Professor, Department of Biological Systems Engineering
Program Focus
My research program has three main focuses. 1) Protein expression and purification. In this focus area, our main goal is to express certain proteins in selected expression system and develop economical processes for the recovery and purification of the recombinant proteins. 2) Bio-nanoparticle mediated drug delivery. In this area, our main goal is to synthesize uniquely structured bio-nanoparticles for target drug delivery and controlled releases. The main applications of the bio-nanoparticles are in cancer therapy and possibly in inflammatory diseases. We envision these particles will have minimal basal drug release and can be specifically targeted to the desired cells and tissues. 3) Vaccine development. In this area, our main goal is to develop vaccines against an important animal disease, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), and addictive drugs. However, the approaches will be drastically different. For vaccine against PRRS, we focus on developing subunit vaccines, but for vaccines against abusive drugs, we focus on developing a nano-carrier system that can effectively present the haptens to the immune system.
Current Projects
- Development of novel vaccines against drug abuse – Proof of concept study for vaccines against nicotine addiction – this project is funded by NIH-NIDA and the Juffress Memorial Trust. It focuses on assembling a nano-carrier system to effectively present a nicotine hapten to the immune system.
- A new drug delivery and release platform for cancer treatment – this projected is funded by USDA-NIFA through the VT Biodesign and Bioprocessing Center and by Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science at Virginia Tech. This project focuses on assembling uniquely structured bio-nanoparticles, which allow specific targeting of the particles to deliver encapsulated drug molecules inside the nanoparticles.
Selected Publications
Zhao, Z.*. Powers, K., Hu, Y., Raleigh, M., Pentel, P., Zhang, C. 2017. Engineering of a hybrid nanoparticle-based nicotine nanovaccine as a next-generation immunotherapeutic strategy against nicotine addiction: a focus on hapten density. Biomaterials. In press. [IF15=8.387]
Zhao, Z.*, Lou, S.*, Hu, Y.*, Zhu, J., Zhang, C. 2017. A nano-in-nano polymer-dendrimer nanoparticle-based nanosystem for controlled multi-drug delivery. Molecular Pharmaceutics. In press. [IF15=4.342]
Hu, Y.*, Smith, D.*, Frazier, E.*, Hoerle, R.*, Ehrich, M., Zhang, C. 2016. The next generation nicotine vaccine: a novel and potent hybrid nanoparticle based nicotine vaccine. Biomaterials. 106: 228-239. [IF15=8.387]
Zhao, Z.*, Hu, Y.*, Hoerle, R.*, Devine, M.*, Raleigh, M., Pentel, P., Zhang, C. 2016. A nanoparticle-based nicotine vaccine and the influence of particle size on its immunogenicity and efficacy. Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine. In press. [IF15/16=5.671]
Saylor, K.*, Zhang, C. 2016. A simple physiologically based pharmacokinetic model evaluating the effect of anti-nicotine antibodies on nicotine disposition in the brains of rats and humans. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology. 307: 150-164. [IF15/16=3.847]
Babahosseini, H.*, Srinivasaraghavan, V., Zhao, Z.*, Gillam, F., Childress, E., Strobl, J., Santos, W.L., Zhang, C. (Corresponding author), Agah, M. 2016. The Impact of sphingosine kinase inhibitor-loaded nanoparticles on bioelectrical and biomechanical properties of cancer cells. Lab on a Chip. 16: 188-198. [IF14/15=6.115]