Speaker
Prof. Zhi Q. Yao
East Tennessee State University, USA
Biography :
Dr. Zhi Q. Yao, M.D., Ph.D., is a Distinguished Professor and Dishner Chair of Excellence in Medicine at East Tennessee State University. He serves as the Director of the ETSU Center of Excellence for HIV/AIDS. He also serves as the Director of HIV and Hepatitis (HBV/HCV) Program at James H Quillen VA Medical Center. He received his M.D. (1985) and Ph.D. (1991) degrees at the Fourth Military Medical University, Xian, China. He received Visiting Scholar training at the University of Leuven, Belgium, Fellowship and Postdoc training at the City of Hope National Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, and the University of Virginia Carter Immunology Center, Charlottsville, VA. He also received Infectious Disease Fellowship training at Quillen College of Medicine, Johnson City, TN. Currently, Dr. Yao’s research interests are HIV/HBV/HCV, studying the mechanisms of chronic viral infection-induced premature T cell aging, focusing on telomere erosion and mitochondrial dysregulation. He also studies CRISPR/Cas9/Cas12/Cas13-mediated HIV/HBV gene editing and exosome or nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery approaches. His research is supported by NIH/VA/DoD grants, with aims to understand the mechanisms of T cell dysfunction and developing novel therapeutics targeting chronic HIV and/or HBV infections.
