Thomas & Salma Haider Biomedical Breakthrough Lecture
Dr. Yang Zhang to Present at Fifth Annual Haider Lecture
The Thomas & Salma Haider Biomedical Breakthrough Lecture brings the best and brightest researchers in the biomedical field to Riverside to present their research. The 2022 lecture features Dr. Yang Zhang, professor of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, Biochemistry, and Macromolecular Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan's Macromolecular Science & Engineering Program and will be held on Thursday, October 6, 2021. The title of the lecture is "Toward the solution of the protein structure prediction problem."
This annual lecture series is supported through the generosity of an endowed gift from Dr. Thomas and Salma Haider, longtime supporters of medical education and research at the University of California, Riverside.
Zhangi is a professor of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, Biochemistry, and Macromolecular Science and Engineering. He has a Ph.D. from Central China Normal University.
Event Information
When: Thursday, October 6, 2022 at 5 p.m.
Where: TBA
Cost: Free and open to the public.
Questions: Email development@medsch.ucr.edu
About Yang Zhang, Ph.D.
Professor of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, Biochemistry, and Macromolecular Science and Engineering
"Toward the solution of the protein structure prediction problem"
Dr. Yang Zhang is a professor in Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics and Department of Biological Chemistry at the University of Michigan. The research interest of the Zhang Lab is in AI-based protein folding and structure prediction, and protein design and engineering.
The I-TASSER algorithm developed in his lab was ranked as the number one method for automated protein structure prediction in the community-wide CASP experiments in the last decades since 2006.
Zhang is the recipient of the Alfred P Sloan Award, the ASBMB DeLano Award, the US National Science Foundation Career Award, and the UM Basic Science Research Award, and was selected as the Thomson Reuters/Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher.
About Dr. Thomas and Salma Haider
Dr. Thomas T. Haider is a world-renowned spine surgeon, philanthropist, entrepreneur and inventor. He and his wife, Salma, have been stalwart supporters of improving medical education in Inland Southern California and were key contributors in the founding of the UCR School of Medicine.
The Haider's generous support the SOM includes the Thomas Haider Program at UC Riverside School of Medicine, which provides an avenue for qualified and culturally diverse, underprivileged students to enroll in UCR School of Medicine each year, The Salma Haider Endowed Chair for the Thomas Haider Program, and this annual lecture series.
Dr. Haider is a recipient of the UC Riverside Chancellor’s Medal, the American Medical Association’s Pride in the Profession Award and was awarded the Outstanding Medical Profession of the Year Award by United States Congress. The Haiders created and run the Children’s Spine Foundation, through which they provide free medical care to children at their clinic, the Haider Spine Center, as well as in hospitals abroad.
Past Presenters
2021: Stanley Qi, Ph.D.
Assistant professor, Department of Bioengineering, Department of Chemical and Systems Biology, and the Stanford ChEM-H Institute
Watch his presentation, "Synthetic genome engineering for genomics and therapeutics" on YouTube
2020: Paul Offit, M.D.
Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology and Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Watch his presentation, "Developing a COVID-19 Vaccine at Warp Speed" on YouTube
2019: David Hafler, M.D.
William S. and Lois Stiles Edgerly Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurology and Professor of Immunobiology at the Yale School of Medicine
Watch his presentation, "Immune Cell Adaptation in the Brain: Your Brain is on Fire" on YouTube
2018: Susan L. Akerman, Ph.D.
Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and the Stephen W. Kuffler Chair in Biology, at the University of California, San Diego