Yubin Zhou, MD, PhD

Education and Training

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Yubin Zhou is a tenured Professor, Chancellor EDGES Fellow, Presidential Impact Fellow, and Director of the Center for Translational Cancer Research at the Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M University. He holds primary faculty appointments in the Department of Translational Medical Sciences, joint appointments in the Department of Medical Physiology within the College of Medicine, and the School of Engineering Medicine (EnMed). Dr. Zhou received his medical training and completed an internship in internal medicine (1998–2003), followed by M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry and Bioinformatics from Georgia State University (2004-2008). He completed postdoctoral training in immunology at Harvard Medical School (2008-2010) and subsequently served as an Instructor at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology and the Program in Immunology at University of California, San Diego (2010-2012). After joining Texas A&M University in 2012, Dr. Zhou leads a bioengineering and synthetic immunology laboratory focused on developing technologies for remote and programmable control of protein activity, cellular physiology, and designer cell systems. His research integrates mechanistic biology, molecular engineering, and translational science to address fundamental questions in calcium signaling, optogenetics, epigenetic regulation, and immunotherapy. A hallmark of his program is the translation of basic discoveries into enabling technologies, resulting in more than ten patent applications, multiple industry licensing agreements, and foundational contributions to clinical-stage programs. Dr. Zhou has published over 180 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals (total citations: >25,000; h-index: 61), including Nature Methods, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Cell Biology, Nature Chemical Biology, Nature Genetics, Nature Aging, Nature Communications, Science Advances, Cell Chemical Biology, Cell Genomics, Cancer Cell, Cancer Discovery, and JACS. He is listed among Stanford University’s World’s Most-Cited Scientists, and his work has been featured on over a dozen journal covers and highlighted by major scientific media outlets.

A pioneering aspect of Dr. Zhou’s work is the development of opsin-free optogenetic and chemogenetic platforms tailored for immune systems, culminating in the first demonstrations of wireless optogenetic immunomodulation in living mammals. These studies established the conceptual and technological foundation for nano-optogenetic immunotherapy. Dr. Zhou’s contributions have been recognized by multiple honors and awards, including the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Fellow Award, Special Fellow Award, and Translational Research Program Award; the American Cancer Society Research Scholar Award; the National Cancer Institute Innovative Research in Cancer Nanotechnology Award; and the Texas A&M University Research Excellence Award. He is a Protégé Member of the Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science & Technology (TAMEST), an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (FAAAS), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (FAIMBE), and the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), as well as a Senior Member of National Academy of Inventors (NAI). His research program has been well supported by grants from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the American Cancer Society, the National Institutes of Health, DoD, CPRIT, John S Dunn Foundation, the Welch Foundation, and Texas A&M University.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

• La Jolla Institute for Immunology & UCSD, Instructor and LLS Special Fellow 2012
• Harvard Medical School, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) Fellow 2010
• Georgia State University, Doctor of Philosophy (Chemistry and Virology) 2008
• Georgia State University, Doctor of Philosophy (Chemistry and Bioinformatics) 2007
• Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Bachelor of Medicine (Internal Medicine) 2003

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Calcium channels and T cell receptor signaling
• Programmable control of cellular signaling and physiology
• Optogenetics, chemogenetics, thermogenetics, and protein engineering
• Synthetic immunology and intelligent cell-based immunotherapy
• Translational bioengineering and theranostics

TEACHING INTERESTS

• Cell Signaling and immunology
• Medical student grand rounds
• Synthetic biology and bioengineering
• Translational biomedical science
• AI-powered protein design and engineering

AWARDS, RECOGNITION AND SERVICE

• 2026     Elected Senior Member, National Academy of Inventors (SMNAI)
• 2026     Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (FAAAS)
• 2025     Elected Fellow, The Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC)
• 2023     Elected Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (FAIMBE)
• 2025     Chancellor EDGES Fellow, Texas A&M University
• 2026     Chair, Cellular Signaling:  Proteins, Pathways, & Mechanisms, American Physiology Summit
• 2025     Session Chair, Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) Annual Meeting
• 2025     High-Impact/High-Risk Research Award, Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas
• 2024     Chair, Session on Cancer Immunoengineering & Immunotherapy, BMES Annual Meeting
• 2024     Chair, Nominating Committee, Cell & Mol Physiology Section, American Physiology Society
• 2024     Chair, Cell Signaling Feature Topics, American Physiology Summit 2024
• 2023     Translational Research Program Award, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
• 2023     Co-Chair, FASEB Scientific Research Conference - Calcium and Cell Function
• 2022     TAMEST Protégé, The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas (TAMEST)
• 2022     Stanford’s List of World’s Top 2% Most Cited Scientists
• 2021     Presidential Impact Fellow, Texas A&M University
• 2019     Innovative Research in Cancer Nanotechnology Award, NCI
• 2018     John S. Dunn Foundation Collaborative Research Award
• 2017     Faculty Research Excellence Award, COM, Texas A&M University
• 2017     Research Scholar Award, American Cancer Society
• 2011     Special Fellow Award, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
• 2011     Arthritis Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship
• 2008     Fellow Award, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
• 2008     Irvington Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship, Cancer Research Institute
• 2008     Graduate Award for Outstanding Research at the Doctoral Level
• 2003     The Best Clinical Intern Award, Zhejiang University School of Medicine
• 2001     Shi Hua-Yu Medicine Scholarship, Zhejiang University School of Medicine

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS (OUT OF 180+)

1. Initial activation of STIM1, the regulator of store-operated Ca²⁺ entry. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology 2013. PMID: 23851458
2. Proteomic mapping of ER-PM junctions identifies STIMATE as a novel regulator of Ca²⁺ influx. Nature Cell Biology 2015. PMID: 26322679
3. Engineered Split-TET2 Enzyme for Inducible Epigenetic Remodeling. JACS 2017. (Spotlight)
4. Optogenetic Control of Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels. Angewandte Chemie International Edition Engl. 2018 (cover article).
5. Discovery of small molecule inhibitors of the HSP90-Calcineurin-NFAT pathway against glioblastoma. Cell Chemical Biology 2019.
6. Circularly permuted LOV2 as a modular domain for optogenetic engineering. Nature Chemical Biology 2021. PMID: 33958793
7. Nano-optogenetic engineering of CAR T-cells for precision immunotherapy with enhanced safety. Nature Nanotechnology 2021. PMID: 34697491
8. Expression of chimeric antigen receptor therapy targets detected by single-cell sequencing of normal cells contributes to off-tumor toxicity. Cancer Cell 2021.
9. Optophysiology: illuminating cell physiology with optogenetics. Physiological Reviews 2022 (cover article).
10. Optogenetics for transcriptional programming and genetic engineering. Trends in Genetics 2022 (cover article).
11. Remote control of cellular immunotherapy. Nature Reviews Bioengineering 2023
12. Engineering of NEMO as calcium indicators with ultra-high dynamics and sensitivity. Nature Methods 2023
13. TET2 modulates spatial relocalization of heterochromatin in aged hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Nature Aging 2023.
14. A PASS for protein secretion. Nature Chemical Biology 2023.
15. Perturbing TET2 condensation promotes aberrant genome-wide DNA methylation and curtails leukemia growth. Nature Cell Biology 2024
16. Repurposing salicylic acid as a versatile inducer of proximity. Nature Chemical Biology 2025. PMID: 40514548
17. Optogenetic engineering for precision immunotherapy. Trends in Pharmacological Sciences 2025 (cover article).
18. Early driver, late bystander: stage-specific roles of DNMT3A-R882 mutations unveiled in human AML. Cancer Discovery 2026.
19. Engineering of genetically encoded programmable CRAC channel inhibitors. Nature Communications 2026.
20. Interrogating cell physiology by using light and chemicals. Annual Review of Physiology 2026. PMID: 41212991