Hongquan Zhang
Dr. Zhang is a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta. He received his BSc degree (1997) and MSc degree (1999) from Northwest University (Xi’an, China), and his PhD degree from the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada) in 2009. After three years of research experience as a research associate at the Institute for Biological Sciences, NRC (Ottawa, Canada) and the University of Alberta, he was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Alberta in 2012.
Dr. Zhang’s research is focused on the development of novel bioanalytical tools that can fulfill specific demands for detection of biological targets in different research fields, including medical diagnostics, biomarker development, biosensing, and environmental health. Current research projects of his research include: (a) exploration of binding-induced DNA assembly to develop bioanalytical tools for ultrasensitive and point-of-care detection of biological targets; (b) development of fluorescent nanosensors for real-time detection of specific biological targets under cellular environment. (c) construction of target-triggered DNA nanomachines and nanodevices; (d) development of novel affinity ligands by generation, modification, and manipulation of functional nucleic acids. Dr. Zhang has published more than 50 peer reviewed papers, many in high quality journals, including Analytical Chemistry, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Chemical Reviews, Environmental Health Perspectives, Journal of the American Chemical Society, and Nature Communications.
For more information please consult Dr. Zhang’s personal website.