Dr. Gang Zheng, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (PM) Senior Scientist and Scientific Lead at Techna Institute, has been appointed as the new Associate Research Director of PM. He succeeds Dr. Aaron Schimmer, who left the position to take on the role of PM Research Director on February 15, 2019.
Dr. Zheng is a world-leading scientist in nanomedicine, molecular imaging and phototherapy. He is an accomplished inventor of nanotechnology-based tools for biomedical applications, including cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. His lab is recognized for discovering porphysome nanoparticles—spherical nanovesicles that can be used to image and deliver drugs to specific tumour sites. This transformational discovery was published in Nature Materials in 2011 and was listed as one of the “Top 10 Cancer Breakthroughs of 2011” by the Canadian Cancer Society. Throughout his scientific career, he has published extensively in high-impact journals, including Nature Nanotechnology and Chemical Reviews.
In addition to his research program, Dr. Zheng has assumed multiple leadership roles. At UHN, he is the Director of the Nanomedicine Fabrication Centre (NanoMedFab). He is also an Executive Committee Member and Chair of the Core Facility and Equipment Committee at PM. Within the broader scientific community, he serves on various review panels and advisory boards for national and international funding bodies.