Xiaodong Zhang's lab utilises structural and biochemical methods to understand the molecular mechanism of large macromolecular assemblies, notably the bacterial transcription machinery and those involved in DNA damage signalling and repair. Her group's work has provided fundamental insights into how certain stress response genes in bacteria are silenced by a unique sigma factor and how these genes are reactivated by a specialised group of proteins. Her work has also revealed how double-stranded DNA is opened up and loaded into the transcription machinery. More recent work on DNA damage repair has provided new insights into the structure and regulation of several key components.
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Xiaodong studied Nuclear Physics at Peking University, obtained her PhD in Physics from Stony Brook University, before switching to structural biology during her post-doc training at Harvard University. She started her group at Imperial College London in 2001 and has been on secondment to the Francis Crick Institute since 2023. Xiaodong is a recipient of a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award and has been an EMBO member since 2016.
Professional position
- Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London
- Group Leader, The Francis Crick Institute
Subject groups
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Molecules of Life
Biochemistry and molecular biology, Biophysics and structural biology
