Zhi Tan

Zhi Tan, M.D., Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at Baylor College of Medicine, holding joint appointments in the Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology and the Center for Drug Discovery. He is affiliated with the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute in Houston, TX.

Dr. Tan earned his MD from Wuhan University (2012) and a PhD from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and UT Health Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (2018). His research focuses on leveraging computational chemistry, bioinformatics, and chemical biology to develop novel therapeutics for diseases such as cancers. Key areas include small molecule inhibitors for targeted therapy, computational algorithms for drug discovery, and RNA-protein interaction modulators.

His lab has secured significant funding, including a $2M CPRIT First Time Tenure Track Faculty Award (2022–2027) to advance drug discovery efforts. Notable publications highlight breakthroughs in noncoding RNA modulation, SARS-CoV-2 protease inhibitors, and epigenetic drivers of glioblastoma progression.

Lab members include Assistant Professor Fei Yuan, and collaborations span diverse disciplines from informatics to synthetic chemistry. The lab’s translational focus bridges basic science and clinical applications, with ongoing projects targeting enzyme activation pathways and male contraception mechanisms.