Weijia Zhang, Ph.D.

Education

• Ph.D. Fudan University, Chemistry, 2009

• B.Sc. Zhejiang University, Chemical      Engineering, 2003

Work experience

• Institutes of Biomedical Sciences and Children’s      Hospital of Fudan University (2016-Present)

• Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School      (2014-2016)

• Houston Methodist Hospital & University of Texas      (2009-2013)

Contact

Address: 131 Dong’an Rd, Shanghai 200032

Email: weijiazhang@fudan.edu.cn

Biography

Weijia Zhang received his doctorate in Chemistry from Fudan University. After graduation, he did his postdoctoral training at Methodist Hospital and Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Harvard Medical School. In 2016, He returned to Fudan University with the financial support from "1000 Youth Talent" program, and joined Department of Chemistry and Institute of Biomedical Science (IBS) andShanghai Cardiovascular Institute Zhongshan Hospital at Fudan University. His research focuses primarily on i) Cardiovascular disease, ii) Aortopathy etiology and therapy. Dr. Zhang is now leading and collaborating with cross-functional research teams in the field of biomedical science and engineering, pharmaceutics, analytical chemistry, and microfabrication, to pioneer the mimicry of the in vivo biology and physiology for the purpose of drug development and cardiovascular disease modeling and analysis.

Research Areas & Interest

• The Zhang lab is focused on exploring the pathophysiology of vascular diseases by integrating organ chips with animal models. The lab aims to investigate the pathological characteristics, mechanisms of onset and progression, and potential intervention strategies for diseases such as vascular lesions and ageing.

Selected Publications

1. Jingjing Zhang, Yuyi Tang, Shan Zhang, Zhuxin Xie, Wenrui Ma, Shaowen Liu, Yixuan Fang, Shufen Zheng, Ce Huang, Guoquan Yan, Mieradilijiang Abudupataer, Yue Xin, Jingqiao Zhu, Wenjing Han, Weizhong Wang, Fenglin Shen, Hao Lai, Yang Liu, Dan Ye, Fa-Xing Yu, Yanhui Xu, Cuiping Pan, Chunsheng Wang, Kai Zhu*, Weijia Zhang*. Mitochondrial NAD⁺ deficiency in vascular smooth muscle impairs collagen III turnover to trigger thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysm, Nature Cardiovascular Research, 2025, doi.org/10.1038/s44161-024-00606-w. News & Views (doi.org/10.1038/s44161-024-00599-6)

2. Yuyi Tang, Jingjing Zhang, Yixuan Fang, Kai Zhu, Jingqiao Zhu, Ce Huang, Zhuxin Xie, Shan Zhang, Wenrui Ma, Guoquan Yan, Shaowen Liu, Xin Liu, Wenjing Han, Yue Xin, Chenxi Yang, Mieradilijiang Abudupataer, Peiyun Zhou, Chenxi He, Hao Lai, Chunsheng Wang, Yang Liu, Fei Lan, Dan Ye, Fa-Xing Yu, Yanhui Xu, Weijia Zhang*. Correcting mitochondrial loss mitigates NOTCH1-related aortopathy in mice, Nature Cardiovascular Research, 2025, doi.org/10.1038/s44161-024-00603-z. Research Briefing (doi.org/10.1038/s44161-025-00607-3)

3. Wenrui Ma, Jingjing Zhang, Shaowen Liu, Shiqiang Yan, Kehua Xu, Yu Shrike Zhang, Mieradilijiang Abudupataer, Yang Ming, Shichao Zhu, Bitao Xiang, Xiaonan Zhou, Shaman Luo, Hui Huang, Yuyi Tang, Shan Zhang, Zhuxin Xie, Nan Chen, Xiaoning Sun, Jun Li, Hao Lai, Chunsheng Wang*, Kai Zhu*, Weijia Zhang*, Patient-Derived Microphysiological Model Identifies the Therapeutic Potential of Metformin for Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm, EBiomedicine, 2022,81,104080.

4. Hui Huang, Youpei Lin, Wenrui Ma, Jiannan Liu, Jing Han, Xiaoyi Hu, Meilin Tang, Shiqiang Yan, Chenping Zhang, Qiang Gao, Weijia Zhang*, A Pre-Screening Strategy to Assess Resected Tumor Margins by Imaging Mitochondrial Viscosity and Hypoxia.eLife, 2021, 10, 70471.

5. Mieradilijiang, A., Zhu, S., Yan, S., Xu, K., Zhang, J., Luo, S., Ma, W., Alam, M. F., Tang, Y., Huang, H., Chen, N., Wang, L., Yan, G., Li, J., Lai, H., Wang, C.*, Zhu, K.*, and Zhang, W.* Aorta smooth muscle-on-a-chip reveals impaired mitochondrial dynamics as a therapeutic target for aortic aneurysm in bicuspid aortic valve disease. eLife, 2021, 10, 69310.