Jiao Zhang

Blood transcriptomics can provide valuable insights into changes in health and immune status. However, conventional studies often rely on venous blood collection, which makes frequent at-home sampling challenging.

Within the HemoPrint project, spearheaded by Elena Ramos Varas, I combine molecular biology and bioinformatics to further develop this scalable transcriptomics platform for self-collected capillary blood microsamples. By combining repeated capillary blood microsampling with longitudinal health and lifestyle data, I aim to identify molecular patterns that reflect changes in health and immune status, as well as responses to different interventions.

This approach may also support multidisciplinary cancer research by providing minimally invasive tools for biomarker discovery, immune monitoring, and the longitudinal assessment of molecular changes during disease or treatment. My project aims to make personalized molecular health monitoring within reach.
 

I completed my master’s studies at the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Technical University of Denmark, earning degrees in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and in Life Science Engineering and Informatics, respectively. My previous research focused on chromatin biology and cancer-related molecular mechanisms. Before starting my PhD, I worked in the biotechnology industry, where I contributed to multi-omics biomarker projects and helped facilitate collaboration between clinicians and scientists. I am currently a doctoral fellow at Ghent University, working on longitudinal blood transcriptome profiling within the HemoPrint project.
 

• Lab address: 
  - Postal and laboratory address: Medical Research Building 1 (MRB1, entrance 34)
  - Office address: The Core, third floor, room 130.006 (entrance 37a)
• OncoRNALab
• LinkedIn
• Jiao Zhang is interested to receive invitations for presentations or talks