College of Engineering

Dr. Zhan combines engineering with chemistry and biology in order to make advances in the medical world.  Zhan has made major headway on a project he started in 2009 aiming to formulate a pharmaceutical that will decrease high cholesterol levels in patients, which results in the prevention and cure of heart disease. The American Heart Association granted Zhan $308,000 to carry out his proposal, which he decided to develop after noting the many imperfect anti-cholesterol drugs that often show side effects.

This project targets herboxidiene, an anti-cholesterol natural product from Streptomyces chromofuscus. The genes responsible for the biosynthesis of this medicinally important compound have been detected, Zhan said, but he and his assistants Lei Shao, a postdoctoral researcher, and Jia Zeng, a Ph.D. student will next confirm the identity of the sequenced gene cluster, modify the biosynthetic enzymes to generate new compounds and finally test these new molecules for anti-cholesterol activity. With heart disease as the No. 1 killer among humans, the success of this drug could save millions.

The National Institute of Health granted $421,787 to Zhan’s 3-year project focusing on development of a new anti-infective drug intended for human protection against fungal and viral infections. If this drug is successfully developed, a person suffering from the AIDS virus could use the drug against the virus while remaining protected from fungal outbreak, for example. The duo-action of this drug is important when considering the weak immune systems of patients diagnosed with viral diseases. Kandy Napan, a Ph.D. student, and Richard Decker, an undergraduate student, are assisting Zhan with this research. To carry out this project Zhan is collaborating with Tom Chang, USU associate professor of organic chemistry, and Jon Takemoto, a biology professor.

Zhan will begin testing a completely new research method fall of 2011, which applies metabolic processes directly to the body rather than through pharmaceuticals. The Department of Defense agreed to fund this new concept with a $105,000 grant. If Zhan’s theories are correct, he will successfully formulate a yogurt product that has the power to eliminate pesky allergies. By engineering the lactic acid bacteria in yogurt, Zhan’s project will introduce a genetic pathway that produces anti-allergen compounds. Teaming up with Zhan in the initiatory research are Jiachen Zi, a postdoctoral researcher, and Ph.D. student Jia Zeng.

Additional projects include “Enzymatic synthesis of halogenated ‘unnatural’ natural products for anti-infective agents” which is a USTAR Veterinary Diagnostics and Infectious Disease-funded project. This organization granted $14,600 to the project in its first stage. Lastly, a USU Research Catalyst Grant funds Zhan’s one-year project “Investigation of the biolsynthetic gene cluster of lipstatin” with $20,000.