The research focus of Dr. Zhao is mainly on understanding the relationship between protein structure and function, and the mechanism of recognition mechanisms between protein molecules and substrates. During his Ph.D. study he solved the crystal structure of human Spindlin1, a newly discovered cancer related protein, and then speculated and proved its function from the structure. After expending his work to membrane protein field, Dr. Zhao and co-workers solved the structure of Dopamine receptor D3DR, based on which they identified a second pocket for ligand binding. In 2011, Dr. Zhao moved back Shanghai and started his own group, and start working on solving the membrane protein structures involved in human diseases. His research focus is mainly on the important GPCRs involved in the cardiovascular diseases and neurological diseases. The structure determination of such receptors will shed a light on future research direction of high selectivity agents.

EDUCATION
08/31/1998 – 07/12/2002 Tsinghua University
09/01/2002 – 02/05/2007 Tsinghua University

WORK EXPERIENCE
04/02/2007 – 07/19/2011 The Scripps Research Institute
07/21/2011 –                    Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, CAS

Dr. Zhao's research group is targeting on solving high resolution structures of diseases related G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) and structure based drug design with the following focuses:
1. Development and application of new technologies for solving GPCR structures;
2. Structural study and signaling mechanism study on GPCRs related to cardiovascular/autoimmune/metabolic disease;
3. Structural study of GPCRs with downstream signaling molecules.

05/2014 May 4th lab of Young Fellow of technology system of Shanghai

04/2015 May 4th lab of Young Fellow of Shanghai 

1.Kaihua Zhang#, Jin Zhang#, Zhan-Guo Gao, Dandan Zhang, Lan Zhu, Gye Won Han, Steven M. Moss, Silvia Paoletta, Evgeny Kiselev, Weizhen Lu, Gustavo Fenalti, Wenru Zhang, Christa E. Müller, Huaiyu Yang, Hualiang Jiang, Vadim Cherezov, Vsevolod Katritch, Kenneth A. Jacobson, Raymond C. Stevens, Beili Wu & Qiang Zhao*. Structure of the human P2Y12 receptor in complex with an antithrombotic drug. Nature. 509: 115-118, 2014

2.Jin Zhang#, Kaihua Zhang#, Zhan-Guo Gao, Silvia Paoletta, Dandan Zhang, Gye Won Han, Tingting Li, Limin Ma, Wenru Zhang, Christa E. Müller, Huaiyu Yang, Hualiang Jiang, Vadim Cherezov, Vsevolod Katritch, Kenneth A. Jacobson, Raymond C. Stevens, Beili Wu* & Qiang Zhao*. Agonist-bound structure of the human P2Y12 receptor. Nature. 509: 119-122, 2014

3.Haonan Zhang, Anna Qiao, Linlin Yang, Ned Van Eps, Klaus S. Frederiksen, Dehua Yang, Antao Dai, Xiaoqing Cai, Hui Zhang, Cuiying Yi, Can Cao, Lingli He, Huaiyu Yang, Jesper Lau, Oliver P. Ernst, Michael A. Hanson, Raymond C. Stevens, Ming-Wei Wang, Steffen Reedtz-Runge, Hualiang Jiang, Qiang Zhao* & Beili Wu*. Structure of the glucagon receptor in complex with a glucagon analogue. Nature 553:106-110, 2018.

4.Dandan Zhang, Zhan-Guo Gao, Kaihua Zhang, Evgeny Kiselev, Steven Crane, Jiang Wang, Silvia Paoletta, Cuiying Yi, Limin Ma, Wenru Zhang, Gye Won Han, Hong Liu, Vadim Cherezov, Vsevolod Katritch, Hualiang Jiang, Raymond C. Stevens, Kenneth A. Jacobson, Qiang Zhao* & Beili Wu*. Two disparate ligand binding sites in the human P2Y1 receptor. Nature. 520: 317-321, 2015.

5.Hengxin Fan, Shuanghong Chen, Xiaojing Yuan, Shuo Han, Hui Zhang, Weiliang Xia, Yechun Xu, Qiang Zhao*, Beili Wu*, Structural basis for ligand recognition of the human thromboxane A2 receptor. Nature Chemical Biology 15, 27-33, 2018

6.Zhenlin Yang, Shuo Han, Max Keller, Anette Kaiser, Brian J. Bender, Mathias Bosse, Kerstin Burkert, Lisa M. K?gler, David Wifling, Guenther Bernhardt, Nicole Plank, Timo Littmann, Peter Schmidt, Cuiying Yi, Beibei Li, Sheng Ye, rongguang Zhang, Bo Xu, Dan Larhammar, Raymond C. Stevens, Daniel Huster, Jens Meiler, Qiang Zhao, Annette G. Beck-Sickinger, Armin Buschauer & Beili Wu. Structural basis of ligand binding modes at the neuropeptide Y Y1 receptor. Nature; 556:520-524, 2018

7.Qiuxiang Tan#, Ya Zhu#, Jian Li, Zhuxi Chen, Gye Won Han, Irina Kufareva, Tingting Li, Limin Ma, Gustavo Fenalti, Jing Li, Wenru Zhang, Xin Xie, Huaiyu Yang, Hualiang Jiang, Vadim Cherezov, Hong Liu, Raymond C. Stevens, Qiang Zhao, Beili Wu*. Structure of the CCR5 chemokine receptor-HIV entry inhibitor maraviroc complex. Science. 341: 1387-1390, 2013

8.Haonan Zhang, Anna Qiao, Dehua Yang, Linlin Yang, Antao Dai, Chris de Graaf, Steffen Reedtz-Runge, Venkatasubramanian Dharmarajan, Hui Zhang, Gye Won Han, Thomas D. Grant, Raymond G. Sierra, Uwe Weierstall, Garrett Nelson, Wei Liu, Yanhong Wu, Limin Ma, Xiaoqing Cai, Guangyao Lin, Xiaoai Wu, Zhi Geng, Yuhui Dong, Gaojie Song, Patrick R. Griffin, Jesper Lau, Vadim Cherezov, Huaiyu Yang, Michael A. Hanson, Raymond C. Stevens, Qiang Zhao, Hualiang Jiang, Ming-Wei Wang, Beili Wu*. Structure of the full-length glucagon class B G-protein-coupled receptor. Nature. 546:259,-264,2017.

9.Tian Hua, Kiran Vemuri, Mengchen Pu, Lu Qu, Gye Won Han, Yiran Wu, Suwen Zhao, Wenqing Shui, Shanshan Li, Anisha Korde, Robert B. Laprairie, Edward L. Stahl, Jo-Hao Ho, Nikolai Zvonok, Han Zhou, Irina Kufareva, Beili Wu, Qiang Zhao, Michael A. Hanson, Laura M. Bohn*, Alexandros Makriyannis*, Raymond C. Stevens*, and Zhi-Jie Liu*. Crystal Structure of the Human Cannabinoid Receptor CB1. Cell. 167:750-762, 2016.

10.Can Cao, Qiuxiang Tan, Chanjuan Xu, Lingli He, Linlin Yang, Ye Zhou, Yiwei Zhou, Anna Qiao, Minmin Lu, Cuiying Yi, Gye Won Han, Xianping Wang, Xuemei Li, Huaiyu Yang, Zihe Rao, Hualiang Jiang, Yongfang Zhao, Jianfeng Liu, Raymond C. Stevens?, Qiang Zhao, Xuejun C. Zhang* and Beili Wu*?. Structural basis for signal recognition and transduction by platelet-activating-factor receptor. Nat Struct Mol Biol 25, 488-495, 2018

11.Qiang Zhao#*, Beili Wu. Ice breaking in GPCR structural biology. Acta Pharmacologica Sinica. 33: 324-334, 2012

12.Lan Zhu, Qiang Zhao & Beili Wu*. Structure-based studies of chemokine receptors. Curr Opin Struct Biol. 23: 539-546, 2013

13.Dandan Zhang, Qiang Zhao, Beili Wu*. Structural Studies of G Protein-Coupled Receptors. Mol Cells. 38(10):836-842, 2015.

14.Kenneth A. Jacobson#*, Silvia Paoletta, Vsevolod Katritch, Beili Wu, Zhan-Guo Gao, Qiang Zhao, Raymond C. Stevens, Evgeny Kiselev. Nucleotides Acting at P2Y Receptors: Connecting Structure and Function. Mol Pharmacol. 88(2):220-230, 2015.

1.973, Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), China Structural and functional studies and ligand screenings of important GPCRs, Sub-project Leader, 2012.1-2016.12
2.Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica and Chinese Academy of Sciences, “Hundred Talents” Start-up Package, Project Leader, 2011.7-2015.12
3.NIH R01, Molecular Mechanism of HIV Entry Mediated by Chemokine Receptor CCR5, Project Leader, 2012.2-2017.1
4.National Science and Technology Major Project, Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), China GPCR Structure and Function-based Drug Discovery, Participant, 2013.1-2015.12
5.National Science and Technology Major Project, Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), China, Key Technology Development and Platform Construction in GPCR Structure and Function-based Drug Discovery, Participant, 2012.1-2015.12
6.Interactional Collaboration and Communication Project, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Protein Structure-based Anti-HIV Drug Discovery, Participant, 2012.1-2012.12
7.Mianshang Project, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Structural and ligand binding studies of human purinergic receptors, Project Leader, 2014.1-2017.12
8.Mianshang Project, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Expression and ligand screening of Neurokinin receptor 1, Project Leader, 2012.1-2015.12

(2009.1.1- )
1. Chien E, Liu W, Zhao Q, Katritch V, Han GW, Hanson M, Shi L, Newman A, Javitch J, Cherezov V, Stevens R*. Structure of the Human Dapamine D3 Receptor in Complex with a D2/D3 Selective Antagonist. Science. 2010; 330(6007): 1091-5.

2. Qiang Zhao*, Beili Wu. Ice breaking in GPCR structural biology. Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2012; 33(3): 324-334.

3. Yang N, Wang W, Wang Y, Wang M, Zhao Q, Rao Z, Zhu B, Xu RM*.Distinct mode of methylated lysine-4 of histone H3 recognition by tandem tudor-like domains of Spindlin1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012; 109(44):17954-9.

4. Qiuxiang Tan, Ya Zhu, Jian Li, Zhuxi Chen, Gye Won Han, Irina Kufareva, Tingting Li, Limin Ma, Gustavo Fenalti, Jing Li, Wenru Zhang, Xin Xie, Huaiyu Yang, Hualiang Jiang, Vadim Cherezov, Hong Liu, Raymond C. Stevens, Qiang Zhao, Beili Wu*. Structure of the CCR5 chemokine receptor-HIV entry inhibitor maraviroc complex. Science. 2013; 341: 1387-1390.

5. Lan Zhu, Qiang Zhao & Beili Wu*. Structure-based studies of chemokine receptors. Curr Opin Struct Biol. 2013; 23: 539-546.

6. Jin Zhang, Kaihua Zhang, Zhan-Guo Gao, Silvia Paoletta, Dandan Zhang, Gye Won Han, Tingting Li, Limin Ma,？Wenru Zhang, Christa E. Müller, Huaiyu Yang, Hualiang Jiang, Vadim Cherezov, Vsevolod Katritch, Kenneth A. Jacobson, Raymond C. Stevens, Beili Wu* & Qiang Zhao*. Agonist-bound structure of the human P2Y12 receptor. Nature. 2014; 509: 119-122.

7. Kaihua Zhang, Jin Zhang, Zhan-Guo Gao, Dandan Zhang, Lan Zhu, Gye Won Han, Steven M. Moss, Silvia Paoletta, Evgeny Kiselev, Weizhen Lu, Gustavo Fenalti, Wenru Zhang, Christa E. Müller, Huaiyu Yang, Hualiang Jiang,？Vadim Cherezov, Vsevolod Katritch, Kenneth A. Jacobson, Raymond C. Stevens, Beili Wu & Qiang Zhao*. Structure of the human P2Y12 receptor in complex with an antithrombotic drug. Nature. 2014; 509: 115-118.