Michael Zhang

Michael Zhang is the Cecil H. and Ida Green Distinguished Chair of Systems Biology Science and a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas). He directs the Center for Systems Biology and holds affiliations with Bioengineering and Mathematics. His research integrates mathematical and computational methods to study genome organization, gene regulatory networks, and epigenetic mechanisms, with applications in cancer and developmental biology.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Statistical Physics, Rutgers University (1987)
• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China (1981)

Research Interests: Zhang's lab focuses on decoding eukaryotic genome functionality, including chromatin architecture, transcriptional/post-transcriptional regulation (e.g., splicing), and gene expression networks. Key areas include 3D genome modeling, spatial omics, and machine learning applications in genomics. His work aims to bridge computational models with wet-lab validation to impact precision medicine.

Publication Trends: His recent articles emphasize 3D genome organization, spatial transcriptomics, cancer genomics, and single-cell multi-omics integration. Techniques like CRISPR-based chromatin capture (CAPTURE) and AI-driven data analysis are frequently deployed to explore chromatin dynamics and disease mechanisms.

Awards & Funding:

• Cecil H. and Ida Green Distinguished Chair endowment
• NIH and CPRIT grants supporting genomic and systems biology research

Lab & Collaborations: He leads the Computational Biology Laboratory, developing tools like ChIPr and SODB for chromatin and spatial omics analysis. Collaborations include UT Southwestern, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and Tsinghua University.