Zhang Ao was born in Sichuan, China, in 1969. He received his B.S. degree in Chemistry in 1992 from Sichuan Normal College, now Xihua Normal University. He was awarded the M.S. degree in Organic Chemistry in 1995 from Nankai University. Then, he worked at the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry for 2 years and joined the predoctoral program of the same Institute in 1997 under the supervision of Professor Biao Jiang. After he was awarded the Ph.D. diploma in Organic Chemistry in 2000, he joined Professor Alan P. Kozikowski's Drug Discovery Group at Georgetown University Medical Center as a Postdoctoral Fellow. In 2002, he joined Professor John L. Neumeyer's Medicinal Chemistry Program as a Research Investigator at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He was promoted to Instructor at Harvard Medical School in 2003 and Assistant Director of the Medicinal Chemistry Program at McLean Hospital in 2004. He was awarded Alfred Pope Young Investigator Award in 2004 and Adam Corneel Young Investigator Award in 2005 from Harvard Medical School. In 2006 he received the Hundred Talent Project award from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and became the Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM). In 2011, he was awarded the Distinguished Young Investigator Award from Chinese Natural Science Foundation. His research interests include the design and synthesis of novel small molecules as structural and functional probes for the diagnosis and treatment of brain disorders and cancer by using the state-of-art medicinal chemistry strategy. He has authored or co-authored over 80 publications and 40 patents. Several drug candidates from his research group are now under preclinical studies.

EDUCATION
09/88 - 07/92,  B.S. in Chemistry, Xihua Normal University, Sichuan, China
09/92 - 07/95,  M.S. in Organic Chemistry, Nan Kai University, Tianjing, China
08/97 - 05/00,  Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
02/01 - 03/02,  Post-doc in Medicinal Chemistry, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, D.C. USA
04/02 - 06/04,  Post-doc in Medicinal Chemistry, Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

WORK EXPERIENCE
1997 - 1999,  Research Assistant, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
2004 - 2006,  Instructor, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA Assistant Director, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School
2006 - Now,   Professor, Medicinal Chemistry, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China

2004 Alfred Pope Award for Young Investigator, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medicinal School
2005 Adam Corneel Young Investigator Award, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medicinal School
2007 Shanghai Pujiang Talent, China
2009 Asian Distinguished Mentor Award, Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals
2010 Excellence Award for Final Assessment of Hundred Talents, Chinese Academy of Sciences
2011 Distinguished Young Investigator Award from Chinese Natural Science Foundation
2012 Life Science Scholar Award, WuXi AppTec, China
2013 Biochemistry Scholar Award, Meiji Dairies Corporation, China

1.Total Synthesis: Completed the first total synthesis of bioactive natural products Viequeamide A (J. Nat. Prod. 2013), Veraguamide A (Org. Biomol. Chem. 2013), and Marmycin A (J. Org. Chem. 2009, 2012);

2.Synthetic Methodologies: Established convenient synthetic methods of several privileged scaffolds, including: Rh-catalyzed synthesis of aminopyrazolones (Adv. Syn. Catal. 2014),Pd-catalyzed synthesis of cinnolines (Chem. Commun. 2014),Pd-catalyzed synthesis of edaravone derivatives (Org. Lett. 2014),In-promoted glycosidation (Org. Lett. 2013),Fe-initiated synthesis of tetrahydroisoquinolines bearing a quaternary centre (Chem. Eur. J. 2009),Ag-promoted radical decarboxylation (J. Org. Chem. 2009),Ir-catalyzed asymmetric synthesis of glucokinase activators (Chem. Commun. 2010),one-pot tree-step synthesis of carbozoles (Adv. Syn. Catal.2010).

3.Medicinal Chemistry Campaign: Identified numerous lead or candidate compounds targeting GPCR and RTK through Medicinal Chemistry campaign, including: develop both in vitro and in vivo highly potent 5-HT1A full agonist showing anti-anxiety activity (J. Med. Chem. 2010);develop D2 and 5-HT1A dual agonists showing promising antiparkinsonian effects (J. Med. Chem. 2011);identify potent and selective tyrosine kinase c-Met inhibitors possessing anticancer activity (J. Med. Chem. 2011);develop novel isoquinoline analogues bearing potent anticancer properties by targeting polyADP-ribosepolymerase 1 (PARP1) (J. Med. Chem. 2013);develop 2,4-diaminopyramidines bearing a flexible side chain showing high potencies against both wild and mutant tyrosine kinase ALK (J. Med. Chem. 2014)

4.Drug development: Aporphine MCL-135 bearing D2 and 5-HT1A dual agonistic profile is under early preclinical evaluation; RTK inhibitor SOMCL-456 against both wild and mutant ALK is under early preclinical evaluation; PARP1 inhibitor SOMCL9112 is under full preclinical trial and scheduled to apply clinical approval in 2015.

1.Department of Health of China, Mechanism Study and Preclinical Evaluated of Novel c-Met Inhibitors, PI, 01/01/2011-12/30/2015
2.Chinese National Science Foundation, Facile synthesis and library construction of Biologically Active Natural Products, PI, 01/01/2014-12/30/2017
3.Chinese National Science Foundation for Distinguished Investigator, Medicinal Chemistry Strategies toward Small Molecules against Tyrosine Kinases and GPCRs, PI, 01/01/2012-12/30/2016
4.Department of Health of China, Antiparkinsonian Study on Novel Aporphines Targeting D2 and 5-HT1A receptors, PI, 01/01/2009-12/30/2011

(2009.1.1-)
Since 2009, over 50 publications have been published in the SCI journals, and over 30 patents have been filed: 
1. Zilan Song, Yanhong Yang, Zhiqing Liu, Xia Peng, Junfeng Guo, Xinying Yang, Kui Wu, Jing Ai, Jian Ding, Meiyu Geng, and Ao Zhang：Discovery of Novel 2,4-Diarylaminopyrimidine Analogues (DAAPalogues) Showing Potent Inhibitory Activities against Both Wild-type and Mutant ALK Kinases. J. Med. Chem. ASAP, 2014.

2.Meining Wang, Chi Zhang, Li-Ping Sun, Chunyong Ding, and Ao Zhang: Naphthoquinone-Directed C-H Annulation and Csp3-H Bond Cleavage: One-Pot Synthesis of Tetracyclic Naphthoxazoles. J. Org. Chem., 2014, 79, 4553–4560. 

3.Zhiqing Liu, Jing Ai, Xia Peng, Zilan Song, Kui Wu, Jing Zhang, Qizheng Yao, Yi Chen, Yinchun Ji, Yanhong Yang, Meiyu Geng, and Ao Zhang：Novel 2,4-Diarylaminopyrimidine Analogues (DAAPalogues) Showing Potent c-Met/ALK Multikinase Inhibitory Activities. ACS Med. Chem. Lett. 2014, 5, 304–308.

4.Li Xing, Zhoulong Fan, Chengyu Hou, Guoping Yong, and Ao Zhang: Synthesis of Pyrazolo[1,2-a]cinnolines via a Rhodium-Catalyzed Oxidative Coupling Approach. Adv. Syn. Catal. 2014, 356, 972–976.

5.Zhoulong Fan, Kui Wu, Li Xing, Qizheng Yao, and Ao Zhang: Palladium -Catalyzed Double C-H Activation: One-Pot Synthesis of Benzo[c]pyrazolo[1,2-a]cinnolines from 5-Pyrazolones and Aryl Iodides. Chem. Commun. 2014, 50, 1682 – 1684. 

6.Kui Wu, Zhoulong Fan, Yu Xue, Qizheng Yao, and Ao Zhang: Rh(III)-Catalyzed Intermolecular C–H Amination of 1-Aryl-1H-pyrazol-5(4H)-ones with Alkylamines. Org. Lett. 2014, 16, 42–45. 

7.Xiaolong Jiang, Zilan Song, Chang Xu, Qizheng Yao and Ao Zhang: (D,L)-10-Camphorsulfonic-Acid-Catalysed Synthesis of Diaryl-Fused 2,8-Dioxabicyclo[3.3.1]nonanes from 2-Hydroxychalcones and Naphthol Derivatives. Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2014, 2, 418-425.

8.Pingyuan Wang, Shanshan Song, Zehong Miao, Guangfu Yang, and Ao Zhang: InBr3-Mediated One-Pot Synthesis of 2-(Polyhydroxylatedalkyl)-N-aryl-/- alkylpyrroles from 1,2-Cyclopropa-3-pyranone and Amines. Org. Lett. 2013, 15, 3852–3855.

9.Dongyu Wang, Shanshan Song, Ye Tian, Youjun Xu, Zehong Miao, and Ao Zhang: Total Synthesis of the Marine Cyclic Depsipeptide Viequeamide A. J. Nat. Prod. 2013, 76, 974–978. 

10.Na Ye, John L Neumeyer, Ross J Baldessarini, Xuech Zhen, and Ao Zhang: Recent Progress in the Development of Dopamine Receptor Subtype Compounds: Potential Therapeutic Agents for Neurological and Neuropsychiatric Disorders. Chem. Rev. 2013, 113 (5), PR123–PR178. 

11.Na Ye, Chuan-Huizi Chen, Tian Tian Chen, Zilan Song, Jin-Xue He, Xia-Juan Huan, Shanshan Song, Qiufeng Liu, Yi Chen, Jian Ding, Yechun Xu, Ze-Hong Miao, and Ao Zhang: Design, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of a Series of Benzo[de][1,7]naphthyridin-7(8H)-ones Bearing a Functionalized Longer Chain Appendage as Novel PARP1 Inhibitors. J Med Chem. 2013, 56, 2885–2903.

12.Xuefeng Zhang, Xiaolong Jiang, Chunyong Ding, Qizheng Yao, Ao Zhang: Unexpected N-Glycosidation Reaction of Glycals with 1-Amino-anthracene: Structure Revision and Application to the Synthesis of New Analogues of Marmycin A. Org. Biomol. Chem. 2013, 11, 1383-1389.

13.Chunyong Ding, Shanghui Tu, Fuying Li, Yuanxiang Wang, Qizheng Yao, Wenxiang Hu, Hua Xie, Linghua Meng, Ao Zhang: Correction to Synthesis Study on Marmycin A: Preparation of the C3’-Desmethyl Analogues. J. Org. Chem. 2012, 77, 8374.

14.Wang D, Jia X, Zhang A: Total synthesis of the proposed structure of cyclic hexadepsipeptide veraguamide A. Org. Biomol .Chem. 2012, 10, 7027 – 7030.

15.Chengtang Du, Fulong Li, Xuefeng Zhang, Wenxiang Hu, Qizheng Yao, Ao Zhang: Lewis Acid-Catalyzed Cyclization of Glycals/2-deoxy-D-ribose with Aryl Amines: Additional Findings on Product Structure and Reaction Diastereoselectivity. J. Org. Chem. 2011, 76, 8833-8839.

16.Yuanxiang Wang, Jing Ai, Gang Liu, Meiyu Geng, Ao Zhang: Expeditious one-pot synthesis of C3-piperazinyl-substituted quinolines: key precursors to potent c-Met inhibitors. Org. Biomol. Chem. 2011, 9, 5930-5933.

17.Hai Zhang, Na Ye, Shanglin Zhou, Lin Guo, Longtai Zheng, Zhili Liu, Bo Gao, Xuechu Zhen, and Ao Zhang: Identification of N-Propylnoraporphin-11-yl 5-(1,2-Dithiolan-3-yl)pentanoate as a New Anti-Parkinson's Agent Possessing a Dopamine D2 and Serotonin 5-HT1A Dual-Agonist Profile. J. Med. Chem. 2011, 54, 4324-4338.

18.Fulong Li, Chunyong Ding, Meining Wang, Qizheng Yao, Ao Zhang: InBr3-Catalyzed Glycosidation of Glycals with Arylamines: An Alternative Approach To Access 4-Aminocyclopent-2-enones. J. Org. Chem. 2011, 76, 2820–2827.

19.Yuanxiang Wang, Jing Ai, Ying Wang, Yi Chen, Lu Wang, Gang Liu, Meiyu Geng, Ao Zhang: Synthesis and c-Met kinase inhibition of 3,5-di- and 3,5,7-tri- substituted quinolines: identification of 3-(4-acetylpiperazin-1-yl)- 5-(3-nitrobenzylamino)- 7- (trifluoromethyl)quinoline as a novel anticancer agent. J. Med. Chem. 2011, 54, 2127–2142.

20.Chunyong Ding, Shanghui Tu, Qizheng Yao, Fulong Li, Yuanxiang Wang, Wenxiang Hu, Ao Zhang: One-Pot Three-step Synthesis of Naphtho [2,3-a]carbazole-5,13-diones Using Tandem Radical Alkylation-Cyclization -Aromatization Reaction Sequence. Adv. Syn. Catal. 2010, 352, 847-853.

21.Zhili Liu, Hai Zhang, Na Ye, Jing Zhang, QianQian Wu, Peihua Sun, Linyong Li, Xuechu Zhen, and Ao Zhang: Synthesis of Dihydrofuroaporphine Derivatives: Identification of a Potent and Selective Serotonin 5-HT1A Receptor Agonist. J. Med. Chem. 2010, 53, 1319-1328.

22.Yi Zhang, Zhaobin Han, Fuying Li, Kuiling Ding and Ao Zhang: Highly enantioselective hydrogenation of a-aryl-b-substituted acrylic acids catalyzed by Ir-SpinPHOX. Chem. Commun. 2010, 46, 156–158.

23.Jing Zhang, Ao Zhang: Unprecedented FeCl3？6H2O-Promoted Skeleton-Rearrangement of 1-Aryl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepines: a New Strategy for the Synthesis of C-1 Quaternary Tetrahydroisoquinolines. Chem. Eur. J. 2009, 15, 11119-11122. 

24.Chunyong Ding, Shanghui Tu, Fuying Li, Yuanxiang Wang, Qizheng Yao, Wenxiang Hu, Hua Xie, Linghua Meng, Ao Zhang: Synthesis Study on Marmycin A: Preparation of the C3’-Desmethyl Analogues. J. Org. Chem. 2009, 74, 6111-6119.

25.Jing Zhang, Bing Xiong, Xuechu Zhen, Ao Zhang: Dopamine D1 receptor ligands: Where are we now and where are we going, Med. Res. Rev. 2009, 29, 272-294.