Appointments • 2012–present Fred Rosen Professor, Department of Genetics and Pediatrics,
Harvard Medical School • 1999–2012 Assistant Professor to Kenan Distinguished Professor, Dept. of Biochemistry & Biophysics,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Research Zhang has published more than 200 highly influential papers. These studies have been cited over 98,370 times (
H-index 130), making him one of the top 10 authors of high impact papers in the fields of molecular biology and genetics (ScienceWatch 2008), and one of the "most influential scientific minds" (ScienceWatch 2014). He was also a Founder of Epizyme, and NewStem (Natick, MA). His current efforts are focused on the molecular mechanism of embryonic development & reprogramming, brain reward-related learning & memory, pancreatic cancer. Zhang has made several landmark discoveries in the fields of
epigenetics,
chromatin and developmental reprogramming. • Zhang was the first to systematically identify and characterize six
histone methyltransferases, including the H4R3
methyltransferase PRMT1, the H3K79 methyltransferase Dot1L, and the
H3K27me3 methyltransferase
EZH2/
PRC2. He went on to demonstrate the function of H3K27me3 methylation in
X chromosome inactivation,
genomic imprinting, and
non-coding RNA regulation. He was also the first to uncover
PRC1 as an
E3 ligase mediating H2A
ubiquitylation. By discovering two
enzymatic activities of two PcG protein complexes, Zhang has contributed significantly to our current understanding of the PcG silencing mechanism. • Zhang was the first to show JmjC domain is a signature motif for
histone demethylases. He not only worked out the
demethylation mechanism, but also demonstrated that JmjC demethylases can demethylate trimethyl state. Zhang went on to show the diverse function of histone demethylases in
spermatogenesis,
metabolism,
cancer,
iPSC generation, and
somatic cell nuclear transfer reprogramming. The last finding overcomes a major barrier in SCNT cloning, contributing to the success of the first primate cloning by a team of Chinese scientists • Zhang not only discovered 5-formylcytosine (5fC), and 5-carboxylcytosine (5caC) in mammalian genomic DNA, but also elucidated the DNA demethylation mechanism by demonstrating that
Tet proteins can sequentially oxidize
5-methylcytosine (5mC) to
5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), 5fC, and 5caC in a cyclic manner in mouse embryonic stem cells. He continued to reveal the function of Tet proteins in
zygotic DNA demethylation,
germ cell development, and
genomic imprinting erasure • Zhang contributed to the understanding of the molecular events during mammalian
embryogenesis by uncovering an important function of de novo nucleosome assembly in nuclear pore complex formation, identifying key factors for
zygotic genome activation, revealing a new mechanism of genomic imprinting and imprinted
X-inactivation, as well as the role of this new imprinting mechanism in SCNT cloning == Honors and recognition ==