Ziyang Zhang

Research Bio

Ziyang Zhang is an assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology in the Department of Chemistry.  His lab creates chemical tools to tweak our immune system and enable new therapeutic mechanisms for cancer and autoimmune diseases.  The Zhang lab integrates organic chemistry, chemical proteomics and functional genomics to discover new mutant-specific covalent ligands and chemical modulators of the adaptive immune response.  

Research Expertise and Interest

synthetic chemistry, chemical biology, peptides, proteins, drug discovery, cellular signal transduction, cancer, autoimmune diseases

In the News

Building Drugs from Scratch

Ziyang Zhang, a 2022 Rose Hills Innovator, uses his synthetic chemistry background to design new small molecules to treat autoimmune disease and cancer. 

Teaching

Courses taught during the three most recent terms
2026 Spring

  • Organic Chemistry  [CHEM 12B]  

  • Seminars for Graduate Students  [CHEM 298]  

  • Research for Graduate Students  [CHEM 299]  

  • Research for Advanced Undergraduates  [CHEM H194]  

  • Honors Research  [MCELLBI H196B]  

2025 Fall

  • Organic Reactions I  [CHEM 261A]  

  • Organic Reaction II  [CHEM 261B]  

  • Seminars for Graduate Students  [CHEM 298]  

  • Research for Graduate Students  [CHEM 299]  

  • Professional Preparation: Supervised Teaching of Chemistry  [CHEM 300]  

  • Research for Advanced Undergraduates  [CHEM H194]  

  • Supervised Independent Study and Research  [MCELLBI 199]  

  • Graduate Seminar  [MCELLBI 290]  

  • Research  [MCELLBI 292]  

2025 Summer

  • Field Study in Chemistry  [CHEM 197]  

2025 Spring

  • Organic Chemistry  [CHEM 12B]  

  • Seminars for Graduate Students  [CHEM 298]  

  • Research for Graduate Students  [CHEM 299]  

  • Research for Advanced Undergraduates  [CHEM H194]