Team

Lab Openings

The Zhang Lab is looking for highly motivated people to work on research related to bioelectricity biology and cancer genetics. Openings include Postdoctoral associate, Graduate student (MS and Ph.D.), and Laboratory technician. Interested candidates should send a request to Dr. Zhang.

Lab Members

GuangJun Zhang, MD, PhD John T. and Winifred M. Hayward Associate Professor of Genetic Research, Genetic Epidemiology and Comparative Medicine View Profile

GuangJun Zhang, MD, PhD Bio

GuangJun Zhang, MD, PhD

John T. and Winifred M. Hayward Associate Professor of Genetic Research, Genetic Epidemiology and Comparative Medicine

Dr. GuangJun Zhang is the John T. and Winifred M. Hayward Associate Professor of Genetic Research, Genetic Epidemiology and Comparative Medicine in the Department of Comparative Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine. He grew up in China and earned his MD degree from the Tongji University in Shanghai in 1998 and his Master’s degree from the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine (currently, Chinese Center for Disease Control) in 2001. His research focused on evolutionary and developmental biology of vertebrate skeletons during his PhD. training at the University of Florida from 2003 to 2007. Before he came to Purdue, he did his postdoctoral training on cancer genetics using zebrafish as an animal model at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT from 2008 to 2012. He joined Purdue University in 2012.

Sung Jun Park Graduate Research Assistant, Cancer Biology View Profile

Sung Jun Park Bio

Sung Jun Park

Graduate Research Assistant, Cancer Biology

Sung Jun (Daniel) Park received his bachelor’s degree for biological science at Purdue University in 2018, with a concentration in cell molecular developmental biology (CMDB). For undergraduate research, Daniel mainly focused on analyzing the dimerization of BATF family of basic leucine zipper transcription factors with the Jun class factors, which functions to negatively regulate the activity of a transcription factor complex (AP-1). He also had an internship at the Center for Theragnosis, KIST (Korean Institute of Science and Technology), where I utilized various miRNA and siRNA to target specific cancer cell lines and involved in a research project. Daniel joined the Zhang lab in the spring of 2019. He is currently working on the bioelectrical signaling of zebrafish embryo and cancer cells.

Ziyu Dong PULSe Student View Profile

Ziyu Dong Bio

Ziyu Dong

PULSe Student

Ziyu Dong graduated from University of California, Berkeley in 2020, with a bachelor’s degree in Molecular Cell Biology. She joined Purdue’s PULSe program in 2020, and after finishing the first year rotations, she joined Dr. Zhang’s lab in the summer of 2021. Currently, she is interested in the role of bioelectrical signals in zebrafish development and cancer cell interactions. Outside the lab, Ziyu enjoys running with friends, cooking, and spending time with her cats.

Xiang Luo Graduate Research Assistant View Profile

Xiang Luo Bio

Xiang Luo

Graduate Research Assistant

Xiang Luo completed his bachelor’s degree in clinical medicine from Central South University in China and earned his master's degree from Peking University in 2023. He joined the Zhang Lab in the fall of 2023. Xiang has a keen interest in basic biomedical research and is currently working on the role of bioelectricity in cancer development and metastasis. He is also developing a zebrafish cancer model with SOCS gene mutations. In his free time; Xiang enjoys cooking, physical activities, and photography.

Dingxun Wang Graduate Research Assistant View Profile

Dingxun Wang Bio

Dingxun Wang

Graduate Research Assistant

He earned his bachelor’s degree in biotechnology from the Sun Yat-Sen University in China in 2019. Then, Dingxun pursued nutrition and metabolic biology research in the School of Medicine at Boston University and got his master’s degree in 2021. Dingxun has long been interested in molecular genetics and cancer treatment. He joined the Zhang lab in the fall of 2021. Currently, Dingxun is working on the PRMT5 oncogenic mechanisms, therapeutic potential in MPNST (malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors), and zebrafish cancer models.

Kuangyi Wu Graduate Research Assistant, Cancer Biology View Profile

Kuangyi Wu Bio

Kuangyi Wu

Graduate Research Assistant, Cancer Biology

Kuangyi Wu jointly earned bachelor's degrees in biology from China Agricultural University and Purdue University in 2023. As a master's student, she joined Dr. Zhang's lab in the fall of 2023. She is working on Tissue-specific quantifying zebrafish embryos' bioelectricity by generating transgenic zebrafish lines with genetically encoded voltage indicators.

Current Undergraduates for Research

• Ethan Zackschewski
• Ashley Shieh
• Owen Stephens
• Hsin-Yu Hou
• Carolina Kim
• Lauren Davern

Lab Alumni

• Geraldine Elizabeth Berkemeier, Undergraduate researcher
• Maya Black, Undergraduate researcher
• Stanley A. Buczynski, 2018 LASMP undergraduate researcher
• Hannah Butterfield, Undergraduate researcher
• Guolin Cai, Ph.D., postdoctoral associate. Physician, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital
• Jiapei Chen, Undergraduate researcher
• Kenny H. Chen, Undergraduate researcher
• Rhys Chua, Undergraduate researcher. Now a graduate Student at the University of San Francisco
• Zhibin Cui, Ph.D. postdoctoral associate
• Emily Duncan, Undergraduate researcher
• Richard Feng, Undergraduate researcher
• Han Han, Ms
• Monica Hensley, Ms., Now a technician at the Department of Embryology, Carnegie Institution of Washington
• Logan Hess, Undergraduate researcher
• Lauren Hesting, Undergraduate researcher
• Jacob Jefferies. Lab Technician. Now, a Ph.D student at the Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University
• Guangzhen Jiang, Ph.D. Visiting Scholar, Associate professor, Nanjing Agricultural University
• Dhruv Khanna, Undergraduate researcher
• Brian H. Kim. Graduate Student
• Arnav Kumar, Undergraduate researcher
• Connor Kuntz, Undergraduate researcher
• Huanpeng Liu, Undergraduate researcher
• Murphy McManama, Undergraduate researcher
• Sarah Murata, Undergraduate researcher
• Elizabeth M. Nguyen, Undergraduate researcher
• Cara Rafanelli, Undergraduate researcher
• Natalie Shammas, Undergraduate researcher
• Nicole Shammas, Undergraduate researcher, Now a MD student at the Indiana University
• Martin R. Silic, Ph.D. Zeiss Product Applications Sales Specialist Protégé NE
• Stefanie Simpson, Undergraduate researcher. Now a graduate Student at the IUPUI
• Rebecca C. Smollen, Undergraduate researcher
• Elizabeth Spyratos, Undergraduate researcher
• Peyton Lian Staab, Undergraduate researcher
• Jasmine Staver, Undergraduate researcher
• Marlon Urgelles, 2018 Summer UROP undergraduate researcher
• Alexandra Irma Nin Velez, 2016-2017 LASMP Undergraduate researcher. Now a graduate Student at the Virginia Tech
• Chelsey Wallace, Undergraduate researcher.
• Rui Wang, Undergraduate researcher.
• Xinmin Yan, Visiting Scholar, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute (LVRI), Gansu, China.
• Ge Zhu, Undergraduate researcher. Now a graduate Student at the University of Minnesota
• Xiaoguang Zhu, Ph.D., postdoctoral associate.