【Speaker】Qi Zhang,Ph.D

       Research assistant professor at the School of Medicine,Tsinghua University

【Host】AiZhao, Ph.D.

【Time】Dec5. 9-10 am

【Venue】TencentMeeting（ID：337 753 248）

【Abstract】

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused enormous global health and socioeconomic damage and requires urgent development of an effective COVID-19 vaccine. In this seminar,the speaker will analyzethe development status and policy research of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody drugs and vaccines in the world.Shewillalso focuson the research and development oftheanti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody drug and vaccine, including antibody isolation, characterization, neutralizing mechanism exploration, structural studies, public antibodies, antibody cocktail strategy, selection of drug-resistant virus strains and Investigational New Drug (IND) application in China and USA.

【Speaker Bio】

Dr. Qi Zhang is a research assistant professor at the School of Medicine, Tsinghua University. She graduated from Martin-Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg Germany with a Ph.D. of Biochemistry/Biotechnology. Her research focuses on HIV-1, Ebola virus, SARS-CoV-2 and other major viral infectious diseases. The primary interests include: 1. Isolation and characterization of neutralizing antibodies; 2. Novel anti-viral vaccine design; 3. Interactions of virus and immune system; 4. Anti-HIV CAR-T therapy. In 2016, Dr. Zhang has isolated the first anti-Ebola antibody with high neutralizing potency in China. In the beginning of COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, she has isolated and characterized anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies, and proposed the first antibody cocktail therapy strategy in China. She participated and promoted the antibody drug preclinical studies and multi-country clinical trials. The research results have been published in Nature and other top-tier journals. Over the last five years, she has published over 10 peer-reviewed articles and applied 9 patents. As principle investigator, she has received funding from Grand Challenges Explorations of Gates Foundation for research on novel design of HIV-1 epitope vaccine.