Zhimin Huang

Zhimin Huang, PhD, joined the University of Pittsburgh Department of Neurological Surgery as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in January 2025 and leads the Laboratory for NeuroControl and Monitoring. He also holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Bioengineering and serves as Affiliate Faculty in the Joint Carnegie Mellon University–University of Pittsburgh PhD Program in Computational Biology.

Dr. Huang’s research integrates focused ultrasound with protein engineering, synthetic biology, RNA engineering, gene therapy, and drug delivery to develop noninvasive, programmable technologies for spatiotemporal control of molecular and cellular functions in the brain. His work spans ultrasound-guided drug and gene delivery, programmable biologics, engineered extracellular vesicles, RNA-guided cell-fate control, and ultrasound-responsive protein systems, with the goal of advancing both tools for investigating brain function and therapeutic strategies for neurological disorders and brain tumors.

Dr. Huang’s research has been supported by the NIH/NIBIB Trailblazer Award and the PhRMA Foundation. His long-term goal is to establish noninvasive molecular technologies that bridge bioengineering and neuroscience to enable spatiotemporally precise investigation, modulation, and treatment of the brain.

Dr. Huang's publications can be reviewed through Google Scholar.

  • (2026) NIH/NIBIB Trailblazer Award.
  • (2025) PhRMA Foundation Faculty Starter Grant.
  • (2023) Trainee Highlight Award Honorable Mention of 9th Annual BRAIN Initiative Meeting.
  • (2022) Poster Award of International Symposium on Biomolecular Ultrasound and Sonogenetics.
  • (2015) Excellent Graduates of Shanghai Colleges and Universities granted by Shanghai Municipal Education Commission.
  • (2012) Scholarship Award for Excellent Doctoral Student granted by Ministry of Education of China.
  • (2012) National Scholarship for Graduate Student granted by Ministry of Education of China.
  • (2012) Qiu Shi Graduate Student Scholarship granted by Qiu Shi Science and Technologies Foundation.
  • (2012) Excellent Oral Presentation Award, Second Session of Graduate Academic Forum in Shanghai Jiao-Tong University School of Medicine.
  • (2011) First-class Scholarship for Excellent Graduate Students in Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine.

  • PhD, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
  • Visiting Graduate Student, University of Toronto
  • Bachelor of Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Tianjin Medical University

  • Wu, K., Ge, X.X., Duan, X.F., Li, J.Q., Wang, K., Chen, Q.H., Huang, Z.M., Zhang, W.Y., Wu, Y., & Li, Q. (2025). Wip1 phosphatase activator QGC-8-52 specifically sensitizes p53-negative cancer cells to chemotherapy while protecting normal cells. Drug Resist Updat, 79, 101196.Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.drup.2024.101196.
  • Lee, S., Nouraein, S., Kwon, J.J., Huang, Z., Wojick, J.A., Xia, B., Corder, G., & Szablowski, J.O. (2024). Engineered serum markers for non-invasive monitoring of gene expression in the brain. Nat Biotechnol, 42(11), 1717-1725.Springer Nature. doi: 10.1038/s41587-023-02087-x.
  • Seo, J.P., Trippett, J.S., Huang, Z., Lee, S., Nouraein, S., Wang, R.Z., & Szablowski, J.O. (2024). Acoustically targeted measurement of transgene expression in the brain. Sci Adv, 10(32), eadj7686.American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adj7686.
  • Huang, Z., Mitrofan, A., Nouraein, S., Horak, C., Seo, J.P., Harb, M., Jin, R., & Szablowski, J.O. (2023). Engineering Regionally-Activated Drugs for Neuroscience. In bioRxiv. doi: 10.1101/2023.10.12.562069.
  • Hao, Q., Huang, Z., Li, Q., Liu, D., Wang, P., Wang, K., Li, J., Cao, W., Deng, W., Wu, K., Su, R., Liu, Z., Vadgama, J., & Wu, Y. (2022). A Novel Metabolic Reprogramming Strategy for the Treatment of Diabetes-Associated Breast Cancer. Adv Sci (Weinh), 9(6), e2102303.Wiley. doi: 10.1002/advs.202102303.
  • Zhang, Q., Chen, Y., Ni, D., Huang, Z., Wei, J., Feng, L., Su, J.C., Wei, Y., Ning, S., Yang, X., Zhao, M., Qiu, Y., Song, K., Yu, Z., Xu, J., Li, X., Lin, H., Lu, S., & Zhang, J. (2022). Targeting a cryptic allosteric site of SIRT6 with small-molecule inhibitors that inhibit the migration of pancreatic cancer cells. Acta Pharm Sin B, 12(2), 876-889.Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.apsb.2021.06.015.
  • Huang, Z., Li, Z., Zhang, X., Kang, S., Dong, R., Sun, L., Fu, X., Vaisar, D., Watanabe, K., & Gu, L. (2020). Creating Red Light-Switchable Protein Dimerization Systems as Genetically Encoded Actuators with High Specificity. ACS Synth Biol, 9(12), 3322-3333.American Chemical Society (ACS). doi: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00397.
  • Wu, K., Yu, X., Huang, Z., Zhu, D., Yi, X., Wu, Y.L., Hao, Q., Kemp, K.T., Elshimali, Y., Iyer, R., Nguyen, K.T., Zheng, S., Chen, G., Chen, Q.H., Wang, G., Vadgama, J.V., & Wu, Y. (2019). Targeting of PP2Cδ By a Small Molecule C23 Inhibits High Glucose-Induced Breast Cancer Progression In Vivo. Antioxid Redox Signal, 30(17), 1983-1998.SAGE Publications. doi: 10.1089/ars.2017.7486.
  • Huang, Z., Zhao, J., Deng, W., Chen, Y., Shang, J., Song, K., Zhang, L., Wang, C., Lu, S., Yang, X., He, B., Min, J., Hu, H., Tan, M., Xu, J., Zhang, Q., Zhong, J., Sun, X., Mao, Z., Lin, H., Xiao, M., Chin, Y.E., Jiang, H., Xu, Y., Chen, G., & Zhang, J. (2018). Identification of a cellularly active SIRT6 allosteric activator. Nat Chem Biol, 14(12), 1118-1126.Springer Nature. doi: 10.1038/s41589-018-0150-0.
  • Huang, M., Chen, Z., Zhang, L., Huang, Z., Chen, Y., Xu, J., Zhang, J., & Shu, X. (2016). Screening and biological evaluation of a novel STAT3 signaling pathway inhibitor against cancer. Bioorg Med Chem Lett, 26(21), 5172-5176.Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2016.09.073.
  • Shen, Q., Wang, G., Li, S., Liu, X., Lu, S., Chen, Z., Song, K., Yan, J., Geng, L., Huang, Z., Huang, W., Chen, G., & Zhang, J. (2016). ASD v3.0: unraveling allosteric regulation with structural mechanisms and biological networks. Nucleic Acids Res, 44(D1), D527-D535.Oxford University Press (OUP). doi: 10.1093/nar/gkv902.
  • Wei, W., Ma, C., Cao, Y., Yang, L., Huang, Z., Qin, D., Chen, Y., Liu, C., Xia, L., Wang, T., Lei, H., Yu, Y., Huang, M., Tong, Y., Xu, H., Gao, F., Zhang, J., & Wu, Y.L. (2016). Identification of H7 as a novel peroxiredoxin I inhibitor to induce differentiation of leukemia cells. Oncotarget, 7(4), 3873-3883.Impact Journals. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.6763.
  • Huang, W., Wang, G., Shen, Q., Liu, X., Lu, S., Geng, L., Huang, Z., & Zhang, J. (2015). ASBench: benchmarking sets for allosteric discovery. Bioinformatics, 31(15), 2598-2600.Oxford University Press (OUP). doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btv169.
  • Song, F.F., Xia, L.L., Ji, P., Tang, Y.B., Huang, Z.M., Zhu, L., Zhang, J., Wang, J.Q., Zhao, G.P., Ge, H.L., Zhang, Y., & Wang, Y. (2015). Human dCTP pyrophosphatase 1 promotes breast cancer cell growth and stemness through the modulation on 5-methyl-dCTP metabolism and global hypomethylation. Oncogenesis, 4(6), e159.Springer Nature. doi: 10.1038/oncsis.2015.10.
  • Huang, Z., Mou, L., Shen, Q., Lu, S., Li, C., Liu, X., Wang, G., Li, S., Geng, L., Liu, Y., Wu, J., Chen, G., & Zhang, J. (2014). ASD v2.0: updated content and novel features focusing on allosteric regulation. Nucleic Acids Res, 42(Database issue), D510-D516.Oxford University Press (OUP). doi: 10.1093/nar/gkt1247.
  • Huang, M., Lu, S., Shi, T., Zhao, Y., Chen, Y., Li, X., Liu, X., Huang, Z., & Zhang, J. (2013). Conformational transition pathway in the activation process of allosteric glucokinase. In Xue, B. (Ed.). PLoS One, 8(2), e55857.Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0055857.
  • Huang, W., Lu, S., Huang, Z., Liu, X., Mou, L., Luo, Y., Zhao, Y., Liu, Y., Chen, Z., Hou, T., & Zhang, J. (2013). Allosite: a method for predicting allosteric sites. Bioinformatics, 29(18), 2357-2359.Oxford University Press (OUP). doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btt399.
  • Li, X., Chen, Y., Lu, S., Huang, Z., Liu, X., Wang, Q., Shi, T., & Zhang, J. (2013). Toward an understanding of the sequence and structural basis of allosteric proteins. J Mol Graph Model, 40, 30-39.Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2012.12.011.
  • Lu, S.Y., Huang, Z.M., Huang, W.K., Liu, X.Y., Chen, Y.Y., Shi, T., & Zhang, J. (2013). How calcium inhibits the magnesium-dependent kinase gsk3β: a molecular simulation study. Proteins, 81(5), 740-753.Wiley. doi: 10.1002/prot.24221.
  • Shi, T., Han, Y., Li, W., Zhao, Y., Liu, Y., Huang, Z., Lu, S., & Zhang, J. (2013). Exploring the desumoylation process of SENP1: a study combined MD simulations with QM/MM calculations on SENP1-SUMO1-RanGAP1. J Chem Inf Model, 53(9), 2360-2368.American Chemical Society (ACS). doi: 10.1021/ci4002487.
  • Chen, Y., Wen, D., Huang, Z., Huang, M., Luo, Y., Liu, B., Lu, H., Wu, Y., Peng, Y., & Zhang, J. (2012). 2-(4-Chlorophenyl)-2-oxoethyl 4-benzamidobenzoate derivatives, a novel class of SENP1 inhibitors: Virtual screening, synthesis and biological evaluation. Bioorg Med Chem Lett, 22(22), 6867-6870.Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2012.09.037.
  • Duan, X., Block, E., Li, Z., Connelly, T., Zhang, J., Huang, Z., Su, X., Pan, Y., Wu, L., Chi, Q., Thomas, S., Zhang, S., Ma, M., Matsunami, H., Chen, G.Q., & Zhuang, H. (2012). Crucial role of copper in detection of metal-coordinating odorants. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 109(9), 3492-3497.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1111297109.
  • Huang, Z., Jiang, H., Liu, X., Chen, Y., Wong, J., Wang, Q., Huang, W., Shi, T., & Zhang, J. (2012). HEMD: an integrated tool of human epigenetic enzymes and chemical modulators for therapeutics. In Ballestar, E. (Ed.). PLoS One, 7(6), e39917.Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0039917.
  • Liu, X., Liu, B., Huang, Z., Shi, T., Chen, Y., & Zhang, J. (2012). SPPS: a sequence-based method for predicting probability of protein-protein interaction partners. In Hoheisel, J.D. (Ed.). PLoS One, 7(1), e30938.Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0030938.
  • Lu, S., Huang, W., Li, X., Huang, Z., Liu, X., Chen, Y., Shi, T., & Zhang, J. (2012). Insights into the role of magnesium triad in myo-inositol monophosphatase: metal mechanism, substrate binding, and lithium therapy. J Chem Inf Model, 52(9), 2398-2409.American Chemical Society (ACS). doi: 10.1021/ci300172r.
  • Tang, J., Huang, Z.M., Chen, Y.Y., Zhang, Z.H., Liu, G.L., & Zhang, J. (2012). A novel inhibitor of human La protein with anti-HBV activity discovered by structure-based virtual screening and in vitro evaluation. In Blackard, J. (Ed.). PLoS One, 7(4), e36363.Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0036363.
  • Wang, Q., Zheng, M., Huang, Z., Liu, X., Zhou, H., Chen, Y., Shi, T., & Zhang, J. (2012). Toward understanding the molecular basis for chemical allosteric modulator design. J Mol Graph Model, 38, 324-333.Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2012.07.006.
  • Huang, Z., Zhu, L., Cao, Y., Wu, G., Liu, X., Chen, Y., Wang, Q., Shi, T., Zhao, Y., Wang, Y., Li, W., Li, Y., Chen, H., Chen, G., & Zhang, J. (2011). ASD: a comprehensive database of allosteric proteins and modulators. Nucleic Acids Res, 39(Database issue), D663-D669.Oxford University Press (OUP). doi: 10.1093/nar/gkq1022.
  • Liu, X., Su, X., Wang, F., Huang, Z., Wang, Q., Li, Z., Zhang, R., Wu, L., Pan, Y., Chen, Y., Zhuang, H., Chen, G., Shi, T., & Zhang, J. (2011). ODORactor: a web server for deciphering olfactory coding. Bioinformatics, 27(16), 2302-2303.Oxford University Press (OUP). doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btr385.
  • Zhao, Y., Lu, X., Yang, C.Y., Huang, Z., Fu, W., Hou, T., & Zhang, J. (2010). Computational modeling toward understanding agonist binding on dopamine 3. J Chem Inf Model, 50(9), 1633-1643.American Chemical Society (ACS). doi: 10.1021/ci1002119.
Research Interests
Neural engineering Medical molecular engineering of nucleic acids and proteins Bioinformatics and computational biology
headshot of Zhimin Huang
Contact Zhimin Huang
Assistant Professor
Tenure-track Assistant Professor
Dr. Huang’s Google Scholar Profile
Bioengineering Department
Work: 412-383-3128
huangz@pitt.edu