Jason Zhang 🏳️‍🌈🇺🇸

De novo design of Ras isoform selective binders The four major isoforms encoded by RAS proto-oncogenes are differentially associated with cancer, but there are few isoform-specific binding reagents …

The first publication while at UCLA! We developed and utilized generative AI protein design methods for targeting the disordered and highly charged C-terminus of RAS to generate RAS isoform specific binders/inhibitors: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Excited to work together soon as well!

It was such a fun journey working with Krishna’s lab and @kinasekid.bsky.social! Really excited to see where this phospho-binder technology goes!

The downfall of America

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
—George Orwell, 1984

It is rare for a murder to be captured live on multiple cameras. Yet DHS persists with the obvious lie this was self defense.

There are no more red lines.

Come to my talk on generative AI for biosensor design on Friday!

My lab website is now live! My lab feels a bit real now 🥺. Website: www.jasonzhanglab.com

Zara Weinberg passed away earlier this week. She joined my lab earlier this year when her postdoc lab formally closed.
She was a brilliant scientist, supportive mentor, dear friend, avid music fan, rabid believer in public transit, open science champion, and above all just an amazing human.

First lab meeting at UCLA joint with @yamadahunter.bsky.social lab!

Thank you for the kind words! Would love your insights.

Excited to share our latest work in expanding AI-based protein design into targeting PTMs! I’m particularly excited in this work as there is so much we don’t know about PTMs despite their central role in signaling and hopefully we can start to decode their rules and functions.

Incoming from David Baker lab! New faculty at @riceuniversity.bsky.social and @uclaengineering.bsky.social with @linnaan.bsky.social and I, respectively. Last meal before we get “real world” jobs 😭.

Trump freezes $200 million in UCLA science and medical research funding, citing antisemitism The Trump administration has frozen roughly $200 million in National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and other federal agency-funded research at UCLA, citing allegations the school discriminates in admissions and has failed to protect the civil rights of Jewish students.

Trump freezes $200 million in UCLA science and medical research funding, citing antisemitism

Thank you Luis!

Thank you Antje!

Thank you Joachim!

Excited to join you at UCLA!

Thank you Zikang!

Thank you Sam!

My lab is opening in November 2025. If you are interested in working in my lab, please email me at: jasonzhanglabrecruitment@gmail.com. I am currently recruiting masters, PhD, and postdocs.

Excited to share that I’ll be joining UCLA Bioengineering as a tenure-track professor! My lab will focus on AI-driven molecular engineering to study cellular signaling. As someone 100% educated in US public schools, I’m proud to continue working in public education and inspiring future scientists!

Ah, thank you for the clarification!

I’ve been trying to find some reliable news about this. Are there funding cuts to NIH and NSF proposed in the Big Beautiful (really Ugly) Bill? If so, how much are the cuts?

Was so nice to meet up with @grocklin.bsky.social and talk about science! So much to learn from him. Hopefully we can be neighbors soon!

De novo designed Hsp70 activator dissolves intracellular condensates Protein quality control (PQC) is carried out in part by the chaperone Hsp70 in concert with adapters of the J-domain protein (JDP) family. The JDPs, a…

Excited to share my recent work on designing new Hsp70 activators to regulate condensates, and thus reveal their functions: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... @uwproteindesign.bsky.social @cp-cellchembiol.bsky.social

Very cool work from my undergrad buddy! If you are interested in virology, high throughput techniques, and biochemistry, please take a read!

If you consider all the institutes and hospitals associated with Harvard and MIT as part of their respective schools (eg Boston Children’s with Harvard, Whitehead with MIT, etc) then I bet this figure goes up to 75% 😮

Thanks! You are right that FRET FLIM may be more quantitative than FRET ratios. I haven’t tested FRET FLIM yet though due to the lack of microscopes available to me to do FLIM measurements.

Done!

I made a protein designer starter pack ⚛️👨‍💻👩‍💻! Please feel free to DM me if you want to be added. go.bsky.app/JcMhjLw