Check out the updated photo blogs.

▪ October 22, 2024. Our 2nd collaborative NIH R01, Targeting AMP Synthesis to Overcome Resistance to BH3 Mimetics in Acute Myeloid Leukemia, just got funded. It will be a 5-yr collaboration with LA-based Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope.

▪ July, 2024. The new Zhu lab opens in southern california. Photos coming up.

2023

▪ November 1-3. Yaoqiu to present at the 7th International Conference on Drug Discovery and Lead Optimization in San Francisco.

▪ October 16. Yaoqiu to give an invited seminar talk at Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Queens College of the City University of New York.

▪ August 12-14. Yaoqiu to particpate in the 2023 CAPA Summer Symposium and Award Ceremony in UCSF and to visit AbbVie's South San Francisco site.

▪ 06/13-06/15. Yaoqiu was invited to give a talk, Tandem Name Reactions for Green Total Synthesis of Anticancer Natural Product and Green Process of Antiviral Non-Natural Nucleobase, at the 27th Annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference in Long Beach, CA. pic

▪ June 09, 2023. Our collaborative R01 (three investigators; 1/3 each) scored in the 4% (impact 20)! The Zhu lab will start this membrane ion channel MedChem project (4 years total cost > $500k) in the fall.

▪ Yaoqiu finished his last day at UT-El Paso on May 31, 2023.

▪ Yaoqiu hosts his last academic visitor at UT-El Paso and long-time friend: Prof. Hairong Guan from University of Cincinnati (03/18, 2023). pic

▪ Yaoqiu participated in the Arizona Center for Drug Discovery Spring Summit - Therapeutic Development for Age-Related Diseases in Tucson, AZ (03/13, 2023). pic

▪ We turned in a collaborative NIH R01 renewal resubmission proposal - medicinal chemistry studies on a trimeric membrane protein ion channel. The total cost for our part is 5 years > $800k (03/06, 2023).

▪ The first patent of the Zhu Group, Chemical Synthesis of Clopidogrel Active Metabolites and Disulfide Conjugate Prodrugs, received Notice of Allowance from USPTO!

▪ Yaoqiu gave an invited seminar talk at California State University, Long Beach on 02/08, 2023. pic

▪ Yaoqiu to give an invited seminar talk at California State University, San Marcos on 11/09, 2022 (flyer). pic

▪ Yaoqiu to give an invited seminar talk at College of Pharmacy, Western University of Health Sciences (Pomona, CA) on 10/13, 2022. pic

▪ Yaoqiu gave an invited seminar talk at California State University, Los Angeles on 09/27, 2022. pic

▪ Yaoqiu attended the 47th National Organic Symposium (NOS 2022) in San Diego , CA (06/26-06/30, 2022). pic

▪ Yaoqiu has secured an industry-sponsored research grant for antithrombotic, anticancer and antiviral drug development (3 years, $100,000/yr, deferred start).

▪ Yaoqiu had to opt out the 2022 Tetrahedron Symposium in Lisbon, Portugal (06/28-07/01, 2022). Congratualtions to Yaoqiu's doctoral mentor, Dr. Rick Silverman, for winning the 2021 Tetrahedron Prize for Creativity in Organic Chemistry.The Zhu group has contributed publication to the BMC/BMCL special issue honoring Dr. Silverman.

▪ Yaoqiu gave another inivited seminar at Indiana U-Purdue U Indianapolis (Chem) (April /27) pic

▪ Yaoqiu gave an inivited short talk oral presentation, Bioinspired 3D Printing of Complex Marine Natural Scaffold for Anticancer Lead Discovery, at the 2022 Gordon Research Conference of Marine Natural Products in Ventura, CA (March 6-11). pic

▪ Yaoqiu gave an inivited seminar back to Northwestern University: Carrying My Purple Heritage for Innovative Explorations in Organic Chemistry, Enzymology and Medicinal Chemistry (March 4, 2022, Evanston, IL). pic

▪ Yaoqiu gave inivited seminars at:
University of Illinois at Chicago (Chem) (03/03) pic
University of Notre Dame (Chem) (03/02) pic
University of Texas at Dallas (Chem) (02/24)

▪ Yaoqiu attended the 27th Enzyme Mechanisms Conference in Tucson, AZ (Jan 02-06, 2022). pic

▪ Yaoqiu gave an inivited talk at ACS-SWRM 2021: From Remdesivir (Veklury), (−)-Pavidolide B to Clopidogrel (Plavix), Using OChem I and II Knowledge to Address Diverse Biomedical Challenges (Nov 2-3, 2021, Austin, TX) pic.

▪ Yaoqiu to present inivited seminars: Integrative OrgSyn, MedChem & ChemBio Studies for Reviving Natural Product Drug Discovery and Solving Clinical Drug Conundrums at:
University of Massachusetts-Boston (Chem) (12/07)
University of Houston (PharmSci) (11/18)
University of Delaware (Chem) (11/12)
Univ. of Southern California (Chem) (11/10) [flyer]
Univ. of Nebraska Medical Center (11/05) [flyer]
University of Wisconsin-Madison (PharmSci) (10/22)
University of Cincinnati (Chem) (10/15)
University of Illinois (Chem) (10/11)
Univ. of California Santa Barbara (Chem) (10/08)
Texas A&M University (Chem) (09/30)
University of South Florida (Chem) (09/22)
University of Maryland (PharmSci) (09/08) .

▪ 05/30 Congratulations to the Zhu Group's first Ph.D. graduate, Dr. Libo Romero, on winning the College of Science award of "Best Chemistry Graduate Student"; Libo joined the world-famous drug discovery contract research and manufacturing company, Albany Molecular Research Inc. (Curia Global). (Albany, NY) , as a senior research scientist of organic synthesis.

▪ 05/26 Yaoqiu gave an inivited seminar to the Center for Natural Products, Drug Discovery and Development, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida.

▪ 05/17 Yaoqiu gave an inivited seminar at the weekly colloquium of Department of Chemistry, Brandeis University.

▪ 05/14 Yaoqiu gave an inivited seminar at the weekly colloquium of Department of Chemical Biology & Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin.

▪ 05/13 Yaoqiu gave an inivited seminar at the weekly colloquium of Department of Biochemistry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (flyer).

▪ 05/11 Yaoqiu gave an inivited seminar at the weekly colloquium of Center for Diagnostics & Therapeutics (CDT), Georgia State University.

▪ 05/06 Yaoqiu gave an inivited seminar at the weekly colloquium of Dept. of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Purdue University.

▪ 04/14 Congratulations to Libo on successfully defending his doctoral thesis and becoming the first Ph.D. graduate of the Zhu Group!

▪ 04/13 Yaoqiu gave an inivited seminar at the weekly colloquium of College of Pharmacy, University of Arizona: Solving the Pharmacology Puzzles of the Blockbuster Antiplatelet Clopidogrel and Using It to Probe the Human Body Chemical Biology.

▪ 04/06 Yaoqiu gave an inivited seminar at the weekly colloquium of Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Baylor College of Medicine: Solving the Pharmacology Puzzles of the Blockbuster Antiplatelet Clopidogrel and Using It to Probe the Human Body Chemical Biology (flyer).

▪ Our weekly group meeting (via ZOOM) is 9 am MT on Saturdays featuring literature/research presentations, group discussions and monthly invited external seminars. Email us if you are interested in joining.

▪ The Zhu Lab always welcomes motivated new graduate students who are interested in studying organic synthesis, medicinal chemistry, chemical biology & biochemical pharmacology.

-2021-

▪ 09/16 Congratulations to Libo on his completion of both Comp-A and Comp-B exams and becoming a Ph.D. candidate!

▪ 07/02 The group has initiated new synthetic medicinal chemistry projects to fight the pandemic - Developing a succinct and flexible synthesis platform to access remdesivir and its anti-COVID analogues.

▪ 07/01 The Zhu Lab resumed to partial research operation with strictly abiding to the COVID-19 protocols.

▪ 04/20 (To be rescheduled this fall) Yaoqiu to give an inivited seminar at the weekly colloquium of Department of Chemistry, University of Missouri: The Tango Performance of Organic Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry for Solving the Clinical Conundrums of Plavix (Clopidogrel).

▪ 03/27 (To be rescheduled this fall) Prof. John L. Wood of Baylor University to visit and give a seminar: Recent Efforts in the Synthesis of Complex Natural Products (more info).

▪ 03/06 Yaoqiu gave an inivited seminar at the weekly colloquium of Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, New Mexico State University: The Tango Performance of Organic Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry for Solving the Clinical Conundrums of Plavix (Clopidogrel).

▪ 01/04 We have submitted a new manuscript: 4-Step Total Synthesis of (−)-Pavidolide B (preprint).

-2020-

▪ 12/08 We have submitted a new manuscript that wraps up our 4-year medchem studies on the antithrombotic blockbuster drug Plavix (clopidogrel): First and Stereoselective Chemical Synthesis of Clopidogrel Active Metabolite for Directly Addressing Clinical Antithrombotic Conundrums. (abstract; preprint at ChemRvix)

▪ Self-motivated students are welcome to join the group for graduate studies (Ph.D.) in organic & medicinal chemistry and biochemical pharmacology.

▪ 09/16 Prof. Binghe Wang from Georgia State University visited and gave a seminar on Sep 20 (more info).

▪ 05/24 Libo and Sri attended the Synthetic Chemistry in Texas (TexSyn IV) conference in Baylor University, Waco, TX on May 24 (photos).

▪ 05/20 Yaoqiu attended the 2019 Gasotransmitter Symposium in Eugene, Oregon (photos).

▪ 01/26 We have accomplished a '6-Step Total Synthesis of (−)-Pavidolide B'.

-2019-

▪ 10/19 Prof. Alexander Statsyuk from University of Houston gave an invited seminar (more info).

▪ 10/12 Prof. Aimin Liu from The University of Texas at San Antonio gave an invited seminar (more info).

▪ 09/30 Dr. K. Srinivas joined as a postdoc researcher.

▪ 08/09 Our new manuscript, Clopidogrel as a Donor Probe and Thioenol Derivatives as Flexible Promoieties for Enabling H2S Biomedicine, [abstract; link], was accepted for publication on Nature Communications.

▪ 08/06 Undergraduate student Elizabeth Noriega joined.

▪ 07/22-07/27 Yaoqiu attended Gordon Research Conference on Enzymes, Coenzymes and Metabolic Pathways in Waterville Valley, NH.

▪ 06/15 Yaoqiu gave a seminar at School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, South-Central University For Nationalities, Wuhan, China.

▪ 06/13 Yaoqiu gave a seminar at School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.

▪ 06/12 Yaoqiu gave a seminar at School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guangzhou Medical University.

▪ 06/11 Yaoqiu gave a seminar at School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wuhan University, China.

▪ 06/04 Yaoqiu gave a seminar entitled "The Chemistry of a Blockbuster Antithrombotic Medicine, Clopidogrel" at College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, Lanzhou University, China.

▪ 04/29 Yaoqiu and Libo attended the 36th National Medicinal Chemistry Symposium in Nashville, TN; Libo presented a poster: Chemical Probes for Studying the Structure and Mechanism of Purinergic GPCR P2Y12 (photos).

▪ 02/23 Dr. Suresh Kurhade left the group for a new postdoc position in University of Kansas.

▪ 02/01 The group met 2016 Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry Dr. Sir Fraser Stoddart from Northwestern University (photos).

-2018-

▪ 12/23 Group ski trip to Ski Apache Snow Resort in Ruidoso, NM.

▪ 12/22 Undergraduate student Angel Sanca joined.

▪ 10/31 Yaoqiu attended the ACS Southwest Regional Meeting in Lubbock, TX and gave a talk on "Enabling H2S Biomedicine: Identification of a Clinical Donor Probe and a Novel Class of Flexible Promoeity".

▪ 10/27 Prof. Jin Wang from Baylor College of Medicine visited and gave a departmental seminar.

▪ 10/23 Yaoqiu attended the Welch Foundation Conference in Houston, TX.

▪ 09/15 Prof. Kent Gates from Univ. of Missouri visited our lab and give a departmental seminar.

▪ 07/03 Our preparative HPLC is fully functioning.

▪ 06/01 Dr. Corinne Ley joined as a post-doc.

▪ 04/14 Prof. Hien Nguyen from Univ. of Iowa visited our lab and give a departmental seminar.

▪ 04/05 Dr. Suresh Kurhade (2014, Andhra University & National Chemical Laboratory, Dr. D. Srinivasa Reddy) joined as a post-doc.

▪ 03/30 Our preparative HPLC was installed.

▪ 02/01 Our LC-MS/MS is under full operation.

-2017-

▪ 12/20 Rotation students Yulu and Lei left the group after the fall semester.

▪ 11/21 Dr. Suresh Kurhade from Andhra University, India will join as a post-doc researcher.

▪ 11/07 Take a tour of our lab now!

▪ 08/24 The Zhu Group celebrates 1st anniversity!

▪ 08/21 Rotation student Yulu Ge joined.

▪ 08/18 Dr. Jiang Zhou from Peking University visited!

▪ 08/15 Rotation student Lei Ma joined.

▪ 07/10 Yaoqiu attended Gordon Research Conference (The Precision Medicine Revolution: New Frontiers for Scientists in Drug Metabolism, Transport and Pharmacokinetics) in Holderness, NH.

▪ 06/26 Yaoqiu attended the 35th National Medicinal Chemistry Symposium in Chicago, IL.

▪ 02/01 Dr. Mingming Zhang joined as a research associate.

▪ 01/25 Dr. Xiuming Cao joined as a visitng scholar.

▪ 01/16 Dr. Xiaodong Ren joined as a research associate.

-2016-

▪ 11/18-23 Yaoqiu was invited to give seminars in four universities in China: Peking University, Capital Normal University, China Agricultural University and East China University of Science and Technology.

▪ 10/26 Yaoqiu attended the Welch Foundation Conference in Houston, TX.

▪ 10/13 Yaoqiu attended ICCA-2015 in Galveston, TX.

▪ 10/05 Mark joined as an undergraduate researcher.

▪ 08/24 The Zhu Group is officially launched at UTEP.

▪ 04/09 Yaoqiu was invited to give a seminar in the Department of Chemistry at University of Iowa.

▪ 03/30/2015 Yaoqiu was invited to give a seminar in Shandong University in Jinan, China.