Professor

Zhirong Zhang, PhD, is a distinguished professor at the West China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University. Prof. Zhang’s research is in the field of nanoparticulate drug delivery systems and small molecule-oriented prodrug targeted release systems. He pioneered the work on nanoparticulate delivery systems in China. He and his team innovated a drug-phospholipid supramolecular aggregate-based nano-emulsion to overcome technical problems of lyophilization and sterilization. In terms of small-molecule-oriented prodrugs, he successfully applied N, N-dimethylethanolamine (acid), a highly efficient brain-targeting moiety, to improve the brain-targeted delivery of a series of small-molecule drugs, and explored and elucidated their brain-targeting mechanism. He also discovered 2-glucosamine as a highly efficient renal-targeting moiety, which was further conjugated with triptolide to obtain a renal-targeting prodrug. These studies paved the way for drug targeting and advanced drug delivery, gradually forming a new research field in the pharmaceutical community worldwide. Prof. Zhang introduced the milk powder spray drying instrument into the drug process of large-scale production of Chinese medicine compound preparations and established a manufacturing process of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) capsules without the granulation step. This innovation not only improves the production efficiency of TCM capsules and reduces energy consumption, but also greatly improves the active ingredient content of TCM capsules with high quality. He has authored or co-authored more than 400 papers with an H-index of 68. He is also the inventor or co-inventor of over 20 Chinese or foreign patents. In 2003, he received the National Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars. In 1996, Prof. Zhang co-founded Chengdu Kanghong Pharmaceutical Group, a publicly listed pharmaceutical company based in Chengdu, China.