Jin Zhang (biochemist)

Jin Zhang (; born February 29, 1972) is a Chinese-American biochemist. She is a professor of pharmacology, chemistry and biochemistry, and biomedical engineering at the University of California, San Diego.
Early life and education.
Zhang was born in Beijing, China. She received her B.S. in chemistry from Tsinghua University in Beijing in 1995. She completed her Ph.D. with David G. Lynn at the University of Chicago in 2000, and conducted postdoctoral research with Roger Y. Tsien and Susan S. Taylor at the University of California, San Diego.
Academic career.
Following her postdoc at UCSD, Zhang joined the faculty in the Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 2003. At Johns Hopkins, she was a member of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. In 2013, she was promoted to full professor in the departments of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience and Department of Oncology, and Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
In 2015, Zhang relocated her lab to UCSD, where she is a professor in the departments of Pharmacology, Bioengineering, and Chemistry and Biochemistry. She is a member of the Moores Cancer Center. Zhang is also director and cofounder of the Bio-Optical Probe Advancement Center at UCSD.
Zhang is an editorial board member for Cell Chemical Biology.
Research.
The Zhang group is interested in developing genetically encoded fluorescent protein-based biosensors for kinases, similar to those developed for calcium imaging. Genetically encoded biosensors utilize a kinase-specific substrate fused to fluorescent proteins and a phosphoamino acid binding domain, which change FRET ratio or fluorescence intensity based on kinase activity. Zhang and her lab have used this method to study several kinases, including protein kinase A, protein kinase C, and mechanistic target of rapamycin, among others. The Zhang group has also worked on super-resolution imaging techniques, including photochromic stochastic optical fluctuation imaging (pcSOFI), a variant of super-resolution optical fluctuation imaging, and fluorescence fluctuation increase by contact imaging (FLINC), which has been used to generate super-resolution kinase biosensors
Zhang, along with the help from Johns Hopkins Laboratories, is also credited for the creation of a new technique referred to as CAESAR. This technique was designed to experimentally identify substrates for unique kinases. It results in high-quality KSRs.
Honors and awards.
Zhang has received many honors and awards including: