Sixue Zhang, Ph.D.

Computer-Aided Drug Discovery

Sixue Zhang, Ph.D., has more than 10 years of experience in computer-aided drug discovery. He obtained a Ph.D. of computational chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with the J. & M. Witt Fellowship under the supervision of Sharon Hammes-Schiffer, Ph.D. Since joining Southern Research, Zhang has collaborated with multidisciplinary teams from both academia and industry, and provided CADD support for more than 50 projects covering oncology, neuroscience, infectious diseases, genetic disorders and other therapeutic areas such as precision medicine.

As part of the A.I.-enabled integrated tech platform for drug discovery in Southern Research, the CADD laboratory facilitates drug discovery pipelines through receptor-based drug design (small molecule-protein and protein-protein docking, molecular dynamics simulations, homology modeling, etc.), machine learning models (A.I.-aided virtual screening, DMPK predictions, preclinical safety predictions, etc.), and bioinformatics. Outside the lab, Zhang serves as a review editor of multiple scientific journals, has been invited as an industry expert to speak at national and international conferences, and has been recognized with multiple research awards.