Dr. Zhao received his Ph.D. degree in synthetic organic chemistry from Shandong University in 2008. He then joined Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research (TIPR) as an assistant professor and principal investigator (PI), a prestigious research institute in pharmaceutical academia and industry in China, where he focused on drug discovery and development of novel drugs for the treatment of metabolic diseases. He became an associate professor in 2010 and then a full professor in 2015. Prior to leaving TIPR, Dr. Zhao served as the director of Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Design and Drug Discovery for years in TIPR. During the stay in TIPR, Dr. Zhao joined Dr. Peng George Wang’s Laboratory in Department of Chemistry at Georgia State University (GSU) as a postdoctoral fellow in 2011-2012. In 2018, Dr. Zhao left TIPR and worked as R&D director in two pharmaceutical companies, Hangzhou Dingzhi Biopharmaceuticals Inc. and Guangzhou Lixin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In 2020, Dr. Zhao joined Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), as a Professor and PI.

Dr. Zhao’s group has discovered and developed three investigational new drugs, i.e. tianagliflozin, tininurad and EP-0226. Tianagliflozin is a potent SGLT2 inhibitor and is currently being developed in phase I clinical trials in China, while tininurad is a potent selective URAT1 inhibitor under development and has finished phase IIb clinical trials in China. EP-0226 is potent and selective voltage-gated calcium channel α2δ ligand, which is now being developed in phase I clinical trials in China for the treatment of neuropathic pain. Dr. Zhao has published 130 peer-reviewed papers, and has 35 authorized patents (including 4 PCT authorizations).

Education Experience

2005.09-2008.06 Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University

2002.09-2005.06 Master in synthetic organic chemistry, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology

1999.09-2002.06 Bachelor in Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Liaocheng University (graduated 1 year ahead)

Work Experience

2020.05-Present Professor, PI, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences

2019.04-2020.05 Research & Development Director, Guangzhou Lixin Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

2018.07-2019.03 Research & Development Director, Hangzhou Dingzhi Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.

2011.11-2012.11 Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Chemistry at Georgia State University

2008.07-2018.06 Professor, PI and Director of Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Design and Drug Discovery, Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research