Qitao Zhang

Eric Erquan Zhang is a principal investigator at National Institute of Biological Sciences (NIBS), Beijing, China. He received his bachelor’s degree at East China Normal University, master’s degree at Fudan University in Shanghai, China, and Ph.D. from University of California San Diego, USA.

During his postdoctoral training with Dr. Steve Kay at The Scripps Research Institute and subsequently at University of California San Diego/Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, Dr. Zhang conducted a whole genome siRNA screen and identified a couple of hundred human genes that impact the oscillation of the circadian clock, which governs our daily rhythms of behavior and metabolism. He also uncovered a genetic linkage between the liver clock and diabetes in mammals.

In 2011, Dr. Zhang was awarded by Chinese "Recruitment Program of Global Youth Experts" and became a faculty at NIBS, where he has worked ever since. The Zhang lab is interested in understanding all aspects of circadian rhythms: What is the clock? How does the clock run? Why is the clock relevant? In particular, the Zhang lab focuses on projects about dissecting the clock mechanism and highlighting its biological/biomedical significance in the scope of neuroscience and physiology.