Guocai Zhong PhD

Guocai Zhong is a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Genetic and Cellular Medicine, with secondary appointments in the RNA Therapeutics Institute and the Biochemistry & Molecular Biotechnology Department. He completed his PhD in Pathobiology through joint training at Harbin Medical University and the National Institute of Biological Sciences (NIBS, Beijing)—an HHMI-style research institute in China. At NIBS, he co-discovered NTCP as an essential receptor for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis D virus (HDV)—a landmark discovery that advanced the science and therapeutic strategies for hepatitis B and D and was later recognized by major awards, including the 2021 Baruch S. Blumberg Prize and the 2022 Future Science Prize in Life Sciences.

During his postdoctoral training at the Scripps Research Institute, Florida campus (2013–2019), he shifted his research focus to RNA switch engineering for temporal and dose control of gene therapeutics. At Scripps, he developed a series of novel RNA switches, including a self-cleavage-based RNA switch that efficiently regulates transgene expression in mice with a wide dynamic range. In late 2019, Guocai established his independent laboratory at Shenzhen Bay Laboratory and Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School in Shenzhen, China. In the summer of 2022, he moved his lab to the Horae Gene Therapy Center (now Department of Genetic and Cellular Medicine) and RNA Therapeutics Institute at UMass Chan Medical School. Zhong Lab's research centers on RNA switch engineering and the development of regulatable gene therapies.