Dr. Zhao joined the Wellman Center in 2008 with over 20 years of experience in multidisciplinary research and development obtained from both academia and industry. Dr. Zhao received her M.D. in China and Ph.D. from the University of Montreal. She held positions of instructor and senior scientist at the Harvard Medical School and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, respectively, after pursuing her post-doctoral training at McGill University and Harvard Medical School.

Her diversified research experience covers physiology, immunology, molecular biology, oncology, endocrinology, and genetics. Her expertise over a wide range of instruments includes flow cytometry systems, Luminex systems, microscopes (bright-field, fluorescence, confocal), digital imaging, and automated analyzers (Access II Immunoassay System, ACL Advance). Her contributions to research have yielded several high-quality peer-reviewed publications, including one first author paper published in Cell.

Prior to joining the Wellman Center, Dr. Zhao held positions as research investigator, principal scientist, and associate director in industry, where she further gained extensive research and development experiences, including development of several proprietary clinical diagnostic tests.

Her role as the director of this core is to build a strong and advanced core facility, to direct the core facility administratively and technically/scientifically, to guarantee the smooth operation of the core facilities, to maintain instruments, troubleshoot, ensure quality control, train researchers to use advanced equipments, oversee data acquisition, data analyses, and data management, as well as help and advise researchers on their research project needs, including experimental design, methods development, and protocol implementation.