University of Florida · BiologyInnovative Cancer Therapeutics Lab
Weizhou Zhang · Gainesville, Florida
Research Focus
Dr. Weizhou Zhang's lab at the University of Florida researches innovative cancer therapies that focus on developing new drugs that can dismantle cancer cells while also harnessing the body's immune system. They specifically use a technology called Proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC) to target and degrade specific proteins involved in cancer, particularly in melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, and breast cancer metastasis. The lab's work aims to improve cancer treatment outcomes by addressing both tumor cells and the immune environment.
PROTACmelanomarenal cancerbreast cancerimmune therapycellular senescenceBCL-XLNR4A1Tregstumor microenvironment
Research Aims
5AIM 01Identify target molecules in the tumor microenvironment for cancer therapy.
AIM 02Develop NR4A1-targeting PROTACs for melanoma treatment.
AIM 03Investigate therapeutic strategies for renal clear cell carcinomas.
AIM 04Explore dual-targeting approaches in breast cancer treatment.
AIM 05Examine the role of senescent Tregs in immune modulation.
Skills the Lab Values
cell cultureRNA sequencinganimal modelsin vivo studiesmolecular cloningdrug developmentbiochemical assaysflow cytometryimmunology techniquesbiostatistics
Output against the department
Publications272top 22% of dept.223rd of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations9.8ktop 38% of dept.397th of 1,033
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.