Zhifang Cao, Ph.D.
Associated Scientist
Zhifang Cao is an associated scientist working in the Infectious Disease and Microbiome Program of the Ó³»´«Ã½ of MIT and Harvard, where he works under the direction of Ramnik Xavier to identify CARD9 binding partners to help understand how these protein-to-protein interactions regulate CARD9 functions. The goal of this effort is to develop guidelines to find small molecules for CARD9-based Crohn’s disease therapies. Cao’s research is primarily focused on the mechanism of CARD9 protein in mediating innate response and priming adaptive immunity.
In addition to his post at the Ó³»´«Ã½, Cao is an associate investigator at the Center for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital, and an instructor at Harvard Medical School.
Prior to joining the Ó³»´«Ã½ in 2011, Cao’s postdoctoral studies were undertaken at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, followed by a research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School.
Cao holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, as well as a bachelor’s degree in environmental planning and management from Shanxi Institute of Economics and Management and a master’s degree in microbiology from Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
Contact Zhifang Cao via email at zhifang@broadinstitute.org.
February 2018
