SBMS Trainee: Yaozhong Zhang
Graduate Advisor: Dr. Iwao Ojima
Clinical Advisor: Dr. Jules Cohen
Graduate Program: Chemistry
Email: yaozhong.zhang@stonybrook.edu
As a graduate student in Dr. Ojima’s lab, my Ph.D. research has been focusing on development of tumor-targeted drug delivery systems (TTDDSs) in order to deliver anti-cancer drug specifically to tumor site and thus minimize side effects. To validate the targeting efficiency of TTDDSs, I believe that positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is a powerful tool to examine the biodistribution and tumor site accumulation of drugs in vivo. As a medicinal chemist, my current synthetic skills would enable me to effectively synthesize the nanoemulsion consisting of a cytotoxic drug and a PET tracer. With the mentorship of Dr.Cohen, I’ll be able to bridge the gap between my chemical knowledge and its clinical applications in targeted cancer chemotherapy.
