachelor's degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Michigan. She joined Dr. Zhu's lab in June 2024, where her research will focus on developing novel nucleic acid therapeutics and vaccines for the treatment of pulmonary diseases.

PhD Student

Qing received her bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering from Southeast University in 2020 and completed dual master's degrees in Nanoscience and Technology from University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and University of Copenhagen in 2023. With research interests in immunoengineering and RNA therapeutics, she joined Dr. Zhu's lab in 2024 and is co-advised by Dr. James Moon.

Undergraduate Researcher

Amalia is an undergraduate at Stony Brook University completing her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry. After graduating in May 2027, she plans to complete a Ph.D. in Immunology and pursue a research career in vaccine development. She joined the lab in Summer 2026 through the University of Michigan Rackham Graduate School Summer Research Opportunities Program, where her research will focus on the delivery of RNA therapeutics to the lungs. 

Research Lab Technician

Wenhua received his master’s degree from Shanghai Normal University in 2022, where his research focused on the development of novel organic synthesis methods. After graduation, he joined WuXi STA (WuXi AppTec) as a Senior Scientist and participated in technology transfer projects for two anticancer drugs.
He joined Dr. Zhu’s laboratory in August 2024. His current research focuses on the design and synthesis of novel functional lipid derivatives for lipid nanoparticle platforms used in mRNA and circRNA therapeutics and vaccines.