2026
The Zhou laboratory has published 14 papers in Nature Communications (x3), JACS (cover story), Cancer Discovery, Annual Review of Physiology, Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering, Bioconjugate Chemistry, Contact: The Journal of Inter-Organelle Communication, Biochemistry, Cell Reports Methods, Biochemical Society Transactions, Chem. Eur. J., IJMS, along with multiple articles commissioned or in revision/preparation with Chemical Reviews, Nature Reviews Immunology, Accounts of Chemical Research, Cell Calcium, Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, Trends in Molecular Medicine, and Pharmacology & Therapetuics. Therapeutics
> Dr. Zhou has been elected and inducted into the 2025 class of American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow (FAAAS). See news.
> Dr. Zhou has been inducted into the National Academy of Innovators (NAI) Class of 2026 Senior Members. See news coverage in Vital Record.
> Congratulations to Anna Price and Brendan McKee for winning Outstanding Oral Presentation Awards at the SCBA-TX annual symposium!
> Congratulations to Tatsuki Nonomura for winning the TAMU Houston Medical Sciences Research Excellence Award in recognition of his outstanding research accomplishments, scholarly excellence, and significant contributions to scientific innovation!
11/2026 ｜ An article by Tatsuki, Neha, Anna, Danica and Tie-Hung, entitled "Genetically Encoded Chemically Controlled Proximity Systems: Molecular Design, Pharmacology, and Therapeutic Considerations", has been accepted by Pharmacology & Therapeutics.
10/2026 ｜ AACR Cancer Discovery news highlights our light-controlled CAR-T cell research in a news feature exploring optogenetics’ reach into cancer following the 2026 Nobel Prize: "Nobel Prize Spotlights Optogenetics’ Reach into Cancer Available".
10/2026｜Congratulations to Anna, Tatsuki, and Brendan on sharing their discoveries at the 2026 BMES Annual Meeting!
10/2026 ｜ Dr. Zhou has been ranked among the world's top 2% most-cited scientists on Stanford’s list for two consecutive years. See news.
10/2026 ｜ Dr. Zhou has joined the Board of Reviewing Editors with Science Signaling, a flagship cell signaling journal published by AAAS.
10/2026 ｜ Phys.Org reports our toolkit to manipulate the cytoskeleton: "Blue-light tools let researchers track, redirect and sever cells' transport routes".
09/2026 | The Zhou lab received an NIH R35 grant, a CPRIT grant, a collaborative R21 grant, and a Welch Foundation research grant to advance research in calcium signaling, cellular and biomolecular engineering, and programmable cell biology.
09/20206｜ Vital Record highlights the microtubule toolkit developed by Drs. Guolin Ma, Tien-Hung Lan, and Xiaoxuan Liu: "New study opens doors for precise control of cells using light".
09/2026 ｜ An artcile led by Anna Price, and Dr. Tien-HUng Lan, entitled "Novel Chemogenetic Approaches In Modulating Calcium Signaling", has been accepted by Biochemical Society Transactions.
08/2026 ｜ Dr. Mingguang Cui received a CPRIT-funded CTTP fellowship to develop precise immunotherapy.
08/2026 | An article led by Drs. Mingguang Cui, Tien-Hung Lan, and Xiaoxuan Liu , titled "Engineering viral protease-operated nanobodies for programmable and orthogonal control of protein function", has been published by Nature Communications.
07/2026 | An article led by Tatsuki, Brendan, and Tianlu, titled "AI-guided de novo design of a caffeine-induced protein dissociation system", has been accepted by Journal of the American Chemical Society. (featured as a cover story)
07/2026 | An article led by Drs. Guolin Ma, Tien-Hung Lan, and Xiaoxuan Liu, titled "A single component optogenetic toolkit for reversible visualization and programmable control of microtubule dynamics", has been accepted by Cell Reports Methods.
06/2026 | 58-min Podcast on the CODS technology: "Your Morning Cup Just Became a Medical Device: Caffeine vs. Cancer ".
06/2026 | Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News: "AI Reimagines Caffeine as a Molecular Off‑Switch for Engineered Cells".
06/20206 | Bioengineer.org featured our CODS technology: "AI Develops Caffeine-Activated Safety Switch to Enhance Future Cell Therapies".
06/20206 | Onco'Zine featured our CODS story: "Crafting a Caffeine-Activated Safety Switch for Controlling Engineered Cell Therapies".
06/20206 | Vital Record highlights our paper published in JACS: "AI brews a caffeine-powered safety switch for future cell therapies".
05/2026 | A collaborative study with Drs. Junchen Liu & John Hancock, titled "Glycosphingolipids regulate phosphatidylserine transport machinery that operates at ER-PM contact sites", has been accepted by Nature Communications.
05/2026 | Vital Record highlights our paper published in Nature Communications: "Newly designed peptides suggest safer immunotherapies are within reach".
05/2026 | An article led by Drs. Yuepeng Ke & Tien-Hung Lan, titled "Genetically encoded tools to monitor and interrogate membrane contact sites", has been accepted by Contact: The Journal of Inter-Organelle Communication.
04/2026 | Tianlu and Tatsuki's Caffebody research is featured by Yahoo! News: "A Future Where Coffee Helps Fight Cancer", as well as by Sprudge - the world’s leading specialty coffee publication and news website: "Is Coffee The New Key To Gene Editing And Cancer Treatment?"
04/2026 | Advancing RNA reporting the caffeine-switchable nanobody technooogy: "A Smarter Switch: Reprogramming CIP Systems With Nanobodies Unlocks New Control Over Cell Signaling".
04/2026 | A collaborative study with Drs. Nancy Huang and WENSHE LIU, titled "Phage Display Driven Identification and Computational Mapping of Macrocyclic Peptides Targeting RhoA G17V", has been published by Biochemistry.
04/2026 | An article led by Xiaoxuan Liu, Sher Ali, and Dr. Tien-Hung Lan, titled "Engineering of genetically encoded programmable calcium channel inhibitory binders", has been accepted by Nature Communications.
03/2026 | An article led by Anna, Danica, and Dr. Tien-Hung Lan, titled "Optogenetic Tools for Spatiotemporal Interrogation of Cytoskeletal Dynamics", has been published by Bioconjugate Chemistry.
02/2026 | Tianlu and Tatsuki's Caffebody research is featured in BioXconomy: "Thanks a latte: Using caffeine as an on switch for CRISPR".
02/2026 | Proud that our collaborative work with Dr. Huang's lab on RNA-driven condensation of TFE3 oncofusions — revealing a new, targetable mechanism underlying translocation renal cell carcinoma — has been selected among ENTECH STEM Magazine’s Top 10 Biotechnology Discoveries and Innovations of 2025: "A New Way to Stop Tumors? Scientists Disable Cancer’s ‘Power Hubs".
02/2026 | An article led by Dr. Tianlu Wang, titled "Interrogating physiological functions with light and chemicals", has been published by Annual Review of Physiology.
02/2026 | A collaborative article with Dr. Yun Huang @TAMU, titled "Early Driver, Late Bystander: Stage-Specific Roles of DNMT3A-R882 Mutations Unveiled in Human AML" has been accepted by Cancer Discovery.
02/2026 | Tianlu and Tatsuki's Caffebody research highlighted by Earth.com: “Caffeine could give scientists precise control over gene editing” & ScienTrek: “Caffeine-Controlled CRISPR Switches Gene Expression”
01/2026 | Bionity highlights our research: "How does coffee turn immune cells into cancer fighters?"
01/2026 | Vital Record reporting our recent research published in Chemical Science: "Brewing possibilities: Using caffeine to edit gene expression".
01/2026 | Congratulations to Tatsuki Nonomura for receiving an American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship to develop smart cell-based therapy for cardiovascular diseases!
01/2026 | A collaborative paper with Dr. Cynthia Reinhart-King @Rice, titled "Recent Advances in Optical Tools for Measurement and Manipulation of Oncogenic Cellular Metabolism", has been published by Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering.
2025
The Zhou lab published 17 papers in Nature Chemical Biology, Nature Communications (x3), Annual Review of Physiology, Current Opinion in Chemical Biology, Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology, Trends in Pharmacological Sciences (cover story), Small Methods (cover story), Chemical Science (cover story), and Cell Genomics.
11/2025 | CHASER and RASER tools are featured on the cover of the November issue of Chemical Science.
11/2025 | An article led by Tatsuki Nonomura, Xiaoxuan Liu, and Dr. Tien-Hung Lan, titled " Developing CRAC channel-based optogenetics to study calcium signaling processes", has been published by Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology.
10/2025 | An article by Drs. Tianlu Wang, Tatsuki Nonomura, and Lian He, titled "Reprogramming chemically induced dimerization systems with genetically encoded nanobodies", has been published in Chemical Science.
10/2025 | Vital Record reporting our recent research published in Nature Communications: "Disrupting cancer’s secret hubs: A new way to halt tumor growth"
10/2025 | Drs. Yuepeng Ke, Siyao Liu, and Tien-Hung Lan's article on optogenetic immunotherapy has been featured on the cover of the October issue of TiPS! The cover artwork depicts a light-switchable chimeric antigen receptor T cell engaging a tumor cell, where near-infrared light is converted into blue emission via upconversion nanoparticles to induce CAR assembly. This nano-optogenetic strategy highlights how wireless, spatiotemporally precise immunomodulation could enable safer, personalized therapies.
09/2025 | Congratulations to Dr. Siyao Liu on her successful Ph.D. defense on the dissertation titled "Synthetic and optogenetic engineering of innate and adaptive immunity for precision cancer immunotherapy" !
09/2025 | Congratulations to Dr. Xiaoxuan Liu on her successful Ph.D. defense on the dissertation titled "Engineering of genetically encoded molecular tools for targeted modulation of cell signaling"!
09/2025 | Dr. Zhou has been appointed as Director of the Center for Translational Cancer Research at Texas A&M IBT.
09/2025 | An article by Drs. Yuepeng Ke, Siyao Liu, and Tien-Hung Lan, titled "Optogenetic Engineering for Precision Cancer Immunotherapy," has been published as a cover story with Trends in Pharmacological Sciences.
09/2025 | PhoBIT tools highlighted in Vital Record: "Compact genetic light switches transform disease control".
09/2025 | A research article led by Drs. Lei Guo, and Yi-Tsang Lee, titled "RNA-mediated condensation of TFE3 oncofusions facilitates transcriptional hub formation to promote translocation renal cell carcinoma", has been accepted by Nature Communications.
08/2025 | SAMBA highlighted in Vital Record: "New research repurposes ancient remedy for blood cancer treatment".
08/2025 | An article entitled "Ternary-code DNA methylation dynamics: a new era for scalable mapping" has been accepted by Cell Genomics.
07/2025 | A research article led by Drs. Yi-Tsang Lee, Lei Guo, and Tien-Hung Lan, reporting PhoBIT as a photo-inducible binary interaction tools for biomedical applications, has been published by Nature Communications.
06/2025 | A research article led by Drs. Tianlu Wang and Siyao Liu, reporting SAMBA as a versatile chemically-inducible dimerization tool for precision immunotherapy, has been published by Nature Chemical Biology! See the associated "News and Views" here.
06/2025 | Congratulations to Siyao Liu for winning a poster award in the 2025 Houston Cell and Gene Therapy Symposium!
06/2025 | An article led by Brendan McKee and Siyao Liu, "Optogenetic control of T cells for immunomodulation", has been accepted by Essays in Biochemistry.
05/2025 | The Zhou lab received a CPRIT High-Impact/High-Risk research grant to develop smart immunotherapy against pediatric cancer. see Vital Record from TAMU-Health.
05/2025 | Dr. Zhou has been honored as the 2025 Chancellor Enhancing Development and Generating Excellence in Scholarship (EDGES) Fellow. The Chancellor EDGES Fellowship program is designed to honor and retain midcareer faculty who demonstrate significant accomplishment in their discipline, have gained recognition both nationally and internationally, and are on track to be honored for their accomplishments at the highest levels (such as national academies). 04/2025 | Dr. Zhou was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC).
04/2025 | Congratulations to Drs. Tianlu Wang and Tien-Hung Lan for winning the First Place Awards of Presentation at the 2025 Annual IBT-GSO symposium!
03/2025 | An article by Drs. Mingguang Cui and Tien-Hung Lan, titled "Harnessing Viral Proteases for Cellular and Molecular Engineering", has been accepted by Chemistry - Methods.
02/2025 | Congratulations to Xiaoxuan Liu for winning the Robert & Anabelle Bruce Travel Award!
01/2025 | A research article co-led by Dr. Tien-Hung Lan, reporting ChiACT as a chemogenetic toolkit for inducible cell type-specific actin disassembly, was accepted by Small Methods! 01/2025 | Dr. Sher Ali's article, "Modulating ion channels with nanobodies", has been accepted by Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology! 01/2025 | An article led by Dr. Tianlu Wang, Tatsuki Nonomura, and Dr. Tien-Hung Lan is accepted by Current Opinion in Chemical Biology, summarizing the latest advances in optogenetic engineering of ion channels. 01/2025 | An article led by Dr. Yuepeng Ke, titled "STIM1 and lipid interactions at ER-PM contact sites" has been published by American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology.
05/2025 | Dr. Zhou has been honored as the 2025 Chancellor Enhancing Development and Generating Excellence in Scholarship (EDGES) Fellow. The Chancellor EDGES Fellowship program is designed to honor and retain midcareer faculty who demonstrate significant accomplishment in their discipline, have gained recognition both nationally and internationally, and are on track to be honored for their accomplishments at the highest levels (such as national academies). 04/2025 | Dr. Zhou was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC).
04/2025 | Congratulations to Drs. Tianlu Wang and Tien-Hung Lan for winning the First Place Awards of Presentation at the 2025 Annual IBT-GSO symposium!
03/2025 | An article by Drs. Mingguang Cui and Tien-Hung Lan, titled "Harnessing Viral Proteases for Cellular and Molecular Engineering", has been accepted by Chemistry - Methods.
02/2025 | Congratulations to Xiaoxuan Liu for winning the Robert & Anabelle Bruce Travel Award!
01/2025 | A research article co-led by Dr. Tien-Hung Lan, reporting ChiACT as a chemogenetic toolkit for inducible cell type-specific actin disassembly, was accepted by Small Methods! 01/2025 | Dr. Sher Ali's article, "Modulating ion channels with nanobodies", has been accepted by Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology! 01/2025 | An article led by Dr. Tianlu Wang, Tatsuki Nonomura, and Dr. Tien-Hung Lan is accepted by Current Opinion in Chemical Biology, summarizing the latest advances in optogenetic engineering of ion channels. 01/2025 | An article led by Dr. Yuepeng Ke, titled "STIM1 and lipid interactions at ER-PM contact sites" has been published by American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology.
2024
The Zhou lab published 10 papers in Nature Chemical Biology, Nature Cell Biology, JACS, Journal of Physiology, Clinical and Translational Medicine, etc....
- Congratulations to Xiaoxuan Liu for winning a Poster Award and a Travel Award to attend the FASEB Scientific Research Conference on Channels and Transporters in Immunity!
- A collaborative study with Drs. Yuepeng Ke and Junchen Liu on Ras-related proteins was published in JACS.
- A research article entitled "Inhibiting the cGAS-STING pathway in myeloid cells effectively improves myocardial healing related to TET2 deficiency-induced DNA damage response" was accepted by Clinical & Translational Medicine.
- Dr. Yuepeng Ke received a prestigious Cancer Therapeutics Training Program Fellowship to support her innovative research on CAR-T cell therapy against solid tumors!
- Dr. Zhou was appointed as Associate Director of the Center for Translational Cancer Research at TAMU-IBT.
- The Zhou Lab was awarded a TAMU HSC Seedling Grant to develop intelligent cell-based immunotherapy!
- Congratulations to Dr. Lei Guo for acceptance of a novel study reporting TET2 liquid-liquid phase separation by Nature Cell Biology!
- Congratulations to Xiaoxuan Liu as the recipient of the Finalist Award for Outstanding Research at the 37th SCBA-TX Annual Symposium!
- Congratulations to Dr. Yi-Tsang Lee on his successful defense of dissertation! He will start his postdoc career at La Jolla Institute for Immunology.
2023
The Zhou lab published 10 papers in Nature Methods, Nature Aging, Nature Chemical Biology, Nature Communications, Nature Reviews Bioengineering, Clinical and Translational Medicine, and Science Advances etc.
Dr. Zhou was inducted into the 2023 Class of American American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering as an AIMBE Fellow. See press release from AIMBE.
The Zhou lab received two NIH R21 grants, and one Translational Research Program Award from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to support cancer and immunotherapy research!
Siyao Liu won the Outstanding Presentation Award from the 2023 NCI Allicance for Nanotechnology in Cancer Meeting.
Yi-Tsang Lee and Dr. Tien-Hung Lan attended the 2023 FASEB Science Researcch Conference on Calcium and Cell Function co-chaired by Dr. Zhou at Malahide Ireland to present latest progress in studying calcium signaling.
