Tao Zhang

Dr. Tao Zhang serves as a Lecturer at Technological University Dublin's School of Food Science and Environmental Health, where he chairs the nationally award-winning Higher Certificate in Science in Pharmacy Technician Studies (TU654|TU657). He holds key roles including membership in TU Dublin's Academic Regulations Oversight Committee, Faculty Board (Sciences & Health), and affiliations with the Royal Society of Chemistry, Society for Medicinal Plant Research, and International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce.

His educational background includes:

• BSc (Hons) in Pharmaceutical Technology (First Class Honours) from Dublin Institute of Technology, 2004
• Postgraduate Diploma in Quality Improvement from Trinity College Dublin, 2006
• PhD in Pharmacy Research from Trinity College Dublin's School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2009

Dr. Zhang's research bridges educational innovation and scientific discovery. In education, he pioneers curriculum design integrating professional development training to cultivate graduate attributes, evidenced by the 2023 National AHECS Employability Award for his Pharmacy Technician Programme. Scientifically, he develops novel indane hybrid skeletons targeting CNS disorders, inflammation, and cancer, while advancing ethnopharmacology through isolation of bioactive molecules from natural resources like Irish bogland plants and traditional medicines including Lycium barbarum.

His 2023-2025 publications reveal three dominant themes: vitamin K2 therapeutics (spanning deficiency implications and clinical perspectives), indane-based drug scaffolds for prostate cancer and inflammation, and educational transformation in pharmacy technician training—often intersecting through interdisciplinary collaborations like the €6M 'Unlocking Nature's Pharmacy' project with Trinity's NatPro centre.

Key recognitions include:

• National AHECS Employability Award for Research Informed Practice (2023)
• Wellcome Trust Advanced Training Bursary
• Enterprise Ireland Research Innovation Voucher
• Wellcome Trust Strategic Translation Award
• TU Dublin First-Time Supervisor Award

As Programme Chair, Dr. Zhang mentors pharmacy technician students while securing substantial research funding including the €6M IIP project 'Unlocking Nature's Pharmacy from Bogland Species' and Wellcome Trust awards. His grants support both natural product research and educational innovations like sustainable ePortfolio models for professional development.

He operates as Principal Investigator at Trinity's NatPro Centre for Natural Products Research and Associate Research Fellow at Trinity's School of Pharmacy, leveraging industry experience from Trino Therapeutics (where he advanced PH46A to clinical trials) and APC Ltd to lead interdisciplinary teams in (bio)pharmaceutical process development and natural product analysis.