About the PI

About

Fan Zhang‘s research combines materials science, immunology, and synthetic biology approaches to develop nanotherapeutics that can program immune responses against diseases. Through his graduate training with Kannan Rangaramanujam Ph.D. and Sujatha Kannan M.D., he developed material chemistry and engineering skills to formulate a dendrimer-based nanomedicine for treating neuroinflammation, which is now patented technology. Working with neuroscientists and engineers, he framed the guiding principles for designing drug carriers to target neuroinflammation. This reinforced his long-term career goal of translating nanomedicine to the clinic, and he set out to extend his expertise in immunology and to expand the clinical impact of his research. He then undertook postdoctoral training with Matthias Stephan, M.D., Ph.D., at the Clinical Research Division of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Through this training, he solidified his foundation in immunology, molecular biology, and animal tumor models, which leads to a deeper understanding of immunotherapy and gene therapy. As an American Brain Tumor Association Research Fellowship Awardee, he developed a polymer-based platform that efficiently delivers mRNAs into macrophages; it can be used to genetically reprogram macrophages by targeting critical transcription factors. His findings provided evidence for using a gene-modification system to ‘correct’ cell function as a novel cancer treatment strategy and are currently in clinical translation. His expertise in engineering, immunology, and experience of working closely with physicians have placed him in a unique position to establish an interdisciplinary research program that integrates the formulation of nanotherapeutics with immunology, synthetic biology, and translational research.

Awards

• UF Health Cancer Institute Rising Star of the Year, 2025
• Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA), 2024
• NCI-DCP Early Career Scientist Highlight, 2024
• Outstanding Teaching Team Award, UF College of Pharmacy, 2023
• CTSI KL2 Career Development Award, NIH through UF CTSI, 2023
• Sparkathon Accelerator Award, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer 34th Annual Meeting, 2021
• AAPS Best Abstract Awards, American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, 2020
• Young Investigator Award, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer 34th Annual Meeting, 2019
• BEST POSTER AWARD, Gordon Research Conference on Cancer Nanotechnology, 2019
• Young Investigator Research Award, 5nd Annual Immuno-Oncology Young Investigators’ Forum (PhD/Postdoctoral Researcher Category, 3rd place), 2019
• American Medical Association (AMA) PRA Category 1 Credit™ certification, Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), 2019
• AACR Scholar-in-training Award, American Association for Cancer Research, 2019
• Fred Hutch Student/Postdoc Advisory Committee Travel Award, 2019
• ABTA Basic Research Fellowships Award, American Brain Tumor Association, 2018, ongoing
• Donghua Scholarship, Donghua University, 2009
• Outstanding Technological Innovation Research, Shanghai City Government, 2009
• Academic Excellence Award, 2007 and 2008, Donghua University

Patents

• F. Zhang, K. Jolly, Z. Xu. DENDRIMER-BASED LIPID NANOPARTICLES FOR ORGAN-SELECTIVE MRNA TRANSFECTION. Patent Discl No: U1197.70231US00.
• F. Zhang, J. K. Harrison, C. S. Sankara. SELECTIVE DELIVERY OF AGENTS TO MYELOIDDERIVED SUPPRESSOR CELLS WITH A DENDRIMER-BASED FORMULATION. Patent Discl No: U1197.70243WO00

The following international patents have been licensed under Ashvattha Therapeutics.

• Mangraviti A. Mastorakos P, Mishra M, Kannan RM, Tyler B, Zhang F, SELECTIVE DENDRIMER DELIVERY TO BRAIN TUMORS. US Pub number: US20170173172A1, WO/2016/025741.
• Kannan RM, Kannan, S, Nance E, Blue M, Johnston M, Baumgartner W, Zhang F, Wilson MA, Slusher B. DENDRIMER COMPOSITIONS AND USE IN TREATMENT OF NEUROLOGICAL AND CNS DISORDERS. US Pub number: US20170232120A1.
• Kannan RM, Kannan, S, Fatemi A, Zhang F, Turk B. COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR TREATMENT OF PEROXISOMAL DISORDERS AND LEUKODYSTROPHIES, US Pub number: US20170119899A1.
• Kannan RM, Hackam D, Kannan S, Nino DF, Zhang F. DENDRIMER COMPOSITIONS AND USE IN TREATMENT OF NECROTIZING ENTEROCOLITIS AND OTHER GASTROINTESTINAL DISORDERS, US Pub number: US20170119897A1.

Teaching

• PHA6935, Nanomedicine-based Immunotherapy
• PHA6938, Pharmaceutics Department Seminar
• PHA 6416, Pharmaceutical Analysis I     
• PHA 6740, Fundamentals of Grant Writing in the Pharmaceutical Sciences
• PHA 5561, Pathophysiology and Patient Assessment II
• PHA 6183, Pharmaceutical Gene Delivery
• PHA 7900, Drug and Gene Delivery Journal Club
• GMS6065, Fundamentals of Cancer Biology

Seminar and Conference Talks

• 07.2024 ‘Engineer Lipid Nanoparticle Surface Hydrophobicity to Modulate Nano-Bio Interface and Enable Tissue-Selective mRNA Delivery’, CRS 2025 Annual Meeting and Exposition, Philadelphia
• 10.2024 ‘Engineering Nano-Bio Interface to Precisely Control Lipid Nanoparticle Tissue Tropism’ AAPS PharmSci 360 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City
• 02.2024 AAPS Nanotechnology Community Seminar (virtual)
• 01.2024 NCI Division of Cancer Prevention (virtual)
• 02.2023 Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD
• 12.2022 Center for Nanomedicine, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD
• 10.2022 Dinesh O. Shah Annual Lecture in Surface Science, Gainesville, FL
• 08.2022 Gordon Research Conference Drug Carriers in Medicine and Biology, Mt Snow, VT
• 05.2022 Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Florida, FL
• 11.2021 Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer 2021 conference, Washington, D.C.
• 08.2021 Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida, FL
• 02.2021 Department of Pharmaceutics, Virginia Commonwealth University, VA
• 06.2019 5th Annual Immuno-Oncology Young Investigators’ Forum. Houston, TX
• 11.2020 Selected Talk, Immune Modulation & Engineering Symposium, Philadelphia, PA

Service

Editorial Responsibility

• 12.2021 – present    Particuology, Young Professional Editorial Board
• 2021                         FASEB BioAdvances, Editor Search Committee

Conference and Professional Society Organization

2024-present Secretary, AAPS Nanotechnology Community

2024 co-Chair, Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery Symposium (NanoDDS)

2023 Moderator, Nerve System Delivery Session, Controlled Release Society Annual Conference, Las Vegas
2023 – present, AAPS Nanotechnology Community Leadership member

2022    Member, Program Planning Committee, American Brain Tumor Association Annual Meeting

Conference Abstract/Poster Reviewer

• 2025 Controlled Release Society Annual Conference, Philadelphia, Poster Judge
• 2023 Controlled Release Society Annual Conference, Las Vegas, Poster Judge
• 2022 Gordon Research Conference Drug Carrier in Medicine and Biology, Poster Reviewer
• 2021 UF Health Cancer Institute Research Day, Poster Reviewer

Journal Review

Science Advances, Journal of Controlled Release, Drug Delivery and Translational Research, Bioengineering & Translational Medicine, Neurotherapeutics

NIH Study Section:

• 04.2025, 2025/05 ZCA1 RTRB-C (M1) B, SBIR/STTR Special Emphasis Panel/Scientific Review Group
• 06.2024, Radiation Therapy, Radiation Biology & Nanoparticle Based Therapeutics SBIR/STTR special emphasis panel
• 03.2024, Radiation Therapy, Radiation Biology & Nanoparticle Based Therapeutics SBIR/STTR special emphasis panel
• 03.2023, NCI Cancer Nanotechnology Study Section

UF Pharmaceutics Department service

• 2023 – 2025 Host and Moderator, Pharmaceutics Department Seminar Series
• 2024 Member, Faculty Search Committee
• 2023 Member, Faculty Search Committee
• 2022             Member, Faculty Search Committee
• 2021             Organizer, Drug and Gene Delivery Journal Club

UF service

• 2024, UFHCC Pre-doctoral Award Committee, Reviewer
• 2023, UF ROSF Grant Review Committee, Reviewer
• 2021 PROSPER Award Review Committee, Reviewer
• 2021-2025 COP Annual Showcase, Judge
• 2021,2022 COP PharmD student recruitment, Interviewer