Dr. Zuyi (Jacky) Huang’s group in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Villanova University has an Ph.D. position available in Summer or Fall 2022. His lab identifies drug targets from omics data and developed a docking-based platform to discover small molecule inhibitors for drug targets that are responsible for human disease. His group has identified several patented chemical compounds that have potential to eliminate antimicrobial-resistant pathogens and inhibit a protease essential for COVID-19 replication. Some representative publications can be found in the following links:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2021.661424/fullhttps://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/21/7814https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsomega.0c00352
The applicant should have a B.S. or M.S. degree in biology-related disciplines. The on-going projects in Dr. Huang’s Systems Biology group include: 1) optimizing the growth of T cells for cancer research; 2) identifying small molecule inhibitors to enhance gene delivery; 3) screening natural compounds to treat foodborne pathogens or viruses. Preference will be given to the candidates with M.S. degree and bio-experiment experience. Interested applicants are encouraged to email their CVs to Dr. Huang ([log in to unmask]) for more detail. Villanova requires minimal GRE (and TOEFL scores for international applicants).
Villanova University is ranked #49 among the nation’s best colleges and universities by US News & World Report in its 2021 “Best Colleges” rankings. The university is located 12 miles from Philadelphia along the historic Main Line. Villanova University has a very strong basketball team. The Department of Chemical Engineering at Villanova has a good connection with local pharmaceutical companies.
