CPRIT Scholar Pursues Protein Engineering To Develop Cancer Drugs

A recent addition to The University of Texas at Dallas faculty, Dr. Ziwen Jiang has hit the ground running in his study of protein interactions and his pursuit of new methods to develop effective protein-based drugs to fight cancer.

Jiang joined the chemistry and biochemistry department in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in January. He is UT Dallas’ latest assistant professor to receive support from the First-Time, Tenure-Track Faculty Member program of the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). The program, designed to attract top talent in cancer research to the state, provided Jiang with a $2 million research grant. Known as CPRIT Scholars, these independent investigators are expected to make groundbreaking contributions in cancer research.

Jiang is one of four CPRIT Scholars currently at UT Dallas.

“It’s prestigious, and I’m really grateful,” he said. “It gives us a strong start in terms of our research funding.”

Jiang said he was drawn to UTD because of the commitment and support from the chemistry and biochemistry department and the opportunity to collaborate with researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

After earning his PhD in chemistry at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2019 under the guidance of Dr. S. Thai Thayumanavan, department head of biomedical engineering, Jiang said he felt like he needed to gain a deeper understanding of protein biochemistry and how proteins interact with each other to affect cell activities. He then joined the lab of Dr. Michelle Arkin, chair of pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of California, San Francisco.

“I was looking for a training opportunity to deepen this knowledge,” he said. “As time went on, I just fell in love with the field.”

Jiang received a National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award to conduct research in Arkin’s lab, where he worked on developing antibody-based inhibitors and examined how different proteins interacted with cellular functions.

“To understand how proteins work together in cells, it is critical to understand the region of each protein that is responsible for its interaction with other proteins,” he said. “Such an understanding requires training in molecular biology, biophysical characterizations and cell biology techniques.”

In his native China, Jiang bonded with chemistry in high school after experimenting with molecules and creating new ones. At the time, biology did not fascinate him as much, but he later realized his true passion was at the intersection of chemistry and biology. Now, what drives Jiang every day is the opportunity to address biology problems with chemistry solutions.

“It’s a constant motivation to show up,” he said.

His goal is to develop new therapeutic protein-based drugs that improve people’s quality of life by enhancing the drugs’ efficacy through the design and incorporation of antibody fragments, while at the same time reducing the side effects of therapy.

In the spring, Jiang taught a course on biomaterials, and he said he looks forward to teaching and mentoring the next generation of scientists. Undergraduate researchers in his new lab already are examining how to develop and improve protein molecules to target and combat disease more effectively.

“In our lab, we are going to expand this technology to look at our efficacy for relevant proteins and drug targets,” he said. “The final goal is to try to build a therapeutic platform of developing drugs. From a longer-term perspective, I hope that it’s going to be beneficial for human health.”

CPRIT has awarded more than $3.9 billion in grants to Texas research institutions and organizations through its academic research, prevention and product development research programs. UT Dallas has received more than $33.6 million from CPRIT to date to support cancer-related research.