Jim L. Zhang
Stanford University. Graduate student. Structural biologist in training.
Photo by Gazi Fuad
I’m a PhD student at Stanford Med in the Structural Biology department and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow.
I’m passionate about scientific communication, teaching, and supporting fellow first generation, low-income students.
During my time at Rice University, I was enrolled in a dual-degree BS-MS program. Here, I worked in the laboratory of Yizhi Jane Tao on solving the structures of viral proteins, which helps us characterize the molecular events underlying entry and infection. For my undergraduate honors thesis, I discussed the expression and purification of a novel, filamentous virus with a double-stranded RNA genome; my MS thesis presented the virion structure of the C. elegans-infecting Orsay virus, solved with cryo-EM single-particle analysis.
As I continue my graduate studies, I hope to incorporate in situ structural biology techniques such as cryo-ET to understand fundamental processes in cell biology, signaling, and transport. Outside the lab, I enjoy exploring new places to eat, experimenting in the kitchen, and playing board games.
You can find my CV here, or linked above.